Microsoft calms WGA counterfeit checking tools

In a bid to reassure Windows users, Microsoft has tweaked its authenticity checking tools in its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program. The WGA Notifications program, which checks whether installations of Windows are genuine or counterfeit, was recently expanded worldwide, and delivered as a Windows update through Automatic Updates. However, it might be said that this was an inappropriate mechanism: Automatic Updates are normally the vector for delivering technical or security improvements rather than allowing Microsoft the run of your PC to check if its software is genuine. ...more

Wanadoo creeps into the black

French company Wanadoo, Europe's second largest ISP and owner of Freeserve in the UK, reported its first profit since its IPO. The company claims strong growth in the Internet access market, where it now has eight million customers across Europe, has helped it to boost revenues by 33%. Wanadoo reported profits of €28 million (?17. ...more

Apple's iPod shuffle ships to shops

Apple announces that the new iPod shuffle will be available from Friday, 3 November. Half the size of the white, gum packet-shaped shuffle that it replaces, the aluminium matchbook design weighs just 24g. The 1GB of flash memory holds around 240 songs, its capacity automatically filled by iTunes' AutoFill feature. ...more

Windows Media Player 11 starts to play

Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows Media Player 11, focusing on device compatibility and search features. Billed as the 'most-used media player in the world', Microsoft claims that with WMP11 you can access music 'faster than on any other media player'. Real-time search facilities hone in on the sought-after music as the user types, and is entirely scalable, being as fast searching the tracks within an album as it is searching through the millions of tracks on the MTV URGE venture. ...more

Symbian OS 7.0, building for 3G

At the 2002 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, Symbian has unveiled the latest version of its operating system for smartphones and communicators. Headline features of Symbian OS 7.0 include support for 3G mobile comms, mobile messaging in terms of EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and mobile networking in terms of IPv6. ...more