US trade agency to probe Samsung-Sharp spat

The International Trade Commission had agreed to look into Samsung's claims of patent infringement against Japanese rival Sharp

Hacker Gonzalez pleads guilty to further breaches

Albert Gonzalez has pleaded guilty to breaches at companies including Heartland Payment Systems and convenience-store chain 7-Eleven

Apple wins iPod hearing-loss lawsuit

A San Francisco appeals court has upheld a previous ruling that Apple's iPod cannot be held responsible for hearing loss

Green-tech investment shrinks in 2009

Green technology is still attracting venture capital, but the amount of money has shrunk significantly as investors focus on start-ups with the most potential

McAfee: Facebook, Twitter targets for attack in 2010

McAfee Labs 2010 Threat Predictions report warns of increased attacks on social networks, as well as Adobe Reader and Google's Chrome OS

Microsoft denies IIS vulnerability claims

The software giant says it has investigated claims of a flaw in Internet Information Services 6, but has found 'no vulnerability'

Nokia hits Apple with new patent-violation complaint

The Finnish company alleges that Apple infringes seven Nokia patents 'in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers'

BT may take legal action over gov't broadband plans

The company may seek a court review of government spectrum plans designed to extend 3G broadband coverage

Firefox 3.6, 4.0 deadlines pushed back

The newest version of the open-source browser is now due to arrive in the first quarter of 2010, and a major update might not arrive until 2011

Chinese author plans lawsuit over Google Books

Google will face a lawsuit in China over allegations that it scanned a book by a prominent Chinese author into the Google Books library without explicit permission

GSM crypto code cracked, says computer engineer

Karsten Nohl claims to have deciphered the secret algorithm used to encrypt most of the world's mobile phone calls

Consumer groups object to Google-AdMob deal

Google's proposed acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob would make it too easy to bring the web giant's dominant search ad business to the mobile world, according to two consumer groups

VoIP service Jajah snapped up by Telefonica

US-based communications company Jajah has been bought by telecommunications giant Telefonica Europe for $207m

FTC asks Google for more details on AdMob deal

Google's proposed acquisition of mobile advertising company AdMob is likely to be delayed following a request from the US government for additional information

Twitter acquires developers of GeoAPI

With location-aware services hot right now in the social-media segment, Twitter is buying the developers of a popular API used by developers on the platform

Amazon, other sites hit by DDoS attack

An attack on a major DNS provider in the US hobbled service to sites such as Amazon, Wal-Mart and Expedia for about an hour, two days before Christmas

India IT services market to double over five years

Driven by infrastructure services, the country's domestic IT services market is set to hit $12.8bn between 2008 and 2013, according to Springboard Research

Yahoo cuts costs with Christmas closure

Employees have known since April that they will have to take unpaid leave or vacation days for the week between Christmas and New Year as a cost-saving measure

Young Londoners next in line for ID cards

The Home Office has confirmed that 16- to 24-year-olds in the capital will be offered voluntary identity cards early next year

Microsoft loses appeal in Word patent case

Microsoft says it will change code in Word 2007 to avoid having an injunction halting sales, after a three-judge panel upholds an earlier patent verdict against it

White House names Howard Schmidt as cyber tsar

Schmidt, a former cybersecurity advisor to the Bush administration, will co-ordinate many security activities across the US government

BT promises super-fast broadband by Olympics

Ten million homes will have access to fibre by the time the London games begin in 2012, nine months ahead of schedule, according to BT

Northern Ireland DFP rapped over data loss

The Information Commissioner's Office has rebuked Northern Ireland's Department of Finance and Personnel for a major loss of people's personal data

New Zealand issues 4G spectrum

New Zealand has made a push towards 4G network services, with its government confirming the initial frequency allocation from the old analogue TV spectrum

Google's manifesto on the 'meaning of open'

The search giant has posted a 4,000-word essay penned by Google's Jonathan Rosenberg on the importance of being open