Billboard Magazine warns Apple of tolling bell

The US record industry bible is warning Apple to enjoy its dominance of digital music while it lasts, because it won't. Billboard Magazine believes that Apple's 'reign' will last at the most another 12 to 18 months because the iPod and iTunes alone cannot support the extent by which the downloads market is expected to grow. Why this is the case it does not make entirely clear, though the history of consumer electronics would suggest that the iPod cannot maintain an 80 per cent market share for ever, but it is right about what Apple's rivals must do. ...more

Thunderbird 0.3, Mozilla 1.5 released

The Mozilla Organisation has released updated versions of its standalone email client and its flagship Internet software. Thunderbird 0.3 [pictured] fixes a number of bugs, listed in the release notes, has improved stability and increased IMAP speed 'several times'. ...more

Creative's Apple suit deemed desperate

Creative is more likely to be the loser in the long run, even if it wins its patent lawsuit against Apple, according to analysts. Wall Street observers feel the legal action will distract management and drain cash from the task of turning Creative around and reversing its declining fortunes. 'The lawsuit will be a long process, and even if they win, any damages awarded will be a one-off gain,' CIMB-GK Securities analyst Jonathan Ng told Reuters. ...more

Novell and Microsoft 'agree to disagree'

The collaboration between Microsoft and Novell already appears to be crumbling to dust just weeks following the announcement. Novell has issued an open letter in which it asserts that signing a patent covenant with Microsoft not to sue each others' customers is not an admission of infringement. Barely hours later, Microsoft released a statement claiming the companies have 'agreed to disagree' over the issue. ...more

Microsoft settles up

Microsoft has settled two further class-action law suits brought by consumers in Columbia and Kansas for violating state anti-trust laws. Both settlements have been given preliminary approval and take the form of vouchers for hardware and software vouchers. Microsoft will keep half the value of any unclaimed vouchers and donate the remaining half to needy schools in the respective states. ...more