Samsung turns to Nokia for mobile software

Samsung signs licensing deal with Nokia for smartphone software. The platform will enable mobile phone users to connect to the Net, send emails and play games. British-based Symbian - developers of the OS found within smartphones, such as the Communicators from Nokia - will be one of the beneficiaries of the newly-signed deal. ...more

Napster sees subscriber figures rise 50 per cent

Paid subscribers to Napster rose by 50 per cent in the last quarter of 2004, the online music service announced today. The Windows-only offering now has 270,000 subscribers entitled to stream as much music as they wish. However users must pay extra if they wish to download tracks in order to burn them to CD or copy to a compatible portable device. ...more

E-waste piles high in the Third World

The head of a UN environmental programme has condemned the 'growing mountains of E-waste' that the West is inflicting on developing countries. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was speaking in Nairobi (pictured, right) at the opening of the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, which deals with the trans-national movement of hazardous waste. 'Consumerism is driving economies but also drives a growing mountain of E-waste not only from North to the South but South South - waste with a wide range of pollutants from heavy metals to chlorine compounds,' said Steiner. ...more

Price Check: Graphics Cards

With both of nVidia's and ATi's latest and greatest graphics cards finding their way to the UK, it means the moneyed can up the graphics ante, while those of shallower pockets should see prices fall on those cards that have been usurped. And if there's nothing more annoying than finding what was billed as the best money can buy being superseded just months later - as we've seen with nVidia's new NV35 chipset that has just arrived in the form of the GeForce FX 5900 - at least the erstwhile leader the nVidia FX 5800 card should quickly become that much more affordable. It'll take ?388 to get the former to turn up at your door, in a card from Creative and available from Dabs. ...more

LineOne investigated by ISPA

The Internet Service Provider's Association (ISPA) has confirmed that LineOne is being investigated as a result of withdrawing its unmetered service. LineOne received an enormous amount of criticism in the press in July when it closed down its flat-rate access service, allegedly due to overwhelming customer demand. Much of the anger originated from the fact that LineOne was the first to close down its service. ...more