Britney on the make

Sophos has warned of a virus doing the rounds, masquerading as pictures of the pop star Britney Spears. Although rated as low risk - the virus was discovered yesterday and only one incident of infection in 'the wild' has been reported - Sophos has put out the warning due to Britney Spears' consistent high ranking in the search engine charts of keywords. VBS/Britney-A spreads through Microsoft Outlook or IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels. ...more

UK lawyers warn of downloads clampdown

UK lawyers are keeping a close eye on the US record industry's legal moves against individuals it believes have been illegally sharing music files over the Internet. Andrew Curwen, a partner in law firm Rowe Cohen, says that the success or failure of prosecutions in the US could have implications not just for individual file sharers in the UK, but also for companies whose employees share files at work. The UK record industry's body, the BPI, has said that it is monitoring the situation in the US before deciding whether to take any action here. ...more

Linux fires up the games console war

It's apparently four times more powerful than Nintendo's DS and outclasses Sony's PSP in audio and video, yet costs just under ?125 and runs Linux. GP32/2X Distribution is to start selling the latest version of its games console, the GP2x, in the UK. For ?124. ...more

PlusNet takes broadband pricing into the realm of dial-up

PlusNet has announced the UK's first 512Kbit broadband service costing less than ?15. Of course there is a trade-off, a 1GB per month download limit, but unless you have a particular desire to stream lots of video or download thousands of MP3s this is sufficient for most home users' needs. Home Broadband Lite takes ADSL into the realm of dial-up pricing, although you will have to stump up the activation fee of ?70. ...more

Deutsche Bank gives thumbs up to Apple

Germany's main bank has initiated coverage of Apple's stock with a 'buy' rating. Deutsche Bank believes the company will continue to dominate the MP3 player market, selling as many as 43 million iPods in 2006, twice the number it has sold in total up to now. 'Due to its strong product portfolio, market-share leadership, and the stickiness of iTunes, we believe Apple will continue to dominate this product category,' the bank said, adding that it expects sales of 31 million iPods this year. ...more