Hotmail and MSN Messenger coming to mobile phones

Microsoft has teamed up with mobile phone software developer Openwave Systems to bring Hotmail and MSN Messenger to phone handsets. The Microsoft applications are to be built into the Openwave Phone Suite V7 phone software platform which, it is claimed, will allow handset manufacturers to add these services to their devices. Openwave is a set of middleware applications with a common user interface. ...more

Microsoft hits eight bootleggers with lawsuits

Microsoft has stepped up its campaign against the counterfeiters by issuing eight lawsuits against companies in the US, who allegedly have been selling bootleg copies of Windows software. Each of the companies that are being sued by Microsoft is accused of distributing counterfeit versions of Windows, other Microsoft software or the Certificate of Authenticity. Over the past couple of years, Microsoft has tightened up the loopholes that made it easier for counterfeiters to operate. ...more

Google buys the Earth

Search engine Google is continuing its flurry of activity by announcing that it has bought the Silicon Valley digital mapping company, Keyhole Corp. No details of the deal have been released. The Keyhole software claims it offers a 3D digital model of the entire earth via the Internet. ...more

Apple sells 2 million iPods as profits break $100mn

Apple yesterday reported its highest profit in four years after selling more than two million iPods in the three months to 25 September. iPod sales were up 245 per cent on the previous quarter, reaching 2,016,000, with the holiday shopping season still to come. As a result profits reached $106mn, the highest since the same quarter in 2000, when sales of the original iMac were still going strong. ...more

Nike+iPod=tracking device, researchers claim

Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered that the Nike+iPod Bluetooth-based kit for monitoring and recording running sessions can be used as a tracking device. Scott Saponas, a doctoral student in the university's computer science and engineering department, found the security flaw after buying the kit ostensibly to use during his own workouts. Curiosity got the better of him and as a result of his investigations he has built a number of low-cost devices that use information from his Nike+iPod to monitor his whereabouts. ...more