Sony slices 400 jobs off UK operations

Hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement that Sony was rethinking its European production plans due to a weak euro, its plant in south Wales is to shed 400 jobs despite assurances that there are no plans for closures. Blame is put at the feet of the strong pound and weak Euro, diminishing profits converted to Japanese yen. Sony also added that fuel costs and business taxes were further squeezing profitability. ...more

NEC gets radical with high-power organic battery

NEC has announced plans to develop a high-power battery that would protect computers from data loss if the power supply is interrupted. By connecting four 35W cells, the organic radical battery (ORB) would pack enough punch to power a 140W desktop PC, though its application could extend to any high-power device including household electronics. The battery is connected to the power unit of the PC and when a power failure, blackout or voltage drop (of 20 per cent or more) occurs, the ORB supplies power to the PC while data is backed up and the computer shut down. ...more

Microsoft pledges not to charge double for dual-core chips

Microsoft has promised that it will continue to licence its server products on a 'per processor' basis rather than 'per core'. The announcement applies to all Microsoft products that are currently licenced per processor including SQL Server and BizTalk. Multi-core processors are seen by the industry as a way of continuing to increase the performance of new designs without having to increase the clock speed with all the associated problems of overheating. ...more

Update: AOL stops the spread of Bizex ICQ worm

AOL has told us it has stopped the Bizex worm from spreading. ICQ Pro users do not need to take action or download any files to take advantage of the fix. The spokesperson also said that the company is currently working on a fix for any users that had been already infected by the worm. ...more

Winstar files for bankruptcy protection and $10bn lawsuit against Lucent

Winstar Communications Inc, the troubled telecommunications provider, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, claiming it was forced to take this action after Lucent defaulted on a five-year supply agreement. Winstar's legal filing today alleged that "Little more than two years into the five-year agreement, Lucent has shown its promises were hollow." The agreement, which analysts predicted was worth as much as $1bn, should have seen Lucent paying Winstar $90m on 30 March. ...more