Linux body pools patents for open source

An international Linux advocacy body has announced a new initiative aimed at providing a central repository for software patents and patent pledges relating to open source software. The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) patent commons project, which has the backing of Linux founder Linus Torvalds, will make it easier for open source developers to make their patents available to share. It will also contain patents that are owned by the likes of IBM, Nokia, Novell, Red Hat and Sun but are pledged to the open source community. ...more

Europeans' love of the single to boost online music market

Research company Forrester has predicted that Europe's online music market will be worth €1.3bn by 2007, with our love of singles translating into burgeoning online sales for sites offering single-song downloads. Forrester's latest research reveals that Apple's strategy of offering online music for sale as single tracks may prove even more popular in Europe than in the US, where the iTunes Music Store has already punted out 2 million tracks in just over two weeks. ...more

The family Treo

Handspring has announced the Treo line of handheld terminals, which boasts an integrated GSM phone. The PDAs will let you make phone calls and send SMS messages, as well as browse the Web and send and receive POP3 account emails. All the usual mobile phone utilities are there too: you can conference call, there's a hands-free option, and you can even dial two numbers for a three-way call. ...more

Top viruses for November

Counting on a quiet weekend, Sophos has released its chart of virus activity for the month. In first place is Sober-A, which was actually discovered 27 October. Taking 32. ...more

BT announces June broadband dates

BT has announced that a further 27 exchanges will be broadband-enabled in June. The exchanges and their service dates are as follows. ? 4 June: Bannockburn, Central; Ellesmere Port, Cheshire; Forest Row, East Sussex; Gainsborough Trinity, Lincs; Sandwich, Kent; Stansted, Essex; Tiverton, Devon ? 11 June 2003: Aberdeen Culter, Grampian; Coleshill, Warks; Cross Hills, North Yorks; Goldthorpe, South Yorks; Hadleigh, Suffolk; Hoyland, South Yorks; Melton Mowbray, Leics; Porth, Mid Glamorgan; Radnage, Bucks; Raunds, Northants; St Faith, Norfolk; Turgis Green, Hants; Whickham, Tyne & Wear; Womborne, Staffs ? 18 June: Burntwood, Staffs; Finningley, South Yorkshire ? 28 June: Catleham, East Sussex; Holywell, Clwyd; Market Drayton, Shropshire; Nailsworth, Gloucestershire Furthermore a joint project set-up by Caerphilly County Bourough Council and the Welsh Development Agency has brought broadband two three exchanges in the region: Blackwood, scheduled for 21 April, and Hengoed and Newbridge, 30 April. ...more