Europe

Companies will be required to disclose security breaches within 24 hours of their occurrence under European Union proposals being made this week to strengthen data protection rules.

New rules are needed to protect consumers and reduce bureaucracy, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a speech at a conference today in Munich.

"Companies that suffer a data leak must inform the data protection authorities and the individuals concerned, and they must do so without undue delay," Bloomberg quoted Reding as saying at the DLD conference. "European data protection rules will become a trademark people recognize and trust … Read more

Apple's iPhone sales are strong worldwide, but across Europe they appear to be a bit of a mixed bag.

During the 12-week period that ended November 30, Apple's iPhone market share jumped to 36 percent in the U.S., up from the 25 percent a year ago, according to Reuters, which obtained new market share data today from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The U.S. was its strongest region, but the U.K. wasn't far behind. There, the iPhone's market share jumped to 31 percent for the period, rising from 21 percent last year.

Elsewhere … Read more

When entrepreneurs all over Europe begin speeding toward Paris for the high-profile LeWeb conference next month, one of the most innovative startups of all might well be a Trojan horse.

On December 4, the StartupBus Europe will depart the canals and revelry of Amsterdam on a three-day bus and boat trip to the French captal via Copenhagen, Berlin, and Zurich. On board will be 25 "buspreneurs" broken into teams, each of which will spend the 72 hours en route, plus the three days of LeWeb, trying to win a competition to build the best new product.

But while … Read more

We've seen some unusual Steve Jobs tributes since his passing, but a one-day pop-up shop in London should really take the cake.

A Steve Jobs-themed cake shop will open for one day only at the Hospital Club in central London this Wednesday, November 9. Not surprisingly, the shop is named Megabites. It is part of the five-day Internet Week Europe, a festival of events hosted by Europe's digital industry.

Blogger Miss Cakehead (I'm assuming that's not her real name) is behind the "iCake" project. She promises that all the treats will have a geek twist.… Read more

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has still not fully restored e-mail, messaging, and Web service to more than 10 million customers in Europe, the Middle East, parts of South America, and Africa after a disruption at one of its network operation centers yesterday.

A BlackBerry outage, which began on Monday around 10:20 a.m. BST, has resulted in limited access to e-mails, Web browsing, and messaging services such as BlackBerry Messenger, otherwise known as BBM.

Late yesterday, RIM said it had resolved the issue. But this morning, millions of BlackBerry subscribers woke up to find their service was still … Read more

Like any normal jazz fan I have 30 or 40 Miles Davis albums. It was impossible to stop adding to the collection because Davis' music was always moving ahead. Take this new set by the Miles Davis Quintet, "Live in Europe 1967." It's the first installment of the new Bootleg Series, and though it's from the tail end of Davis' acoustic period, the feel is electric.

It's a wild ride, and the band's creative energy is unstoppable. Trumpeter Davis is playing with Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on sax, Ron Carter on bass, … Read more

Apple is heavily rumored to be working on an HDTV with TV subscriptions, Facebook Deals is dead, and Samsung postpones releasing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia due to patent litigation.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Market researcher Gartner said the PC market in Western Europe declined 19 percent in the second quarter of 2011, but Apple was the only top five vendor to show growth.

PC shipments in Western Europe came to 12.7 million units in the second quarter of 2011, down 18.9 percent from the same period in 2010, according to research note from Gartner today. Meanwhile, Apple managed to eke out a modest 0.5 percent growth, Gartner said.

"The PC market in Western Europe suffered from weak demand in both the professional and consumer sectors, a market which also … Read more

ZURICH, Switzerland--There's something about a German sports car that makes even the hairiest road seem like something you want to keep driving.

A few days ago, that feeling was reinforced as I (carefully) wound my way up and over some of the most amazing passes in the Swiss Alps. With barely enough room for one car, let alone two abreast, with drops of thousands of feet just off the side of the cliffs, and guardrails pretty much an afterthought, I knew that I was being tested. But I was driving Audi's terrific RS 5, and I wasn't … Read more