Real Networks hails EU judge's ruling against Microsoft

Real Networks, as the only company still participating in the Commission's action against Microsoft, was understandably pleased that Judge Bo Vesterdorf dismissed Redmond's actions, claiming that 'The court's denial of Microsoft's appeal is a great victory for the Commission and for the Consumer.' Dave Stewart, Real Networks' Deputy General Counsel told us 'The Commission has laid down an important precedent. In future Microsoft should provide for full operability in all relevant areas allowing competitors to interoperate with Microsoft's dominant server and client products' Real will now be trying to take the place of Windows Media Player in the affections of Europe's Windows users. ...more

Comdex Fall is cancelled

Comdex Las Vegas 2004 has been postponed, with the organisers resting the show in order to reshape the event for a future relaunch. The event had been scheduled to take place in November 2004, but now an advisory group has been set up to consider how best to meet industry demand. This will contain representatives of the 'IT industry's foremost companies' according to MediaLive International, which took over the brand one year ago. ...more

UPDATED: Blu-ray accelerates introduction of new DRM technology

The Blu-ray Disc Association has announced that following breaches of the security of the high-definition format's AACS security technology, it has brought forward the planned release date of the BD-Plus (BD+), a more advanced anti-copying system. BD+ is an entirely different encryption system to AACS. Instead of each movie having the same encryption key, BD+ allows each disc to install a small piece of encryption software on a player, so that each disc has its own key. ...more

HP gets a visit from the SEC

Post-voting squabbles between HP and board dissident Walter Hewlett have taken a grave turn as the company is requested by the SEC and a US Attorney's office to give information on the voting. Despite HP claiming to have won the vote - albeit unofficially as yet - by a narrow margin, Mr Hewlett launched a lawsuit against HP on 28 March alleging that the company misled shareholders and, in particular, threatened Deutsche Bank with withdrawal of business if it were to vote against the deal. HP has since said it has been subpoenaed by the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York for information regarding voting by financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank. ...more

Sound and vision

If you are looking for a little extra something when playing back your favourite MP3 files then Samsung may have the MP3 player for you. The South Korean company has updated its popular Yepp MP3 player with a 2-inch colour LCD panel which can playback a series of still images. The panel has a resolution of 280 by 220 pixels and it is planned that the listener/viewer will be able to watch static images of the performer and see the lyrics of the song you are listening to. ...more