Consortiums circle BT

A German investment bank, WestLB, is leading a consortium to take BT's fixed-line network off its hands. The consortium has apparently already offered ?18bn for the take-over. While BT has not yet rejected the offer, the deal is not close to being done, as it is believed that WestLB has still to finalise the make-up of the consortium. ...more

Think tank recommends compulsory use of e-Government services

A new report from The Work Foundation recommends that Net-savvy users should have to use some e-services in order to boost the use and the money-saving benefits of paperless transactions. The report, SmartGov - renewing Electronic Government for Improved Service Delivery, says the government's current target of getting all services online by 2005 should be downgraded, with priority given to getting people to use them. Co-auther James Crabtree said: 'Some of the services Government has to put online to meet its 100 per cent target - from burial at sea to potato seed classification - begin to look a little peculiar when barely 3 per cent of those eligible are filling in their tax returns online. ...more

The 'cost conscious' get faster

AMD has upped the speed of the Duron, its processor for the 'mainstream' desktop market. Now clocking 1.3GHz, the new Duron - optimised for Windows XP and supporting Double Data Rate (DDR) memory - is priced at $118 in 1,000-unit quantities The release follows that of the Athlon 2000+, which hit the 'virtual' 2GHz mark hot on the heels of Intel pushing out its 2. ...more

Crucial unveils six new memory card readers

Crucial, generally better known as a RAM supplier, has unveiled six new memory card readers. They range from a USB 12-in-one reader (pictured) - whose four slots will read any of the following formats: Memory Stick Memory Stick Pro/Pro Duo (need sadapter)/Duo, Secure Digital, miniSD, MultiMediaCard, RS MMC (needs adapter), Smart Media, Microdrive, CompactFlash Type I/II - to single slot readers for reading one or two specific card types. In between there are eight and four card readers. ...more

Microsoft and Samsung strike patent licensing deal

Microsoft and Samsung have announced that they have entered into a broad patent cross-licensing agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Samsung will get access to Microsoft patents for technologies that are deployed in a range of current and future product lines - including computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders, televisions, printers and home appliances. In addition, Samsung and its distributors and customers may use Microsoft's patents in Samsung's products with proprietary software, and Samsung will also obtain legal coverage from Microsoft for its customers' use of certain Linux-based products. ...more