IBM drops some counterclaims against SCO

IBM has dropped a number of counterclaims against its opponent SCO because it believes it is not economically worthwhile to do so. In other words, SCO is too small a fish to fry for a slice of its sales. The decision to drop four of IBM's patent counterclaims surfaced in a document filed Thursday in opposition to SCO's requests for an additional 25 depositions. ...more

Coming to a handset near you, Mobile Explorer 3.0

As well as announcing its "Stinger" system, Microsoft has used the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes to officially release Mobile Explorer 3.0, which provides WAP 2.0 functionality. ...more

How are you at leet lingo?

Most parents like to think they're a pretty contemporary bunch. They can tough out teenage mumbling and have mastered text speak, but how are they at leet lingo? Although technology is available to allow intrusive parents to keep an eye on their little script-kiddies, the leet lingo barrier has pricked Microsoft's social conscience. It has now published a guide to online slang, or leetspeak, in the hope of bringing families closer together. ...more

Telewest abandons ADSL plans

Cable company Telewest yesterday announced that it was withdrawing from the local loop unbundling process and will not be providing ADSL services. The company claims that the process, in which they put their equipment into BT local exchanges, would be too costly and it was not prepared to invest the millions of pounds it would take to roll out the service. Analysts have projected that it would take ?800 million from Telewest to provide an ADSL service, a price the company was not prepared to pay. ...more

Sun sets on $1billion loss

Sun Microsystems has announced that it is to take a $1 billion hit on its fourth quarter 2003 earnings. This is due to a $1,051 million tax charge that, the company estimates, will plunge the system builder deep into the red this quarter. According to US law a company can defer taxes whilst it is making losses to some time in the future when (hopefully) it is back in the black. ...more