Oracle has tossed customers a Microsoft-like bone by loosening up its software licensing restrictions for low-end servers running on multi-core chips.

EclipseConOracle has issued a fresh chapter in its quixotic open source strategy by fully opening a key piece of its Java application server and database technology.

In a ruling sure to ruffle the feathers of those opposed to open and regulated gambling environments, the European Court of Justice today issued its most forceful opinion yet covering the cross border provision of gaming services. The ruling in the Placanica case, in which Italian suppliers of gambling services for British bookmaker Stanley faced criminal prosecution in Italy for operating without a license, establishes once and for all that national licensing procedures cannot be applied in a de facto discriminatory manner against foreign gaming operators.

The convergence of WAN optimisation with core routing may be taking a big step forward, with Huawei-3Com (H3C) buying the rights to use acceleration software from Expand Networks in its upcoming Intelligent Management Centre (iMC) integrated router platform.

EclipseConAfter six years mostly focused on enterprise computing, Eclipse is tackling rich internet applications by expanding into Web 2.0.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi cloak sold at auction yesterday for £54,000.

Newswire and financial data service Reuters is to dip another finger in Web 2.0 waters by setting up its own version of MySpace. But the Reuters site will be targeted at City traders rather than US teenagers.

An attempt by Flash memory card maker SanDisk to take on a group of MP3-related patent holders has failed in an English court. The High Court said all of SanDisk's claims fell outside the court's jurisdiction of England and Wales.

PollSeveral weeks ago, I had a problem with a new HP desktop right out of the box. When I tried to install MS OS updates they were downloaded, but when the system rebooted it caused a permanent loop.

CommentLast week, Oracle, one of the industry giants, announced that it has agreed to buy Hyperion Solutions Corporation, by no means a small ISV, for $52 per share - thereby valuing the acquisition at approximately $3.3bn.

Samsung has begun sending out hybrid hard drives to computer manufacturers, according to a variety of reports coming out of Asia today.

CommentEMC has announced several new products targeted at mid-market enterprises seeking to more effectively consolidate, backup, archive, and protect their information.

CommentTesco's pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap philosophy works for most things - but not neccessarily telecoms it appears.

The US Navy is funding research into a "Star Trek phaser set on 'stun'".

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has signed a secrecy clause with Microsoft which prevents it from disclosing the prices schools are paying for software licences.

When the Storm Worm swept through the internet in mid-January, the program's writers took a brute force approach to evading anti-virus defenses: They created a massive number of slightly different copies of the program and released them all at the same time.

Nevis Networks reckons it's the first to come up with a version of network access control for the LAN that doesn't get in the way of users.

The Mozilla Foundation has patched a faulty patch that was itself subject to a security vulnerability.

If it's not good enough for Intel, is it good enough for you? We're talking Microsoft's Windows Vista, which the chip giant's CEO, Paul Otellini, this week indicated has not won the backing of his technology experts.

Group TestThe mobile phone may well be enjoying its time in the limelight, but like reality TV stars and the England cricket team, it probably won't last forever. Especially not when you cast your eye over this little lot, the cream of the DECT cordless-phone crop. Where these handsets are concerned, it is indeed good to talk.

UK.gov has unveiled its latest weapon in its battle against illegal immigration – the fearsome text message.

CommentI got some flack recently for daring to suggest (or appearing to) that open source software (OSS) should be "fit for purpose" (here).

So P2P TV services really do conform to the proverbial bus cliche: you wait ages for one, then loads of cliches come along at once.

A public sector computer technician from New Jersey has been arrested over allegations he took Cisco for $10m through a fraud that exploited the networking giant's programme for replacing broken or defective kit.

About £13bn of fraud was committed in the UK in 2005, but the figure could be on the conservative side, a report commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers said today.

Every day this week, Register Hardware is offering readers the chance to win a Nokia E65 smart phone, and we've drawn our first winners...

Nokia has powered up its handset software update system, having trialled the tool last year. The web-based system allows phone owners to update their devices without having first to find a service centre to do it for them.

ITV Local is now open for business in London and Central, after a year of trials in the Meridian region. The online service offers local news, documentaries and films, bulked out with the inevitable user-generated content.

Boozy students hurl so much vomit about at Cambridge University that cleaners are now being immunised against Hepatitis, it has been revealed.

British banks have responded to European privacy watchdogs, who claim they broke the law by letting US anti-terror investigators have access to the details of their customers' international financial transactions.

Car manufacturers have been at pains to tout a new green image in the run up to the 77th International Motor Show, which opens tomorrow in Geneva.

Britain may have more CCTV cameras per head than anywhere else in the world but when it comes to electronic surveillance the country is way behind Italy, the Netherlands and even Sweden.

The US Department of Justice told a federal judge it is unhappy with Microsoft's plans to extend a deadline for supplying technical information to licensees documenting how Windows communicates with operating systems and middleware made by other companies.

VMware has hoisted a revamped version of its ACE desktop virtualization software onto a beta testing site.