Are Demo, similar conferences still relevant?

When Demo 09 kicks off Monday in Palms Springs, Calif., the high-technology showcase conference that prides itself on putting cutting edge companies in front of A-list venture capitalists and journalists will do so in perhaps the worst economic environment in modern tech history.

Exhibitors at Demo pay well into five figures for the privilege of giving a six-minute presentation to a room full of influencers--many of whom have paid up to $3,000 to be there. So one could wonder if the show can maintain its relevancy while companies are shedding record numbers of jobs, when credit is as tight as it's been in decades and in an era where tech firms have more ways to promote themselves than ever before.

Analyst: OLPC won't draw global PC makers

Whitebox vendors in the region may warm up to the One Laptop Per Child's (OLPC's) decision to open its design, according to market research analyst IDC.

Multinational PC makers, on the other hand, will continue their focus on mini-notebooks, Reuben Tan, IDC's senior manager for personal systems research in the Asia-Pacific region, told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview.

Earlier this month, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte announced the organization's intention to open source its hardware design and invite commercial PC makers to copy it. In an e-mail interview with ZDNet Asia, Negroponte said the OLPC intends to make open as many aspects of its next-generation XO laptop as possible.

Obama's budget blueprint bolsters cybersecurity

President Obama's proposed 2010 budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity division, programs that have faced significant criticism over the past year.

The budget includes $355 million to support the base operations of the National Cyber Security Division and the efforts of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. The money will largely be used to secure the nation's public and private information networks, although $36 million will support ongoing projects to improve surveillance technologies that detect advanced biological threats.

Sony reorganizes as president steps down

Sony has announced a major reorganization of its business divisions that sees chief executive and chairman Howard Stringer also become president.

The warning sound of TomTom

Commentary--If the patents at the heart of Microsoft's action against TomTom are the best the company can do, little wonder the company has declined to identify those at the heart of its Linux threats.

The TomTom claims cover such things as a multitasking computer on which you can run programs, in a car. A wireless internet-connected computer, in a car. And how to create long file names in the MS-DOS filing system a fix introduced in Windows 95 because MS-DOS is a direct descendent of 1974's vintage 8-bit CP/M operating system. A direct descendant? More a bastard child: MS-DOS helped itself freely to many of CP/M's design concepts, in some detail.

Hard times hit Bangalore

Inside the neo-modern building of a Bangalore outsourcing company, thousands of workers go through an unusual exercize each week.

As they arrive at work, they must pass a clipboard full of newspaper cuttings enumerating job losses at outsourcing companies in the city. MphasiS axes 200 in Bangalore, says one. Sun Microsystems lays off 150, Sapient cuts 300 and so on.

The company's strategy is having a curious impact on employees. As measured by company executives who do not want the firm's identity to be disclosed, workers are performing better, making less demands of the company and appearing to value their jobs more highly than before the clipboard went up.

BBC hires Yahoo exec as CTO

The BBC has hired Yahoo! executive John Linwood as its new CTO.

Linwood will be responsible for delivering the BBC's technology strategy, including maintenance of the technical infrastructure behind all BBC output and overseeing the corporation's IT requirements.

Also read: Yahoo's Bartz begins to clean house.

He joins the BBC from Yahoo!, where he was senior VP of international engineering, overseeing 1,600 staff across 22 countries, with responsibility for the development, deployment and delivery of Yahoo!'s services outside the U.S.

CIOs getting serious about social networking

Commentary--Let's face it, IT directors are always going to be cautious of investing in technologies that they consider to be fashionable, rather than the ones they can prove make a difference to the bottom line - and who can blame them?

Tinkering around at TechFest 2009

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft already has several tools that stitch together a bunch of smaller photos to create a larger representation. With Photosynth, Microsoft even uses a collection of still images to re-create a three-dimensional experience.

Safari dominates browser benchmarks

Proving itself a staggering 42 times faster at rendering JavaScript than IE 7, our benchmarks confirm Apple's Safari 4 browser, released in beta Tuesday, is the fastest browser on the planet. In fact, it beat Google's Chrome, Firefox 3, Opera 9.6 and even Mozilla's developmental Minefield browser.

We used the SunSpider suite of JavaScript tests to determine which browser was the quickest, and the Safari 4 beat every browser in terms of speed, on both a PC running Windows XP SP2, and a Mac running OS X 10.6 with all updates applied.

Peeping on celebrity files - How to gain control

Commentary--The natural curiosity of employees to view the private records of political figures and celebrities is leading to people losing their jobs or being criminally convicted.

Google clears up Atlantis debris

Guess this is the kind of tech news people really want to read.

CNET News had an overwhelming response to the post about Google denying that its Google Earth ocean-floor mapping software had unearthed the mythical sunken island of Atlantis.

How Amazon designed the Kindle 2

SEATTLE--Amazon wanted to make the Kindle 2 hot, but not too hot.

It gave it a slimmer design and more storage, but there are a lot of things Amazon could have added, but didn't. Things like a color display not only would make the device pricier and give it a shorter battery life, but would also make the gadget uncomfortable to hold.

U.S. lists top 20 security controls

A group of U.S. government security organizations has listed the top 20 security actions that they recommend organizations should take to improve computer security.

Called Twenty Most Important Controls and Metrics for Effective Cyber Defense and Continuous FISMA Compliance, the list was published on Monday by a conglomerate of U.S. government agencies, including the NSA, US-Cert, various U.S. Department of Defense computer security groups and security training organization Sans Institute.

How Amazon designed the Kindle 2

SEATTLE--Amazon wanted to make the Kindle 2 hot, but not too hot.

It gave it a slimmer design and more storage, but there are a lot of things Amazon could have added, but didn't. Things like a color display not only would make the device pricier and give it a shorter battery life, but would also make the gadget uncomfortable to hold.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

U.S. lists top 20 security controls

A group of U.S. government security organizations has listed the top 20 security actions that they recommend organizations should take to improve computer security.

Called Twenty Most Important Controls and Metrics for Effective Cyber Defense and Continuous FISMA Compliance, the list was published on Monday by a conglomerate of U.S. government agencies, including the NSA, US-Cert, various U.S. Department of Defense computer security groups and security training organization Sans Institute.

How Amazon designed the Kindle 2

SEATTLE--Amazon wanted to make the Kindle 2 hot, but not too hot.

It gave it a slimmer design and more storage, but there are a lot of things Amazon could have added, but didn't. Things like a color display not only would make the device pricier and give it a shorter battery life, but would also make the gadget uncomfortable to hold.

U.S. lists top 20 security controls

A group of U.S. government security organizations has listed the top 20 security actions that they recommend organizations should take to improve computer security.

Called Twenty Most Important Controls and Metrics for Effective Cyber Defense and Continuous FISMA Compliance, the list was published on Monday by a conglomerate of U.S. government agencies, including the NSA, US-Cert, various U.S. Department of Defense computer security groups and security training organization Sans Institute.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

Cloud: More important than the PC?

The advent of cloud computing could have a greater impact on public sector IT than the PC revolution did in the 1980s, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm).

The association for public sector IT professionals said the adoption of the technology is unstoppable, in much the same way as the adoption of PCs was decades ago once organizations realized their business benefits.

While the PC may have given managers their first taste of business computing through spreadsheets and word processing, cloud computing's combination of broad information sources with easy to use processing power - without the need for significant up-front costs or technical skills - could prove more revolutionary, Socitm believes.

Ubuntu: Karmic Koala to make cloud 'dance'

Extensive cloud-computing functionality will be built into Karmic Koala, the next version but one of Ubuntu, Canonical has announced.

Canonical chief Mark Shuttleworth introduced Karmic Koala on Friday, in a post on the Ubuntu site. That release of the Linux distribution, due in October, will follow the Jaunty Jackalope version that is expected in April.

Cloud computing lets companies set up their web-based services on third-party infrastructure, making those services available anywhere, while taking the processing load off client machines. A recent Evans Data survey suggested that 40 percent of open-source developers intend to write their applications for the cloud, partly due to lower infrastructural requirements and partly due to the greater computational capabilities associated with cloud computing.

Asia still on lookout for best IT talent

Employees once had a pick of the type of jobs they want, but the tide has changed and it is now an employers' market. However, even in the current economic landscape, organizations are finding it challenging to recruit the best talent.

E. Balaji, CEO of India-based recruitment agency Ma Foi Management Consultants, said: "We are seeing many companies use the current situation to hire good talent, as the expectations among candidates are now more manageable than it was a few quarters ago.

Microsoft 'elevates America' with free job training

Microsoft announced on Sunday a job training effort aimed at giving technical skills to as many as 2 million Americans over the next three years.

The most significant part of the program, in which Microsoft is offering free certification and other technical training, is being done in a phased approach, starting with Washington state. The second component of "Elevate America," available online immediately, is a Web site designed to help people with the basics such as creating a resume and send e-mail.

Researcher demonstrates SSL attack

A security researcher has demonstrated a way to hijack Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) sessions to intercept login data.

Moxie Marlinspike, who spoke at the Black Hat security conference on Wednesday, explained how to subvert an SSL session by performing a man-in-the-middle attack. The anarchist researcher explained in a YouTube video that the attack uses a tool developed called SSLstrip, which exploits the interface between http and https sessions.

Android lays low at Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona could have been an opportunity for Android to show progress, but Google's open-source operating system made only a limited showing.

EU to investigate VoIP tapping

An investigation into the possibility of tapping Internet telephony conversations has been launched by the European Union's Judicial Co-Operation Unit, also known as Eurojust.

Italy is leading the Europe-wide feasibility study, announced on Friday. The Italian government has cited concerns that organized criminals and arms and drug traffickers are using VoIP services such as Skype to avoid traditional, more easily-tapped phone networks.

New Zealand copyright protest blockades parliament

The fight over the controversial amendments to New Zealand's copyright law is heating up.

Thursday at noon, some 120 protesters descended upon the parliament in the capital, Wellington, and handed over an e-petition against the amendments with over 12,000 signatories, and a traditional one with 148 names, to the United Future party leader Peter Dunne.

Section 92A which will force ISPs to disconnect customers who have allegedly infringed copyright. The demonstrators were waving black placards reading "ISPs are not a court" and "Fair go, not Fear go".

Mozilla's mobile Fennec open to add-ons

Mozilla has been working for years on creating a handset version of its successful Firefox desktop browser. In April last year, however, it said it was making a fresh effort at moving Firefox onto phones and other handheld devices, naming the project 'Fennec'.

Open source traits lead to secure applications

SINGAPORE--The manner in which open source tools are developed lends a level of security assurance to the applications that are built on this model, said Sun Microsystems executives.

Roman Tuma, Asia South software practice managing director at Sun, noted that due to the inherent nature of open source, anyone can review the source codes to look for irregularities that could potentially harm users.

"I do see it as being more secure or more 'transparent' than proprietary software," Tuma said in an interview Wednesday, on the sidelines of this week's Open Source Singapore Pacific-Asia Conference here, where he was a speaker. The Sun executive is also a member of Singapore's National Authentication Framework Committee and the Philippines Ministry of Communication's Advisory Committee on Cyber Security.

TrapCall exposes anonymous cellphone callers

A service launched on Tuesday lets cell phone users unmask the Caller ID on anonymous calls.

TrapCall, which is offered by TelTech Systems, reveals the phone numbers of and, in some cases, the names and addresses of blocked Caller IDs. Toms River, N.J.-based TelTech is also the company behind the controversial SpoofCard, an Internet calling-card service that allows users to place calls in which originating caller numbers appear to be something completely different--like the White House switchboard.

Managed print services right for your business?

Commentary--From aerospace and defense contractors to financial services and healthcare providers, businesses are starting to realize the bottom line benefit to getting their output under control. They are doing this through Managed Print Services (MPS) a defined and mature strategy designed to help manage the volume of documents flowing through the organization and minimize the costs associated with printing, sharing and updating them.

Bill Gates donates $12.5M to help poor spend their money

Under a new plan backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the former Microsoft CEO's charitable organization, the mobile industry will be given a kickstart to give those in the developing regions their first bank account--on their mobiles.

The Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) scheme, also supported by mobile trade association the GSMA, aims to encourage operators and financial services companies to get mobile banking services out to the people who don't use bank accounts, as well as demonstrating the business case for doing so.

Toshiba snaps up Fujitsu HDD business

Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba has agreed to buy Fujitsu's hard-disk drive business, in a move aimed at expanding its footprint in the enterprise storage market.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Fujitsu did not reveal how much the deal is worth but said the transaction should be completed in the first quarter of its fiscal 2009, ending on 30 June this year.

Under the agreement, Fujitsu will transfer all its hard-disk drive (HDD)-related businesses and functions to the new company, including HDD design, development, manufacturing and sales. It will retain a 20 percent share for "a certain period of time", before the new HDD business unit becomes a wholly owned subsidiary under Toshiba, according to the statement.

Single charger coming for mobile phones

Major phone makers and mobile operators have agreed to adopt a single interface for handset chargers, the GSM Association announced on Tuesday.

By 2012, more than half of new handsets shipped will use Micro-USB as the interface for charging, the mobile trade body said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. People will be able to use a single charger to revive devices from the 17 manufacturers and operators participating in the initiative.

Ballmer praises openness, attacks iPhone

Companies in the mobile industry will need to be "open" to succeed, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday. However, he said, this may take place "in different ways and at different times", depending on the company.

Nuclear weapons lab loses 67 computers

U.S. officials are investigating the disappearance of 67 computers from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico, according to a nonprofit group that exposes government misconduct.

Of the missing computers, 13 were lost or stolen in the past year, including 3 taken from a scientist's home last month. A BlackBerry belonging to another worker was lost in a "sensitive foreign country," according to an internal Los Alamos Lab e-mail posted online by the Project On Government Oversight.

Skype strikes deal with Nokia

BARCELONA--Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.

On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones. Nokia will initially offer Skype on its high-end smartphones, the N-series. The N97, Nokia's flagship device that goes on sale in June, will be the first to have Skype embedded. The Skype feature will start shipping on the device in the third quarter of 2009.

Skype strikes deal with Nokia

BARCELONA--Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.

On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones. Nokia will initially offer Skype on its high-end smartphones, the N-series. The N97, Nokia's flagship device that goes on sale in June, will be the first to have Skype embedded. The Skype feature will start shipping on the device in the third quarter of 2009.

Skype strikes deal with Nokia

BARCELONA--Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.

On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones. Nokia will initially offer Skype on its high-end smartphones, the N-series. The N97, Nokia's flagship device that goes on sale in June, will be the first to have Skype embedded. The Skype feature will start shipping on the device in the third quarter of 2009.

Mozilla shifts code development to the cloud

The Mozilla Foundation's Developer Tools Lab, formed in October, has released its first prototype project - a web-based, collaborative code-editing framework named Bespin, after the planet where Cloud City is located in the Star Wars universe.

Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, the leaders of the Developer Tools Lab, said the aim of the project is to follow the example of tools such as Google Apps in shifting desktop-based tasks to the Internet.

Mozilla shifts code development to the cloud

The Mozilla Foundation's Developer Tools Lab, formed in October, has released its first prototype project - a web-based, collaborative code-editing framework named Bespin, after the planet where Cloud City is located in the Star Wars universe.

Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, the leaders of the Developer Tools Lab, said the aim of the project is to follow the example of tools such as Google Apps in shifting desktop-based tasks to the Internet.

Mozilla shifts code development to the cloud

The Mozilla Foundation's Developer Tools Lab, formed in October, has released its first prototype project - a web-based, collaborative code-editing framework named Bespin, after the planet where Cloud City is located in the Star Wars universe.

Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, the leaders of the Developer Tools Lab, said the aim of the project is to follow the example of tools such as Google Apps in shifting desktop-based tasks to the Internet.

Mozilla shifts code development to the cloud

The Mozilla Foundation's Developer Tools Lab, formed in October, has released its first prototype project - a web-based, collaborative code-editing framework named Bespin, after the planet where Cloud City is located in the Star Wars universe.

Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, the leaders of the Developer Tools Lab, said the aim of the project is to follow the example of tools such as Google Apps in shifting desktop-based tasks to the Internet.

U.S. and Russian satellites collide

In an unprecedented space collision, a commercial Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian satellite ran into each other Tuesday above northern Siberia, creating a cloud of wreckage, officials said today. The international space station does not appear to be threatened by the debris, they said, but it's not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other military or civilian satellites.

Together in harmony: Mac and PC

Shortly after I bought a MacBook, I posted an (unpopular) article in which I vented about learning and using the new platform. I'd been a Windows guy for 20 years, and although I knew a transition to OS X would require effort, I didn't expect it to be quite so frustrating.

Linux Silverlight implementation goes live

Moonlight 1.0, the first open-source implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight rich media technology, has gone live.

Moonlight forms part of the Novell-led Mono project, the lead developer of which is Miguel de Icaza. De Icaza announced the full release of Moonlight 1.0, which went into public beta at the start of December, in a blog post on Wednesday.

However, according to a Twitter post, or 'tweet', made by de Icaza on Wednesday: "Moonlight 1.0 actually shipped on 20 January for the Obama inauguration [but Novell's] PR/marketing [employees] were just not notified".

Report: Apple nixed Android's multitouch

One of the chief complaints about Google's Android is its lack of multitouch support.

Now, according to a VentureBeat report by M.G. Siegler, we may have an idea of why Google skipped the feature on its mobile operating system:

Fixing cable in the Outback - floods, Hercules and crocs

Last week, Australian phone giant Telstra temporarily fixed a cable cut in the Kimberley region in an operation involving a C130 Hercules and a baby crocodile.

No word on made-in-Asia 32nm Intel chips

Intel has pledged to suit up its manufacturing facilities in the United States to support 32-nanometer processing, but it is not clear if the chipmaker has plans to invest in similar capabilities in Asia.

In a telephone briefing with regional media Wednesday, Stephen Smith, Intel's vice president and director of digital enterprise group operations, reiterated the company's roadmap, including its plans to roll out the first processors based on 32-nm technology by the fourth quarter of 2009.

Large Hadron Collider delayed again

The Large Hadron Collider could be restarted at the end of September a year after the world's largest particle accelerator was knocked off line by an electrical malfunction.

LHC operations were suspended last September after a transformer malfunction in its cooling system allowed a helium leak just nine days after the project became operational. An investigation concluded that the malfunction was caused by a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator's magnets.

Kaspersky denies leaks after SQL hack

Russian antivirus vendor Kaspersky Labs's US website was hacked over the weekend, exposing the company's customer database, but Kaspersky has denied data was compromised and says the vulnerability wasn't critical. An unidentified hacker reported over the weekend that he was able to access a complete profile of the company's databases, revealing its clients' names, activation codes, list of bugs the company tracks and client email addresses. The hacker claimed to have hacked Kaspersky Labs's databases using an SQL injection attack, which exploits a vulnerability in an application's database layer. The method has become a popular means to gain information via web-facing applications or as a way to use popular websites to spread malicious software. Microsoft's UK website came under a similar attack in 2007 when hackers used an SQL injection to inject HTML code which seemingly defaced its web pages. The Kaspersky hacker, who published their finding on the Hackersblog.org website, has since said that confidential data would not be released. "[The] Kaspersky team doesn't need to worry about us spreading their confidential stuff. Our staff will never save or keep any confidential data. We just point our fingers to big websites with security problems," they reported. Kaspersky Labs has admitted that a subsection of its usa.kaspersky.com domain was vulnerable last Saturday when a hacker "attempted an attack on the site". "The site was only vulnerable for a very brief period, and upon detection of the vulnerability we immediately took action to roll back the subsection of the site and the vulnerability was eliminated within 30 minutes of detection. The vulnerability wasn't critical and no data was compromised from the site," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs

The credit crunch has claimed another scalp, with the news that tech giant Panasonic is looking to lose around five percent of its workforce following an increase in projected losses for the current financial year.

According to the New York Times the company will be looking to shed 15,000 jobs – half of which will be of workers based in Japan – as a result of losses of 380 billion yen (£2.85 billion) in the financial year leading up to March 31st, up from the 360 billion yen the company was hoping for.

Bethesda delays Fallout 3 DLC

Bethesda has formally announced delays to the planned release of the next Fallout 3 expansions, dubbed The Pitt and Broken Steel.

The announcement, made via Gamespot, pushes the release back for both pieces of DLC by one month.

The Pitt, which is focused around a ruined factory in Pittsburgh, is now going to be released in March, while Broken Steel will be available in April. Broken Steel

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Battlefield Heroes due out before April

According to Electronic Arts' financial documents, Battlefield Heroes, the free-to-play multiplayer shooter will be released no later than 31st March 2009.

The game has been in and out of beta for quite some time following heavily delays - there have been rumours that the game was cancelled, too.

At the end of January, developer Dice started accepting signups again for a new phase of beta testing, which confirms that the game is still on track for release.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs

The credit crunch has claimed another scalp, with the news that tech giant Panasonic is looking to lose around five percent of its workforce following an increase in projected losses for the current financial year.

According to the New York Times the company will be looking to shed 15,000 jobs – half of which will be of workers based in Japan – as a result of losses of 380 billion yen (£2.85 billion) in the financial year leading up to March 31st, up from the 360 billion yen the company was hoping for.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs

The credit crunch has claimed another scalp, with the news that tech giant Panasonic is looking to lose around five percent of its workforce following an increase in projected losses for the current financial year.

According to the New York Times the company will be looking to shed 15,000 jobs – half of which will be of workers based in Japan – as a result of losses of 380 billion yen (£2.85 billion) in the financial year leading up to March 31st, up from the 360 billion yen the company was hoping for.

Bethesda delays Fallout 3 DLC

Bethesda has formally announced delays to the planned release of the next Fallout 3 expansions, dubbed The Pitt and Broken Steel.

The announcement, made via Gamespot, pushes the release back for both pieces of DLC by one month.

The Pitt, which is focused around a ruined factory in Pittsburgh, is now going to be released in March, while Broken Steel will be available in April. Broken Steel

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Battlefield Heroes due out before April

According to Electronic Arts' financial documents, Battlefield Heroes, the free-to-play multiplayer shooter will be released no later than 31st March 2009.

The game has been in and out of beta for quite some time following heavily delays - there have been rumours that the game was cancelled, too.

At the end of January, developer Dice started accepting signups again for a new phase of beta testing, which confirms that the game is still on track for release.

Battlefield Heroes due out before April

According to Electronic Arts' financial documents, Battlefield Heroes, the free-to-play multiplayer shooter will be released no later than 31st March 2009.

The game has been in and out of beta for quite some time following heavily delays - there have been rumours that the game was cancelled, too.

At the end of January, developer Dice started accepting signups again for a new phase of beta testing, which confirms that the game is still on track for release.

Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs

The credit crunch has claimed another scalp, with the news that tech giant Panasonic is looking to lose around five percent of its workforce following an increase in projected losses for the current financial year.

According to the New York Times the company will be looking to shed 15,000 jobs – half of which will be of workers based in Japan – as a result of losses of 380 billion yen (£2.85 billion) in the financial year leading up to March 31st, up from the 360 billion yen the company was hoping for.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Bethesda delays Fallout 3 DLC

Bethesda has formally announced delays to the planned release of the next Fallout 3 expansions, dubbed The Pitt and Broken Steel.

The announcement, made via Gamespot, pushes the release back for both pieces of DLC by one month.

The Pitt, which is focused around a ruined factory in Pittsburgh, is now going to be released in March, while Broken Steel will be available in April. Broken Steel

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Far Cry 2 gets hardcore mode update

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new patch for Far Cry 2 that will add in a new game mode to the game at the request of the community.

"A lot of questions have been raised on the forums about a hardcore mode feature," said a Ubisoft spokesperson on the official forums.

"Today we are happy to confirm that you will be able to enjoy this new mode on all platforms with our next wave of patches.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Battlefield Heroes due out before April

According to Electronic Arts' financial documents, Battlefield Heroes, the free-to-play multiplayer shooter will be released no later than 31st March 2009.

The game has been in and out of beta for quite some time following heavily delays - there have been rumours that the game was cancelled, too.

At the end of January, developer Dice started accepting signups again for a new phase of beta testing, which confirms that the game is still on track for release.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Intel cuts its prices of solid-state drives

Intel has cut the prices of many of its solid-state drives by around a third, claiming that its SSD production is now fully up and running.

In the manufacturer's notebook and client-targeting X25-M range, the 160GB version has been cut from $945 (644) to $765 (521), while the 80GB version has been cut from $595 (405) to $390 (266). In the enterprise and server-oriented X25-E range, the 32GB model has been cut from $695 (473) to $415 (283) Intel has also announced for the first time the pricing for the 64GB model in that range, which costs $795 (542) and has not yet seen a price cut.

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Report: China's IT spending remains strong

Boosted by government initiatives and green spending, China's IT market in 2009 will only be minimally affected by the global economic slowdown, according to a new report from Springboard Research.

IT spending in the country will reach US$51.2 billion in 2009, a year-on-year growth of 11 percent, the research firm said in a statement Friday. This is only 2 percent shy of Springboard's previous estimate of 13.1 percent growth, or US$52.1 billion.

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Gmail sets up multiple inboxes

Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs feature that allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view.

The new feature called Multiple Inboxes allows users to have multiple viewing panes open simultaneously without having to open another browser window. The upgrade to the web email software gives users a quick view of important labels as well as of saved searches.

Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' Costache explained in a company blog post why he used his '20 percent time' to develop the Gmail feature:

Are drunk Facebook photos killing your job prospects?

Who's poking around your Facebook profile? If you're looking for a new job, it could well be the HR boss considering your application.

A survey of HR and business managers in the United Kingdom has revealed almost a third (32 percent) search the Internet and check social networking Web sites to gather background and behavior information on potential recruits and existing employees.

Meanwhile, a quarter (24 percent) said they have been put off a new hire by what they found--with drunken photos and rude comments being the biggest turn-offs.

Intel delays next Itanium server chip again

Intel has again delayed the latest version of its Itanium server chip, codenamed Tukwila, which was originally supposed to appear towards the end of last year.

The 65nm processor's release date had already been moved, to the first quarter of 2009. It has now been pushed back again, this time to the middle of this year. A spokesperson for Intel told ZDNet UK on Friday that the rescheduling was caused by its desire to have Tukwila support industry-standard, scalable, buffered DDR3 memory, which it wants enabled across Intel's whole server line-up. The previously specified memory technology for Tukwila was FB-DIMM .

You need a game plan for customer communications

Commentary--In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted an amended Telemarketer Sales Rule (TSR) citing consumer protection against unwanted marketing communications.

TED Conference: Gates, Gore, robot wars

Bill Gates released mosquitoes into the audience, Naturally 7 recreated the sound of musical instruments with their voices, and Al Gore admonished the coal industry for its "clean" image campaign.

All in all, it was just another day at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference, a premiere and exclusive gathering of visionaries and luminaries.

The day started on a sobering note with Juan Enriquez, a philosopher and researcher, who explored how the U.S. economy is floundering but encouraged people to "dance through the flames" and focus on the long term. Enriquez also talked about fascinating discoveries in the areas of biotechnology and robotics. His prediction: The planet is headed toward a day when "homo evolutis" will dominate--a time when humans will have direct control over the development of people and othe species.

Microsoft offers to just 'Fix it'

When people encounter a problem with their PC, they often go to the Web and do a search to see if others have had the problem. If they are lucky, someone has found a fix and listed the steps on either a support document or within a user forum.

Now, they may have an even better option.

Over the past six weeks, Microsoft has quietly added a "Fix it" button to a few of the thousands of help documents on its Web site. When clicked, the computer then takes all the recommended steps automatically.

HP ditches Linux netbooks in Europe

HP has dropped Linux as an operating-system option for its latest netbooks in the UK market.

An HP spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Thursday that it will not offer the Linux version of the new HP Mini 1000 in "quite a few of the European markets", including the UK. The netbook, which was launched in October, was planned to go on sale in all versions this month. In fact, British customers cannot buy any version of the Mini 1000 other than the designer, premium-priced Vivienne Tam edition. That version, which comes only with Windows XP, is already on sale for about $649.

MySQL founder leaves Sun

Monty Widenius, the original author of the MySQL database server, has resigned from Sun Microsystems after months of protracted discussions about his career.

In a blog post, Widenius cited the botched release of MySQL 5.1 as the motivation for him to offer his immediate resignation back in August 2008.

Intel research: Fast radios, flashy chips, low power

Intel is concentrating on integration rather than acceleration, according to the fifteen papers it will be presenting at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference next week in San Francisco.

Among the various inventions, the company is showing off a low power, high speed data demodulator that can shift around 3Gbps at 50 milliwatts, based around seven-bit analogue to digital converters built in 45nm CMOS. That's intended for use on the new 60GHz band, where it'll be able to move a DVD in around 15 seconds.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Lenovo CEO steps down

Lenovo President and CEO William Amelio resigned Thursday after the Chinese PC maker reported a $97 million loss in the third quarter of 2008, ended Dec. 31.

In a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Lenovo's board of directors said Yang Yuanqing has relinquished his role as chairman to replace Amelio as CEO, effective Feb. 5, 2009. Yang will remain as an executive director, and had served as the company's CEO until April 2005 when he was appointed board chairman.

Panasonic to shed 15,000 jobs

Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic is to lay off about 15,000 staff because of the global recession, the company has announced.

Half the layoffs are in Japan, with the rest of the cuts being made globally, a Panasonic spokeswoman told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. The staff reductions are to be made by March 2010.

In addition, Panasonic announced that 27 factories will close worldwide 13 in Japan and 14 around the world.

Lenovo CEO steps down

Lenovo President and CEO William Amelio resigned Thursday after the Chinese PC maker reported a $97 million loss in the third quarter of 2008, ended Dec. 31.

In a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Lenovo's board of directors said Yang Yuanqing has relinquished his role as chairman to replace Amelio as CEO, effective Feb. 5, 2009. Yang will remain as an executive director, and had served as the company's CEO until April 2005 when he was appointed board chairman.

Lenovo CEO steps down

Lenovo President and CEO William Amelio resigned Thursday after the Chinese PC maker reported a $97 million loss in the third quarter of 2008, ended Dec. 31.

In a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Lenovo's board of directors said Yang Yuanqing has relinquished his role as chairman to replace Amelio as CEO, effective Feb. 5, 2009. Yang will remain as an executive director, and had served as the company's CEO until April 2005 when he was appointed board chairman.

Lenovo CEO steps down

Lenovo President and CEO William Amelio resigned Thursday after the Chinese PC maker reported a $97 million loss in the third quarter of 2008, ended Dec. 31.

In a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Lenovo's board of directors said Yang Yuanqing has relinquished his role as chairman to replace Amelio as CEO, effective Feb. 5, 2009. Yang will remain as an executive director, and had served as the company's CEO until April 2005 when he was appointed board chairman.

Five alternative careers for IT pros

Considering a career change? Book author Janice Weinberg points out some of the paths open to IT workers.

Thanks to recession-related layoffs and heightened competition in the job market as companies reduce their technology expenditures, career development has come to center stage for many IT workers.

Given the dampened mood in the IT sector many may even be considering a career change - but are unsure how their technical and business expertise could be used elsewhere.

Lenovo CEO steps down

Lenovo President and CEO William Amelio resigned Thursday after the Chinese PC maker reported a $97 million loss in the third quarter of 2008, ended Dec. 31.

In a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Lenovo's board of directors said Yang Yuanqing has relinquished his role as chairman to replace Amelio as CEO, effective Feb. 5, 2009. Yang will remain as an executive director, and had served as the company's CEO until April 2005 when he was appointed board chairman.

Five alternative careers for IT pros

Considering a career change? Book author Janice Weinberg points out some of the paths open to IT workers.

Thanks to recession-related layoffs and heightened competition in the job market as companies reduce their technology expenditures, career development has come to center stage for many IT workers.

Given the dampened mood in the IT sector many may even be considering a career change - but are unsure how their technical and business expertise could be used elsewhere.

Five alternative careers for IT pros

Considering a career change? Book author Janice Weinberg points out some of the paths open to IT workers.

Thanks to recession-related layoffs and heightened competition in the job market as companies reduce their technology expenditures, career development has come to center stage for many IT workers.

Given the dampened mood in the IT sector many may even be considering a career change - but are unsure how their technical and business expertise could be used elsewhere.

Malware distributed by fake parking tickets

A malware infection was propagated through flyers put on windshields in Grand Forks, North Dakota, reports SANS institute.

The flyers were fake parking violation notices, and instructed people to visit a website (which SANS did not publicize). Once they visited the website, they were infected with a malicious browser helper object.

From the post:

"The initial program installed itself as a browser helper object (BHO) for Internet Exploter that downloaded a component from childhe.com and attempted to trick the victim into installing a fake anti-virus scanner from bestantispyware securityscan.com and protectionsoft warecheck.com."

Mozilla swats bugs with Firefox 3.0.6

Mozilla on Tuesday released an update to Firefox that its developers said addresses several security and stability issues in the web browser.

Version 3.0.6 fixes six bugs, the worst of which is a JavaScript issue affecting the browser's layout engine that developers labelled as critical. The vulnerability, which also affects Mozilla's Thunderbird email client and SeaMonkey Internet Suite, could allow an attacker to run unauthorized code on exploited machines, Mozilla said.

Windows 7 editions revealed

If you've been hoping that Windows 7 might heal some of the divisions Windows Vista caused with its multifarious and often confusing editions, think again: the new OS is due to ship in no less than six different versions.

According to an article over on Engadget, Microsoft is due to launch six individual versions of Windows 7 – while aptly demonstrating that it didn't learn from the outcry over Windows Vista's confusing licensing.

Cox to experiment with prioritisation

Cox Communications – believed by many to be the second largest blocker of P2P Internet traffic in the US – is planning to implement a new method of managing its bandwidth congestion problems.

According to BetaNews, the company is looking in to methods for limiting the impact peer-to-peer file sharing traffic has on real-time communication protocols – which may spell the end for its outright blocking policy, and more joy for its customers. The move will also come as a pleasurable surprise to the Federal Communications Commission, which sanctioned the company last year for injecting packets into P2P datastreams that resulted in the connection being dropped – without telling its customers that it was doing so.

Ubi: No DLC for Prince of Persia PC

Ubisoft has today confirmed that although there's some substantial new downloadable content for Prince of Persia heading to consoles, there'll be no DLC released for the PC version of the game.

Titled Prince of Persia: Epilogue, the first set of downloadable content is set to expand greatly on the ending to the game and give players a chance to continue to explore the fiction created by Ubisoft Montreal. It's planned for release on February 26th - on consoles that is.

EA delays PC release of Dragon Age

Electronic Arts has today announced that it will be delaying three key titles for 2009, including the PC release of Dragon Age: Origins. Though no specific reason for the delays has been announced, it could well be to do with the fact that the publisher has been forced to close 12 facilities today after posting a £445 million GBP loss in just the third quarter of last year.

According to GI.biz the company is laying off 11 percent of it's total workforce, with redundancies hitting all levels of the company. More than 1100 members of staff will be out of work by the end of it.

Crytek buys Free Radical

Things have gone a bit pear-shaped lately for the Nottingham-based developer of Timesplitters and Haze, Free Radical Design - but according to game scriptwriter and one-time bit-tech.net columnist Rob Yescombe, the company may finally be out of the woods after being bought by Crytek.

Speaking to 1-UP.com the Haze writer confirmed that Crytek had bought the company for an undisclosed amount.

DoD launches SourceForge-alike

The US Department of Defense has founded its own version of SourceForge to help co-ordinate its contributions to open source software.

As reported this weekend over on CNet, the new site – Forge.mil – has been created as the US military's version of popular open source site SourceForge.net.

Where the site differs from its more public-oriented cousin is in data security: the code repository requires two-factor authentication via smart cards in order to meet DoD security requirements, and prevent naughty types from inserting code in military projects.

Bomber threatens to destroy Bomberman developer

A Japanese gamer has been arrested by Metropolitan police after making several threats to fire-bomb the headquarters of Japanese videogame company Hudson Soft.

The 29-year old gamer is still unnamed, but apparently worked as a courier in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, says Kotaku.

The suspect allegedly started threatening Hudson Soft as early as October 2008, with aggressive letters to the developer and publisher continuing until January 16th 2009. In the letters the suspect threatened to bomb Hudson's headquarters a total of 11 times, saying in emails that he would send a letter bomb to the company unless 80 trillion yen was bought to JR Takamatsu Station, near where the suspect worked.

New Tron game planned by Disney

Disney Interactive is apparently planning to release a new Tron game to tie-in with the upcoming sequel to the 1984 sci-fi movie starring Jeff Bridges.

The sequel to original movie is set to star Garret Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, with Jeff Bridges also making a return. It's idiotically titled 'T2RN' and is listed for a 2011 release.

The game is to enter development shortly and will see a release alongside the film, according to Variety, who express concern that Disney Interactive is starting new projects while also laying off staff. The article also mentions Warren Spector's new project with Disney, which is rumoured to be a platformer starring Mickey Mouse - possibly a remake of

Home Theatre PC Buyer's Guide - Q1 2009

First Choice: J&W Minix 780G
UK Pricing:£96.54 (Inc. VAT)
US Pricing:$179.20 (ex. Tax)

Based on the excellent AMD 780G chipset, our current little favourite is still the J&W Minix motherboard. This little wonder was the base for Nick's Mod of the Year winning Chiaroscuro and has tonnes of functionality compressed into its 17x17cm PCB. The feature set includes four SATA, HDMI, DVI, VGA, eSATA, S/PDIF and a PCI-Express x16 (x4 electrical) - everything you'd expect from a high end board, and more.

Home Theatre PC Buyer's Guide - Q1 2009

First Choice: J&W Minix 780G
UK Pricing:£96.54 (Inc. VAT)
US Pricing:$179.20 (ex. Tax)

Based on the excellent AMD 780G chipset, our current little favourite is still the J&W Minix motherboard. This little wonder was the base for Nick's Mod of the Year winning Chiaroscuro and has tonnes of functionality compressed into its 17x17cm PCB. The feature set includes four SATA, HDMI, DVI, VGA, eSATA, S/PDIF and a PCI-Express x16 (x4 electrical) - everything you'd expect from a high end board, and more.

Skype 4.0 for Windows delivers truer video, sound

Skype 4.0 became available for free on Tuesday to Windows users. The free desktop VoIP communicator is a worthy final version that brings some key enhancements with video and audio bandwidth, though it leaves behind some of the extra adornments of version 3.8, the last stable build.

Those who have been following the triple release of betas since the summer won't see more than a few changes. If 4.0 is new to you, however, the developments are more notable.

India will still enjoy IT growth this year

India's IT industry will show "strong resilience" in spite of the current economic climate, with spending projected to grow 14.1 percent this year.

According to a Springboard Research report released Tuesday, the Indian IT market will not be as severely affected by the downturn as economies in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets such as Japan and Korea.

In fact, IT spending in India will still expand by 14.1 percent in 2009, albeit at a slower rate than the 18.1 percent growth it clocked last year, the research firm predicted.

Home Theatre PC Buyer's Guide - Q1 2009

First Choice: J&W Minix 780G
UK Pricing:£96.54 (Inc. VAT)
US Pricing:$179.20 (ex. Tax)

Based on the excellent AMD 780G chipset, our current little favourite is still the J&W Minix motherboard. This little wonder was the base for Nick's Mod of the Year winning Chiaroscuro and has tonnes of functionality compressed into its 17x17cm PCB. The feature set includes four SATA, HDMI, DVI, VGA, eSATA, S/PDIF and a PCI-Express x16 (x4 electrical) - everything you'd expect from a high end board, and more.

Skype 4.0 for Windows delivers truer video, sound

Skype 4.0 became available for free on Tuesday to Windows users. The free desktop VoIP communicator is a worthy final version that brings some key enhancements with video and audio bandwidth, though it leaves behind some of the extra adornments of version 3.8, the last stable build.

Those who have been following the triple release of betas since the summer won't see more than a few changes. If 4.0 is new to you, however, the developments are more notable.

Majority of vulnerabilities go unpatched, IBM

More than half of the security vulnerabilities disclosed during 2008 had no patches available from the vendor by the end of the year, according to a report released on Monday by IBM's X-Force research group. Meanwhile, 46 percent of vulnerabilities from 2006 and 44 percent from 2007 still had no patch by the end of 2008, the 2008 X-Force Trend and Risk report said. X-Force documented a record number of 7,406 new vulnerabilities last year.

Majority of vulnerabilities go unpatched, IBM

More than half of the security vulnerabilities disclosed during 2008 had no patches available from the vendor by the end of the year, according to a report released on Monday by IBM's X-Force research group. Meanwhile, 46 percent of vulnerabilities from 2006 and 44 percent from 2007 still had no patch by the end of 2008, the 2008 X-Force Trend and Risk report said. X-Force documented a record number of 7,406 new vulnerabilities last year.

Five cloud computing myths exploded

Cloud computing is one of the most overhyped phenomena to have hit the IT industry in a long time. It is a business model that definitely has its advantages. The trouble is vendors of all sizes and stripes are so desperate for a piece of the cloud action, they are willing to blur distinctions and fudge definitions for their own ends.

Their headlong pursuit has saddled cloud computing with so many misconceptions that it is sometimes difficult for customers to make informed business choices. ZDNet UK has looked at the most common myths, and debunks five of them here.

Ex-Fannie Mae programmer says not guilty of virus

A 35-year-old computer programmer pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that he planted a computer virus designed to destroy all the data on 4,000 Fannie Mae computer servers.

Crackers steal Monster.com database

In what must feel like a final kick in the teeth for the recently redundant, job site Monster.com is warning users that crackers have breached their servers and made off with personal data.

According to an article on BetaNews, the company has been breached by persons unknown with databases containing details of its customers – including names, user details, passwords, e-mail addresses, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and what the company described as "