New Bagle variants await instructions for control

New Bagle variants have been discovered and while they don't spread, they're just as dangerous as their mass-mailing siblings. Kaspersky says it has seen large numbers of the new Bagles and reports 15 variants of this latest version, differing in most part in the way they are packed, rather than the virus contained within. But F-Secure says there are at least two new variants of the Bagle worm. ...more

Microsoft touches the Surface

Microsoft has unveiled a coffee-table-shaped 'surface computer' in a major step towards co-founder Bill Gates's view of a future where the mouse and keyboard are replaced by more natural interaction using voice, pen and touch. Microsoft Surface, which has a 30in display under a hard-plastic tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for everything from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering off a virtual menu in a restaurant. It also recognises and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so cell phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by placing their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered round the table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on top. ...more

AOL grabs messaging patent

Instant messaging (IM) pioneer ICQ, now owned by AOL, has secured a patent that recognises it as the inventor of IM, in other word the use of networks to let multiple users see when others are online and communicate with them. In theory it could use this patent to sue its rivals in the increasingly important IM market, Yahoo! with and Microsoft (MSN). Recent improvements in IM security mean that it is increasingly supplementing and in some cases replacing email. ...more

UK to investigate e-government by digital TV

The UK government has outlines some policy guidelines on how it might deliver information and services by digital TV (DTV). It is estimated that 45 per cent of UK households now have DTV either through Freeview, cable or satellite and the government sees an opportunity to allow the public to communicate through the interactive services it can offer. It also gives a boost towards the government's promise of providing all its services electronically by 2005 - now little over a year away. ...more

Campaign targets in-cinema piracy

The UK Film Minister has launched a new campaign to prevent camcorder recording of movies as they are shown in cinemas. Shaun Woodward told industry executives at a conference hosted by The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and the Film Distributors' Association that the government is seeking to help build a UK film industry that is sustainable, stable and successful and that combating piracy is central to that. 'Film piracy is a crime, pure and simple,' he said. ...more