ISPs go back to the future

Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is back in the spotlight after Trade and Industry Committee's UK Broadband Market report casts doubt on the future of DataStream. The report damned BT's DataStream product as having gained little confidence from ISPs: 'The danger is that, because of a lack of confidence rather than a lack of demand, there is insufficient uptake of DataStream and it will ultimately be allowed to wither.' In short, because, BT was forced - rather than chose - to offer DataStream to create competition, ISPs are not convinced that telecom regulator Ofcom's will ensure that BT sets its prices at a point that makes it a commercially viable for them. ...more

Apple accelerates PowerBooks and iBooks

Apple has revamped its entire portable range, with updates to both the iBook and the PowerBook G4 placing the emphasis on speed. Neither machine has received any cosmetic changes, but specifications have been improved across the board. The PowerBook G4 range comprises a 550MHz 'Fast' and a 667MHz model; both have 256K of level 2 cache running at processor speed and the 667 will gain an significant performance boost from the accelerated system bus running at 133MHz. ...more

Analysis: Hitting the wrong note

When iTunes launched in the UK last year, the music download service promised to deliver the record industry from the evils of the file-sharing pirates and offer consumers an exciting new way to buy singles and albums. Although legal downloads jumped by 900 per cent in 2004, according to the industry body IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), and has a global value that Jupiter Research puts at more than ?200 million, downloading remains a drop in the ocean compared to the overall music market. What, experts are asking, is holding it back? The prime cause for consternation among many consumers stems from digital rights management (DRM). ...more

AOL buys video search company

If any further proof was needed that online video is the next gold rush on the web, AOL has bought up the privately held Californian startup Truveo. The announcement follows a week in which Google launched its video store and Apple announced stunning growth of the video content of iTunes with a million videos sold in its first month of operation. AOL has been tempted to buy Truveo because of its proprietary web crawling technology called 'Visual Crawling'. ...more

NTL signs 'exclusive' deal with Napster UK

The British cable operator NTL is to add Napster to its portfolio of broadband services. From the start of July, customers of the company's Broadband Plus can sign up to Napster for a free 30 day trial. Broadband Plus is available to subscribers of NTL's 600Kb and 1Mb broadband services. ...more