Technology news

Published on Saturday 5 April 2008 19:47

APPLE-SIZED CHUNK

Apple has announced it has become America's top music retailer, surpassing the sales of Wal-Mart with its popular iTunes music store. According to NPD Group's MusicWatch survey, iTunes now accounts for more than 19% of music sales, despite only offering digital music downloads. The survey also found that almost half of US teens had not purchased a CD in 2007, compared to 38% in 2006.

SPACE RACE CASE

An ambitious vision to take man to the moon and Mars may fall apart before it even gets off the ground because of uncertain planning and inadequate funding. A US congressional report said Nasa's replacement for the space shuttle, the Constellation Program, is in jeopardy, and members of Congress – as well as at least one former astronaut – agreed with this at a hearing on the issue.

LAPTOPS FOR FREE

Laptops could be distributed free as part of mobile internet packages, according to Andrew Harrison, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse. Taking cues from the mobile industry, the plan would require users to sign long-term service contracts in exchange for a laptop capable of utilising mobile broadband. Last year, Harrison successfully tested a scheme for residential broadband, offering free laptops to customers of the AOL service Carphone Warehouse purchased in 2006.

XP STAYS ON MARKET

Microsoft will continue to sell its Windows XP operating system until June 2010, albeit for a limited class of computers. Originally slated for discontinuation in June this year, XP will be available for purchase for use on "ultra-low-cost PCs" (ULCPCs) which may not be powerful enough to run Microsoft's Vista operating system. The market for ULCPCs, such as ASUS' Eee PC, has grown significantly in the last two years, as many provide full laptop functionality for around 200.

ISP WON'T PULL PLUG

Internet service provider TalkTalk has said that it will refuse to disconnect users caught illegally downloading copyrighted materials. The British Phonographic Industry, a music industry pressure group, is pushing for the adoption of a "three strikes" policy under which users found to be breaching copyright laws would be disconnected from the internet after their third offence.

The proposal would require internet service providers to monitor the websites that their users visit, which TalkTalk claims would "impinge on customer freedom".