Mandrake reports record annual revenues

Paris-based Linux-vendor MandrakeSoft is reporting profitable full year results, with revenues jumping by half in the latter half of the year. The company's second half revenues jumped 49 per cent year on year to Euro 2.66mn and a 33 per cent full year revenue rise to Euro 5. ...more

IBM bags most US patents in 2006

Big Blue has topped the patent pile once again, earning 3,621 patents in the US in 2006. IBM outdid its own previous records and topped the patent list for the fourteenth consecutive year. While IBM was awarded 3,651 patents, Samsung was second with 2,452 and Canon was third with 2,378. ...more

Telcos attack EC regulation of roaming prices

The European Commission's proposals to regulate roaming prices for mobile phone calls are 'unprecedented, unnecessary and heavy-handed', according to the GSM Association, which represents more than 680 mobile operators in 213 countries. EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding will submit proposals next month to force network operators to cut the price of roaming - using a mobile phone in another country. It is a cost it considers to have been set artificially high. ...more

Brit surfers head for .co.uk sites first

British is best according to a survey of UK web users carried out by YouGov on behalf of domain registry Nominet. Some 62 per cent of those surveyed also believe that a UK suffix will mean that the site is more relevant to them, while a third believe that local domain names are essential in order to appeal to local customers. For example, when looking to buy books online, seven out of 10 surfers would head straight to www. ...more

Skype upgrades service; Vonage launches in the UK

Skype has announced version 1.1 of its Internet telephony service, adding new cosmetic flourishes and improved instant messaging features to put it better placed compared with other messaging rivals. While Skype had always touted its voice service as its key feature, critics pointed to its rather spartan instant messaging functions compared with rivals. ...more