HP releases ultimate DVD/CD-RW combo drive

Hewlett-Packard has launched an internal combination DVD/CD-RW drive. Retailing at $349, the 9900ci is an internal IDE drive with 12-speed write, ten-speed rewrite, 32-speed read and eight-speed DVD read performance. This should be a good upgrade route for users with only a CD-ROM drive, offering both DVD and CD-RW capabilities while taking up just one drive bay. ...more

Multimedia messaging gets closer

Ericsson has won a contract from Vodafone to put the multimedia into mobile messaging. MMS (multimedia messaging software) - think text messaging with pictures, animations, or audio and video clips - is now likely to be rolled out in Europe in the middle of this year. Commercial availability is initially scheduled for Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, as well as the UK. ...more

PlusNet launches optimised low-cost broadband package

PlusNet has launched a new low-cost broadband package free of data limits and usage payments; instead it promises 'traffic shaping' during peak periods to give priority to email and surfing over high-bandwidth activities. Traffic shaping is a hardware driven solution to the problem of certain users hogging the amount of bandwidth available. During peak usage hours, traffic that uses disproportionately large amounts of bandwidth - peer-to-peer file sharing and the downloading of binaries via Usenet for example - will be deprioritised in favour of the basics such as email and Web surfing. ...more

Arizona settles up with Microsoft

Another US state has been crossed off Microsoft's list, as it reaches a settlement over the violation of anti-trust laws. A financial agreement has now been reached with the south western state of Arizona. Microsoft's settlement of the class action lawsuit follows the model of previous states, such as North Carolina and South Dakota. ...more

RPC threat forces new Microsoft security bulletin

Microsoft has issued another security update for Windows users, Security Bulletin MS03-039 to be precise. Three new vulnerabilities have been identified, relating to the way Microsoft handles Remote Procedure Calls (RPC - an inter-process communication protocol, which has been the subject of another recent update). Specifically, an attacker could send malformed RPC messages to a vulnerable system, targeting the RPCSS Service. ...more