Sun bids to shut out MS Java appeal

Sun claims Microsoft appeal is part of delaying tactics to ensure Java's demise. In the light of Microsoft's appeal to stay an injunction forcing it to include Sun's version of the Java runtime environment in copies of XP and Internet Explorer, it now falls to Sun to persuade the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals not to intervene. In a 25-page filing submitted to the court yesterday, Sun claims that in allowing the injunction, Microsoft would still have plenty of time to incorporate Sun's technology, as the next shipping date for Windows falls within the 120-day period allowed - meaning Microsoft wouldn't have to worry about it until the next shipping date. ...more

80 per cent prefer email to phone

Eighty per cent of business people now prefer to communicate via email, rather than the phone, according to a new survey. The META Group found that the ability to communicate with multiple parties, speed and the retaining of a written record, were the top three reasons that respondents to the survey gave for preferring to type rather than talk. Seventy-four per cent added that they would be happier without a phone than they would without email. ...more

E-commerce grows with popularity

A new MORI survey reveals that two million people in the UK are now using the Internet to manage their money. This news comes despite fears about security and the recent online scares. The Internet financial services sector has grown by 11 per cent in the past year, with an estimated 6. ...more

Comment: ADSL price fixing

BT claims to have sorted ADSL costs, but the move is likely to hamper competition at the root of the UK's broadband infrastructure. Two years ago, the unbundling of the local loop was touted as the final hurdle in de-monopolising BT and providing the UK with a competitive Internet market in which network providers could compete to provide for the ISP community. As cheaper broadband is now with us, end users can't help but hope we're finally on track to meet Tony Blair's vision of Broadband Britain. ...more

Anti-theft phone shuts itself down

Japan's leading mobile telecoms company has launched a new phone that automatically disables itself when it becomes separated from its owner in a bid to cut theft. NTT DoCoMo's P903i handset comes with an Ashin Key, a Bluetooth wireless ID card that is placed in a wallet or bag. Once the phone is more than a few metres away from the card and can no longer detect it, it shuts down and locks. ...more