Eidos WAPS it out

Sole British publishing house, Eidos, has revealed details of a deal to help bolster the burgeoning WAP gaming arena. The Wimbledon-based games company has forged a two-year partnership with Nokia to bring new and existing franchises to the mobile communication network. Under the terms of the agreement, five games in total will be provided. ...more

Stephen King loses the plot

Horror master Stephen King has been publishing his latest work, The Plant, exclusively on the Internet, but his story has run out of steam and Mr King has decided to put the novel on the backburner. The story has been published in monthly instalments from Stephen King's Web site and costs $1 each for the first three chapters with all subsequent editions selling for $2 - the overall novel was planned to cost $13 (about the same as a regular book in the US). However, The Plant is, in Mr King's own words, "going back into hibernation" while he concentrates on other projects. ...more

HP profit rockets 77 per cent

With the company shipping one million printers a week and notebook sales increasing 26 per cent, both revenues and profits have risen for HP, according to its latest financial results. For its second fiscal quarter, covering the three months to 30 April, it recorded record revenues of $20.1bn, a 12 per cent increase year-on-year, and an operating profit $1. ...more

Half Brits go online for Christmas spree

A new study reveals the extent of online shopping in the run up to Christmas 2005. Research company IMRG states that as much as half of the adult population in the UK clicked online as sales increased 50 per cent. It seems that shoppers spent ?5 billion online during the 10-week run-up to Christmas, compared with ?3. ...more

EU closes in on Microsoft fines - reports

The EU has begun moves to impose huge fines on Microsoft for failing to comply with the 2004 antitrust ruling, according to reports. The Associated Press says that competition regulators met yesterday to approve the imposition of penalties that could be as high as EUR€2mn every day. A second meeting will be held next week to determine the precise size of the fines. ...more