Amazon not the first to one-click

Amazon's patent of its one-click shopping service is looking shaky after a site called BountyQuest published previous examples of the technology. Amazon filed the patent in 1997, claiming to be the first company to store users' IDs and billing details so they wouldn't have to be re-entered each time at the checkout. The company is pursuing a lawsuit against rival bookstore Barnesandnoble. ...more

And also today (13-June-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. WAP is old hat Forget WAP, that's old hat it seems. The GSM Association, apparently speaking on behalf of the major mobile phone makers and operators, has announced the Mobile Services Initiative (M-Services). ...more

Symantec to launch phone security software this summer

Symantec has told PC Pro it will be launching smartphone security software this summer. The company will offer anti-virus software for both Symbian and Windows Mobile devices, as part of its Norton 2008 product refresh in late August. The company claims the threat level on mobiles now justifies its own security suite. ...more

New Orleans home brew WiFi network under threat

New Orleans, still struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina that struck last year, has come up with a way to restore Internet communications to the City. As the landline infrastructure is still devastated in parts of the city, the authorities have lashed together a 'mesh' WiFi network that is providing free 512K bandwidth to the residents. Based on a million dollars worth of donated equipment, the network uses hardware mounted on street lights. ...more

GSM network operators reject MPEG video DRM licensing terms

The international body representing some 800 GSM network operators and device makers has rejected licensing terms for digital rights management technology for MPEG video and called for a complete re-examination of DRM options for mobile devices. The GSM Association (GSMA) said that the terms for the Open Mobile Alliance's Digital Rights Management 1.0 standard proposed by MPEG LA are 'impractical, excessive and short-sighted', according to GSMA CEO Rob Conway. ...more