Microsoft touches the Surface

Microsoft has unveiled a coffee-table-shaped 'surface computer' in a major step towards co-founder Bill Gates's view of a future where the mouse and keyboard are replaced by more natural interaction using voice, pen and touch. Microsoft Surface, which has a 30in display under a hard-plastic tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for everything from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering off a virtual menu in a restaurant. It also recognises and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so cell phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by placing their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered round the table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on top. ...more

New worm infects with an eye on Windows Update site

A new worm exploiting a recently discovered flaw in Windows systems is on the loose, infecting machines in a bid to set up a distributed denial-of-service attack on windowsupdate.com after 15 August. The W32/Blaster-A worm (also known as Lovsan, MSBlaster or Poza), exploits Microsoft's DCOM RPC vulnerability - a flaw in Windows, from NT to XP, that occurs through an error in the way malformed messages received over the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol. ...more

UPDATED: Apple reveals extent of legal proceedings

Apple has submitted its latest filing to the Securities and Exchanges Commission, which reveals that during the three month period covered it was engaged in 17 different legal proceedings. The 10-Q filing for the quarter ending 27 December is primarily a 'state of play' document outlining the companies financial position - in a word healthy. But tucked away at the end are brief outlines of the ongoing disputes. ...more

'Critical' flaws in Office revealed

Microsoft is reporting several critical vulnerabilities that affect various Office applications, in particular the Excel spreadsheet program. The flaws, which affect a number of different versions of Office applications, could allow a hacker to gain control of a computer if the user has administrative rights. All versions of Office and the Microsoft Works suite from 2000 onwards are affected. ...more

HarperCollins to digitise catalogue

Publisher Harper Collins has announced that it is to digitise around 20,000 books in an effort to counter the proliferation of copyright violation on the Web. With Google planning to make potentially millions of books freely available and other search companies expected to follow suit, Harper Collins believes that publishers need to take the initiative and digitise their catalogues themselves. This will allow the likes of Google, Yahoo! and Amazon to index the content and help Web users find the complete work, according to Brian Murray, Harper Collins' group president. ...more