Palm settles Graffiti dispute with Xerox

The long-running legal battle between Palm and Xerox has been settled, with the two companies agreeing to end the patent dispute. Dating back to 1997, it involved the use of Graffiti handwriting recognition software, which translates particular strokes into alphabetic characters. Xerox alleged that the system infringed patents for its own Unistrokes handwriting software. ...more

Mac and Linux viruses to rise 'significantly'

There will be a significant rise in virus attacks on both the Mac and open-source platforms, according to renowned security expert, Eugene Kaspersky. The co-founder and head of anti-virus research at Kaspersky Labs claims that Vista's lukewarm reception will drive more customers towards alternative platforms, making them a more attractive target for malware writers. 'Home users are not so loyal to the OS. ...more

Dixons posts strong results, bucks IT trend

Dixons has proved that not every technology retailer must embrace disaster with a five per cent increase in profits in the twelve months ending 28 April. The high street darling produced results at the upper end of analysts' estimates, which is remarkable considering nearly every other retailer dealing with IT products has issued profit warnings and revised estimates. These results exclude the sale of ISP Freeserve to France's Wanadoo, which raised a profit of ?1 billion for shareholders. ...more

Sony's smallest console proves biggest launch ever

Sony's long awaited PlayStation Portable has taken UK gamers by storm. The new PSP console sold an estimated 185,000 units in its first week making it the most successful games hardware launch ever. By comparison, the rival Nintendo DS sold just 87,000 in its first week on the shelves in March. ...more

UK lags in Firefox usage

More than a quarter of German computer users access the World Wide Web using Firefox. According to a new survey by the web analytics company WebSideStory, 26.8 per cent of German web requests used the open source browser. ...more