europe

First glimpse of EU's solar, windfarm plans

Wind turbine farms are set to expand rapidly across Europe's coastal waters, throwing up challenges and opportunities for industry, according to a Reuters analysis of a leaked draft of EU energy strategies.

A picture of the European Union's renewable energy landscape for 2020 is emerging for the first time as the bloc's 27 member states scramble to meet a deadline for setting their "National Renewable Energy Action Plans."

The documents were due to be delivered to the European Commission by midnight on Wednesday, although most missed the deadline and none of the plans has yet … Read more

Yahoo's Bartz exports personal style to Europe

LONDON--After 16 months at Yahoo's helm and an expectations-beating first quarter, new chief executive Carol Bartz brought some of her down-home style to the Old World for her European press debut Wednesday.

Bartz fielded questions, touted Yahoo's refurbished strategy, and, flanked by the company's head of European operations, touted news that the Internet pioneer won sole rights to show game highlight videos for the Premier League, the 20-club group top of the English football competition pecking order. Bartz was here as part of a tour to meet senior ad agency executives in London and was due for … Read more

Free: 13 Lonely Planet travel-guide apps

Is it just me, or does the planet seem really angry these days? Earthquakes galore, tsunamis, and now this ash-spewing volcano! We're doomed, I tell ya. Doomed!

Anyway, pity the poor traveler who's stuck in Europe until flights can resume. As we reported Tuesday, to help make those folks' lives a tiny bit easier, travel-guide publisher Lonely Planet is offering 13 European iPhone guides free of charge.

That's pretty generous, as they normally sell for $9.99 apiece. And, psst, you didn't hear this from me, but you don't actually have to be stranded in … Read more

Microsoft to fix IE8 cross-site scripting problem, again

Microsoft will plug a hole in a built-in filter in Internet Explorer 8 that can be used to launch the very types of attacks on Web sites it was designed to help prevent, the company said on Tuesday.

The company will update the IE cross-site scripting (XSS) filter in June to fix a hole that researchers warned about at the Black Hat Europe conference in Barcelona last week. The researchers showed how problems with the filter could be used to inject malicious code onto sites including Google, Microsoft's Bing search site, and Twitter.

"A June release is what'… Read more

Minor browsers seek more prominence in Europe

Unhappy with their lot, six of seven second-tier browsers have petitioned regulators for increased prominence on the screen that gives Windows users in the European Union a choice of browsers besides Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The browser makers on Thursday sent a petition to Neelie Kroes, a European Commission vice president, and other regulators who have been dealing with the browser-choice technology that Microsoft has begun distributing to millions in Europe as part of an antitrust case against the software company. The top five browsers dominate the market, but more obscure browser makers hope the EU antitrust action will grant … Read more

Bankers warming up to offshore wind

Offshore wind capacity in Europe is expected to grow from 1.3 megawatts in 2008 to 18.8 megawatts by 2015, according to estimates from research group Frost & Sullivan.

The change will come from an increased interest from the banking industry in offshore wind project investment.

Previously, there was a high risk associated with offshore wind farms because of a relatively untested permitting process, the expensive initial layout for turbines and equipment, and the difficulty of installing offshore wind farms in comparison to onshore wind farms.

But as the U.K. and German governments began offering more support to … Read more

Electronic Housekeeper monitors water, gas, electricity

Surprises can be fun, but not when it comes to bills. Electronic Housekeeper, a CES newbie, has made it possible for homeowners to monitor their water, gas, and electricity. Knowing which devices are draining the most energy and who's taking the long showers might be the first step toward lower energy bills.

After selling its products in Europe and the Middle East, Denmark-based Electronic Housekeeper will bring its innovations to North America. The company has created a wall-mountable console that communicates wirelessly with electronics, appliances, heating, air conditioning, as well as water and electricity meters.

Monitoring household appliances and … Read more

Facebook coming to PS3?

Do you like the idea of checking status updates on a 50-inch LCD in the middle of Uncharted 2 sessions? Social media addicts, the next PS3 update just might be for you. Hidden photos on Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Web site, that have since been taken down, point to a definitive and familiar blue logo showing up on Sony's PlayStation 3 dashboard. Whether or not this also means Twitter will be getting on the Black Box of Blu-ray is uncertain, but hopefully likely.

Sony is reported to have no comment, so we'll see what becomes of this. … Read more

Europe getting 'Internet freedom' law

Europe is set to get a major overhaul of its telecommunications regulation, after the European Parliament and Council of Telecoms Ministers reached a compromise on the rights of Internet users.

The Telecoms Reform Package is a raft of new laws that tackle issues ranging from data-breach notification to faster number porting. Following an agreement reached on Wednesday night, the package will now become part of national legislation in every EU country, with a deadline of May 2011.

A sticking point in the package's progress had been a provision regarding "three strikes" laws targeting Internet users suspected of … Read more

European laws present challenges for Google Books

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--As Google closes in on a November 9 deadline to submit a revised settlement in the Google Books case, it continues to pull out all the stops to reassure the world it has the best of intentions.

The controversy over Google's settlement with groups representing book authors and publishers rages on, almost a year after it was first reached. After Google was sued in 2005 for digitizing books without explicit permission, it reached a proposed settlement in October 2008 that would give it unique rights to scan out-of-print yet copyright-protected books, exciting some librarians but raising the ire of many … Read more