Microsoft to build Zune plant in China

Microsoft is building its own manufacturing plant in China to assemble a new version of the Zune portable media player. Among the criticisms aimed at the original Zune released in the US last November was that it was little more than a re-badged and repackaged Toshiba Gigabeat and contained little innovation, save a battery-hungry and DRM-encumbered wireless music sharing feature. Microsoft believes that having its own plant will give it greater control over the design and manufacture of the device, which has conspicuously failed to dent the popularity of Apple's iPod. ...more

NTL splits in financial restructuring

Internet service provider NTL is to split into two following a restructuring of its $17 billion debt. The process should be completed in August or September. NTL's UK and Irish operations will form one new company - possibly called NTL UK and Ireland - and will get $500m of new financing. ...more

Konica Minolta exits digital camera market

Konica Minolta has announced that it is withdrawing from the digital camera market and transferring its assets to Sony. The two companies have been jointly developing digital SLR cameras since July 2005 with the lenses and bodies being supplied by Konica Minolta. The transfer of assets will enable camera owners to continue to use Maxxum/Dynax lenses, which Sony has committed to supporting with compatible mounts in future camera models. ...more

ADSL broadband reaches 90 per cent of UK

ADSL broadband is now available for 90 per cent of UK homes and businesses, BT has announced. Twenty-two exchanges are being upgraded today to achieve what the company calls a 'significant milestone on the way to universal broadband availability'. BT expects 99. ...more

Microsoft releases January security update

Microsoft has delivered its batch of security bulletins for January. The latest 'Patch Tuesday' has seen the release of three fixes flagged as 'Critical'. Two of the three Critical patches affect Office, relating to corrupted data records, and the third is for Windows, affecting Internet Explorer. ...more