01:38 PM

Newswatch 1.29.08: EU: ISPs can protect user data

Is Apple really missing all those iPhones?

[PCW] "Some unknown number of iPhones are being unlocked by purchasers and some, probably a larger number, are being unlocked for resale," said Gottheil. "Some are in inventory. Some will be returned. And some are being used for the non-phone features, as iPhone Touches, until the owners can change their wireless contracts.

EU: ISPs need not hand over downloaders' info

[AP] EU law did not require governments to protect copyright by forcing companies to disclose personal data in civil legal actions, the Luxembourg-based court ruled. [Countries] could draft national rules to change this but they will then have to balance the right to privacy against property rights and "cannot however affect the requirements of the protection of personal data," a court statement said.

Skyfire promises full Web-browsing on non-Apple smartphones

[Newsfactor] Skyfire, currently in private beta, makes mobile browing "just like" using the Web on a PC, the company said, even if sites are built with Flash, Ajax or Java technologies. What's more, the company said, smartphone browsing isn't any slower than browsing on a computer.

Cisco battles for the data center

[MarketWatch] Cisco says that the new data-center switch would be able to copy all the searchable data on the Internet in 7.5 minutes, download Wikipedia's database in 10 milliseconds or download 90,000 Netflix movies in less than 40 seconds. It also can run 5 million concurrent transcontinental videoconferences using the company's Telepresence Collaboration systems, a company spokeswoman said.

Nokia buy of Trolltech a blow to GOOG

[BizWeek] With Nokia's support, Trolltech may turn into a widely used mobile Linux platform -- and further contribute to fragmentation of the Linux developer community. There are already more than 20 flavors of Linux. Android, the strongest of the bunch, was expected to unite Linux developers. Now, however, some developers that might have jumped onto Android may stick with Nokia.

Open source buyout

[InfoWeek] SpringSource, the supplier of the Spring Framework for Java development that has found its way inside many large enterprises, is buying Covalent Technologies. Covalent supplies technical support for some of the Apache Software Foundation code that works best with Spring, the Apache Web Server and Apache Tomcat, a lightweight application server.

TakeTwo settles Hot Coffee scandal

[GameSpot] In order to claim the benefits, customers will have to swear that they bought a copy of the game before July 20, 2005 (the day San Andreas was rated AO for Adults Only by the Entertainment Software Rating Board), and were "offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game's content" with the mod. They also have to swear that they wouldn't have purchased the game if they'd known about the mod, and would have returned the game upon learning of the mod if they thought they could.