Electronic trading, it's a proposition you shouldn't refuse

IBM is getting serious about moving towards a paperless state. It spells out its views on the desirability of electronic trading in a letter sent out to its suppliers. The implication is that those who do not comply risk losing their contracts with Big Blue. ...more

BT Fusion marries Bluetooth and VoIP

BT has unveiled a mobile phone that uses Bluetooth and IP technology to automatically connect to a landline when used at home. The BT Fusion is the fruit of more than a year's work and cuts the cost of using mobile phones to the same level as using a standard, wired phone. It also ensures a reliable signal strength as, according to BT, 19 per cent of mobile users have had problems with coverage at home. ...more

Sony unveils handheld PlayStation

Now that's what we call an announcement. It's been widely known in industry circles for some time now that Sony was working on a handheld games console, but none of us had any idea when the announcement would finally be made. Until now. ...more

Sun warns caution over Microsoft's 'standard' promise

Sun Microsystems is urging the state of Massachusetts not to be swayed by Microsoft's submission of Office XML to the Ecma standards body. In a letter sent to Secretary Trimarco, Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Sun's head of corporate standards, Carl Cargill, outlines his concerns over Microsoft's recent move. Massachusetts, of course, has recently lead the criticism of Microsoft and advocated the use by public bodies of an Open Document Format (ODF). ...more

Sun learns to plug and play, the Microsoft way

Sun Microsystems is to join the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Forum. This is a group of companies working on Microsoft-backed device software, which actually competes with Sun's Jini technology. But this doesn't represent a conversion on Sun's behalf; it's simply going to look and learn. ...more