BT ups traffic allowance across its broadband

BT has increased the traffic allowances across its entire broadband portfolio. The new guidelines will come into effect on 15 October and in addition to raising the limits BT will no longer penalise or charge users who exceed them; instead frequent 'offenders' are contacted with a suggestion that they move to a service with a higher limit. The new limits are as follows: BT Broadband Basic - 2GB (currently 1GB); BT Broadband - 20GB (15GB); BT Yahoo! Broadband - the 15GB option rises to 20GB and the 30GB rises to 40GB. ...more

SQL Server drives Microsoft's record quarter

Record sales have powered Microsoft's latest quarterly financial results, with SQL Server gaining the garlands. The headline figures - for the third quarter ended 31 December 2005 - are record sales of $11.84 billion, a nine per cent increase over the same period a year ago, with profits reaching $3. ...more

IBM unveils ThinkPad T41 line, with new Active Protection System

The successor to the ThinkPad T40 line of IBM notebooks has been unveiled. And some of the T41 models feature what IBM describes as the world's first automatic hard-drive protection technology. It seems that the Active Protection System is similar in principle to the use of airbags in cars. ...more

UK joins campaign to stamp out spam 'zombies'

Twenty countries around the world have pledged to 'educate' their ISPs about the dangers of botnets and their role in the spread of spam. 'Operation Spam Zombies' will involve those countries and a further 16 government agencies have promised to send letters to more than 3,000 ISPs around the world. The letters will explain the dangers of zombie networks and urge the ISPs to introduce safeguards to prevent their customers' computers from being hijacked by spammers. ...more

Microsoft anoints XML as Office 12 format

XML will be the default file format for the next major version Office, currently codenamed 'Office 12', Microsoft has revealed. The change is signalled as one of the key innovations for the next release of the ubiquitous office productivity software. As well as introducing an XML format for PowerPoint, Microsoft is promising 'significantly enhanced XML formats' for Word and Excel. ...more