Telematics to power Pay As You Drive insurance pilot

IBM and Orange are to work with Norwich Union on a 'Pay As You Drive' insurance programme. Under an intriguing new scheme, insurance premiums will be calculated on the basis of when, where and how often a car is used. The necessary data will be collected from onboard devices. ...more

Federation Against Software Theft condemns rogue IT workers

The UK software industry has warned companies to be wary of rogue IT workers after 5,800 illegally downloaded music files were discovered during a software audit of a financial services company. Most files had been downloaded by members of the IT department, the very people, says the Federation Against Software Theft, who should be charged with preventing this happening. 'All too often IT policy enforcement and management is left solely to the IT department, in the belief that when IT staff say that correct licences are in place, they are,' said John Lovelock, director general of FAST. ...more

Dixons wipes the VCR from its stores

The news that the Dixon's group is to stop selling the venerable VCR is the end of an era. As with the launch of Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' CD in the early 1980s which was seen as the tipping point between the LP and the CD, so today's announcement will be seen as the day we all moved to digital video. Since the first machines hit the shelves in the 1970s, Dixons has sold millions of the devices and by 2002 90 per cent of UK households had one. ...more

PalmOne polishes the Treo smartphone

Palm has unveiled a new Treo smartphone: the 650. Combining a mobile phone with email, messaging, Web access, a personal organiser, MP3 player and Bluetooth support, there's also a digital camera capable of capturing video. However, the main upgrade from its 600 predecessor is the 65,000-colour, 320 x 320 resolution, touch-sensitive display: addressing criticisms of the 160 x 160 display of the Treo 600. ...more

Apple extends iPod nano range

Apple has added a 1GB version of the iPod nano to its range of portable digital music players. The new player complements the existing 2GB and 4GB models, but has not replaced the 1Gb iPod shuffle which is now available for just ?69. The 512K shuffle drops to ?49. ...more