Sony puts price on battery problems ... Judge penalizes Microsoft $25 million in patent case

Today's IT News Audio Update
Nordic regulators meet to mull action against iTunes ... Microsoft puts Office 2007 on November price list ... Apple recalling 1.8 million batteries, following Dell


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Sony puts price on battery problems
News: Blade server sales jump in Europe, Gartner says
News: Wall Street Beat: Last ditty for the iPod?
News: Nordic consumer groups may join forces against iTunes
Tip: Disk Quotas and the Recycle Bin
Opinion: Converting from square pegs to round holes
ITwhirled: Big-hearted RIAA declines to sue grieving family


NEWS UPDATES

Sony puts price on battery problems
On Wednesday Apple Computer Inc. said it will join Dell Inc. in recalling the Sony-made battery packs in some of its products because of a risk that they will overheat and catch fire while being charged. Apple is recalling about 1.8 million batteries, while Dell is asking customers to return 4.1 million batteries. Now, Sony is estimating what the recalls could end up costing the Japanese company.

Blade server sales jump in Europe, Gartner says
Blade server shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa jumped by a healthy 61.4 percent in the second quarter, helping the server market overall to increase by a steady 9 percent, according to new Gartner Inc. research.

Wall Street Beat: Last ditty for the iPod?
A "ditty" is a short and simple song, and Dell Inc.'s DJ Ditty music player lived up to its name this week when the company announced that it's short life had come to an end. The Ditty's demise could also be a portent for the wider music player market, including the iPod, if mobile phone makers get their way.

Nordic consumer groups may join forces against iTunes
Consumer representatives from several Nordic countries are discussing how to proceed in their battle against Apple Computer Inc. over the iTunes digital rights management (DRM) policy.


TIP

Disk Quotas and the Recycle Bin
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

Here's a common scenario: A user has 25 MB of files on a quota-enabled volume, tries to free up space by deleting 5 MB of old files, checks the volume in My Computer and it still shows 25 MB of files, and calls Support to complain that something doesn't work. The problem? When the user deleted his files, they were simply moved to the Recycle Bin on the quota-enabled volume. The solution: educate users to either empty their Recycle Bin, hard-delete files using SHIFT+DELETE, or run Disk Cleanup.


OPINION

Converting from square pegs to round holes
By Sean McGrath

High on my list of worrying one-liners I hear in my day job is the phrase "let's just convert the data from format A to format B".

I think it is really important to differentiate a number of distinct outcomes from any conversion from A to B that depend on the nature of A, the nature of B and your overall goals.


ITWHIRLED

Big-hearted RIAA declines to sue grieving family
The RIAA, known for its aggressive pursuit of file-sharers who it believes broke copyright laws, told the family of a recently deceased defendant in one such lawsuit that they had 60 days to grieve before the legal action started up again. The organization later changed its mind, which we're sure had nothing to do with the flood of bad publicity.