SIM card to credit card

Edinburgh-based software company Aspects Software has secured ?12m in funding to develop secure SIM cards allowing mobile users to pay for things using their handsets. The SecureSIM card is a product of mobEcom, a subsidiary of Aspects Software, and boasts a security level meeting the European standard ITSEC E6(H), which brings it in line with other credit, debit and charge products such as MasterCard and American Express. Users will not only be able to buy products at the touch of a button, but also pay their own phone bills and put credit on the handset they are using. ...more

UPDATED: BPI threatens UK music file sharers with court action

The UK record industry has warned music file sharers to stop or face court action. The BPI said that unauthorised swapping of music using peer-to-peer software such as Kazaa is illegal under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. It will be contacting individuals it suspects of making large numbers of songs available, asking them to desist. ...more

Microsoft previews XP-friendly shopping portal

Microsoft is entering the online shopping portal business with the introduction of the Windows Marketplace website. The site enables visitors to search for Windows XP products and compare prices before clicking off to their chosen vendor. Announced in July, Microsoft says that the 'preview' version of Windows Marketplace is intended to provide a single point find all things to do with Windows XP, both hardware and software. ...more

Sophos spots wild virus

Virus-eating virus on the prowl. Antivirus company Sophos has said it has had a report of the W32/Sahay-A in the wild that removes instances of a virus written by a rival. This new virus scans an infected system for the older W32/Yaha-K worm and attempts to remove it from the system as well as making snide comments about the virus author: 'Hi there. ...more

MSI introduces lines of Springdale motherboards

Micro-Star International (MSI) has introduced new Pentium 4-platform motherboards based on Intel's 865 (Springdale) series chipsets. For the product line using Intel's 865PE discrete chipset, MSI offers six models with different features. The Neo series consists of the 865PE Neo and 865PE Neo-L. ...more