AOL suffers broadband slowdown

AOL has apologised for a 'slower than desirable' broadband service and assured users that it is working with BT to solve the problem. Users have been experiencing slowdown for about a week. According to The Mirror, some users were even experiencing speeds as low as 2Kb/s when using AOL's 512Kb service. ...more

Microsoft stands firm behind HD DVD

Microsoft has reiterated its confidence in its decision to back HD DVD over Blu-ray in the battle for supremacy of the high definition optical disc market. According to Chris Lewis, Microsoft's regional vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the man responsible for the company's Xbox 360 gaming console business in Europe, Blu-ray smacks of another technology developed by Sony. 'Blu-ray right now reminds us of another technology from Sony: Betamax,' Lewis told Spiegel Online. ...more

One million tax forms delivered by wires

The Inland Revenue has announced that it received over a million Self Assessment tax returns electronically in the year ending 31 Januay 2004. The taxman says that of the 1,079,298 online tax returns received, 689,264 were via the Internet, whilst the remaining 390,034 were via the Electronic Lodgement Service which uses approved third party software to deliver the assessments. Although dogged by problems in the early days, the Inland Revenue has improved the usability and reliability of the service so that many more people are comfortable filling in their self assessment forms online and with the knowledge that it hasn't been 'lost in the post'. ...more

Game controls for the Palm

If you enjoy playing games on your Palm but are sick of trying to blast the aliens using those tiny keys, Worldwide Widget Works will give you a hand. The company has developed a new device that clips onto the HotSync connector at the bottom of the Palm and sports a control assembly very similar to that of the Nintendo Gameboy. The new casing has a D-controller, two fire buttons and two controller buttons. ...more

Microsoft names IE7 winners with Firefox tools

Microsoft has announced the winners of its IE7 add-on development contest. In a back-handed compliment to Firefox, however, the main prize was scooped by Core Services for its mimicking of the open-source browser's search behaviour. The Inline Search add-on lets you search for content on a webpage without bringing up the Find Dialog. ...more