New beta out for next-generation Firefox 2.0 browser...EMC-HP storage race tightens in second quarter...Intel may lay off thousands next week, reports say

Today's IT news audio update
Alcatel has reached an agreement to buy Nortel’s 3G mobile phone network business, Intel is expected to announce the results of an internal review of its operations, Sony has appointed one of its presidents to oversee product quality and safety ...


HIGHLIGHTS

News: EMC-HP storage race tightens in second quarter
News: Microsoft offers free parental control service
News: Alcatel-Lucent deal faces legal test
News: Hitachi targets cars, videos with new hard disks
News: TDK develops prototype 200G Blu-ray disc
News: Alcatel to buy Nortel's UMTS business
News: Intel may lay off thousands next week, reports say
News: MS Antitrust: US makes formal request for extended order
News: New phones run Skype without PC
News: New beta out for next-generation Firefox 2.0 browser
ITwhirled: The war on CAPS LOCK
Opinion: Communications Mashup


NEWS UPDATES

EMC-HP storage race tightens in second quarter
Number two storage systems maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) has closed the gap between it and number one EMC Corp. to what research company IDC calls "a statistical tie."

Microsoft offers free parental control service
Microsoft Corp. has opened up testing of a new Web-based service that allows parents to control what their kids do on the Internet.

Alcatel-Lucent deal faces legal test
Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc.'s plan to form a global communications equipment giant may run into a roadblock next week in a state court in New Jersey.

Hitachi targets cars, videos with new hard disks
Hitachi Ltd. hopes to win market share from rival Toshiba Corp. with three new high-capacity hard drives that will reach the digital video recording and automotive navigation markets in 2007.

TDK develops prototype 200G Blu-ray disc
In the battle of new optical storage formats, Blu-ray Disc has added another weapon -- even more storage.

Alcatel to buy Nortel's UMTS business
Alcatel SA has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Nortel Network Corp.'s 3G (third-generation) mobile phone network business for US$320 million.

Intel may lay off thousands next week, reports say
Intel Corp. will announce the results of an internal review of its operations next week that could result in thousands of layoffs at the company, according to published reports.

MS ANTITRUST: US makes formal request for extended order
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Microsoft Corp. filed formal paperwork Wednesday to extend part of an antitrust judgment against the company for at least two years.

New phones run Skype without PC
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV has announced a new phone that allows users of Skype Ltd.'s Internet telephony service to make calls without having to boot up their PCs.

New beta out for next-generation Firefox 2.0 browser
Mozilla Corp. has released a new test version of Firefox 2.0, which will be the next major version of its popular open-source browser.


ITWHIRLED

The war on CAPS LOCK
Tired of your grandmother sending you e-mails in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS? One brave band of visionaries, organized on a Google Groups site, is daring to dream of the impossible: a day when the caps lock key is no longer a standard feature on computer keyboards.


OPINION

Communications Mashup
By James Gaskin

Call it Unified Messaging, Unified Collaboration, or call it years of
hype with unfulfilled potential. Or you can call it Unifying
Communications like the people at AVST (.com), as long as you keep
trying to organize and update communications in new ways. And have
another year or two of patience.