AFP - Apple Computer customers in Mexico and the United Kingdom have joined the legal crusade to make the Silicon Valley company pay for allegedly defective screens on new iPod nano music players, lawyers said.

Reuters - A group of social investment funds from Western countries on Monday called for Internet companies to refrain from supporting repressive human rights practices in China and other nations.

TechWeb - Sprint Nextel and three large cable-TV operators-Time Warner, Cox, and Advance/Newhouse-inked a big deal to offer wireless and wired voice-over-IP calling and Internet access. Where's the synergy? Eventually, delivering cable shows to mobile devices. ... Oracle keeps losing CFOs. CFO and co-president Greg Maffei is leaving after five months on the job. Harry You before him lasted just eight months. ... Sony fended off criticism that its CD copy protection, by relying on what's called a rootkit, lets hackers conceal malicious code. ...

TechWeb - Grokster, which lost a lawsuit filed by Hollywood to stop illegal movie sharing on peer-to-peer networks, shuts down, saying that it planned to launch a legal service soon.

TechWeb - Macromedia's Flash has a critical bug that leaves all browser users armed with the popular media player open to attack, a security firm says, but a patch is available.

TechWeb - A patch posted by Sony BMG Music Entertainment that reveals its copy-protection scheme's files may make some computers crash, says one of the researchers who first uncovered Sony's use of a hacker rootkit on its music CDs.

TechWeb - Yahoo Inc. on Monday launched a service that lets subscribers use the Web to schedule recordings of television shows through their TiVo digital video recorders.

TechWeb - Samsung has developed a prototype fuel cell for use in laptops that it claims lasts almost twice as long as rival developments.

TechWeb - A news report indicates that Yahoo will release a mobile phone that will enable users to directly access music, e-mail and other Yahoo services.

Reuters - A group of social investment funds from Western countries on Monday called for Internet companies to refrain from supporting repressive human rights practices in China and other nations.

AFP - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) says its aggregate mobile subsriber base in Asia exceeded 74 million users as of end September, up 31 percent from more than 56 million last year.

AP - Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest industrial conglomerate with interests ranging from semiconductors to shipbuilding, said Tuesday it plans to double sales by 2010, matching the goals set last week for its huge electronics unit.

TechWeb - Consumers who bought an Apple Computer Inc. iPod based on status rather than features are likely to change brands the next time they purchase a digital media device, says a research group.

TechWeb - Consumers appear to show early demand for watching TV programming over the Internet on desktop computers, portable players and mobile phones.

Reuters - There's a punchline going around in India's high-tech capital: Bangalore may be Bangalored.

TechWeb - IBM has teamed up with several federal government agencies to help manage and prevent large wild fires and plan long term responses.

Ziff Davis - In the seesaw battle over which high-definition DVD technology will become the next standard, two companies have finally made a commitment—or have they?

Ziff Davis - In advance of January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a buzz is swirling about new classes of miniature consumer electronics devices and cell phones that pack hard drives.

PC World - Intel tracks, warns of 'remarked' chips that masquerade as other CPUs.

AFP - Competition in Japan's already crowded cellphone market is set to intensify as the government prepares to open the door to new entrants for the first time for 12 years.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. expects to sell as many as 3 million Xbox 360 consoles in the first three months after launching the newest version of its video game machine, the financial chief of the giant software company's Xbox business said on Tuesday.

PC World - Online store isn't in development, just a new interface, company says now.

MacCentral - Verso Technologies Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to soon win a contract to block Chinese Internet users from using eBay Inc.'s Skype VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software, the company said Monday.

InfoWorld - Zend Technologies announced Zend Studio 5, an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that offers new features to assist in developing, debugging, deploying, and managing PHP applications.

AP - Microsoft Corp. expects to sell up to 3 million of its new Xbox videogame consoles within 90 days of the console's launch, an executive said Tuesday.

AFP - Japanese electronics maker Olympus suffered a slump in net profit in the first half of its financial year as sales of digital cameras declined sharply.

AP - Squeezed by high fuel costs, airlines continue to turn to their Web sites and other technology to save money and make customers happy by speeding up the check-in process.

AFP - The breaking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and this year's Live 8 concerts were voted among the most influential Internet moments of the past 10 years by organisers of the annual Webby Awards.

PC World - So far it's benign, but security vendors urge inoculation.

AFP - An alleged computer hacker denied hijacking tens of thousands of computers, including US military servers, and infecting them with malicious software.

FT.com - SAP, Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), PeopleSoft (NASDAQ:PSFT) - which enterprise resource planning system is the best? Answer: they're basically all the same, according to The Hackett Group.

Reuters - Double Fusion, a provider of advertising within video games, on Tuesday named Geoff Graber, former general manager Yahoo Inc.'s video games unit, as its chief executive officer.

Reuters - Internet search leader Google Inc. is scouting out the travel bookings business with a new feature that connects users to travel agencies that offer the cheapest fares.

FT.com - Richard Lapthorne, chairman of Cable & Wireless, signalled on Tuesday that the UK's second largest fixed-line telecoms network operator could become a takeover target for private equity funds following a recent profits warning.

NewsFactor - The Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman Phone combines the range of capabilities of a portable media player with the standard features of today's cellular handsets.

AP - Verizon Communications Inc. sharply cut its prices for unlimited telephone service across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, including markets where Cablevision Inc. has just boosted broadband Internet speeds.

AdWeek.com - NEW YORK Lugz footwear said last Friday that it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Apple and its agency, Omnicom's TBWA\Chiat\Day, over similarities between a 2002 commercial, 'Arrow,' that the company aired and a commercial launched earlier this month from Apple for the iPod and iTunes, called 'Detroit,' which starred Eminem.

NewsFactor - A new worm that attacks Linux systems and exploits several vulnerabilities in the operating system has been reported, and security firms are urging caution among users.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. warned users on Tuesday of a new "critical"-rated flaw in recent versions of Windows that could allow attackers to take control of a system by embedding malicious software code into digital images.

NewsFactor - Networking specialist Netgear is taking wireless LANs to the next level with the launch of equipment that promises to deliver data at speeds matching wired Ethernet connections. The new equipment also promises to extend the reach of wireless systems for homes and businesses.

NewsFactor - A financial analyst predicts that the ubiquity of computer viruses, and Apple's success in its music ventures, will drive more and more Windows users to switch to Macs.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it expects to sell as many as 3 million Xbox 360s in the first three months after its launch -- a strong start in its battle to dominate the market for next-generation gaming consoles.

Reuters - With Internet and video more readily available on wireless phones, the major U.S. carriers on Tuesday unveiled guidelines aimed at limiting children's access to adult content and services.

FT.com - Richard Lapthorne, chairman of Cable and Wireless, on Tuesday signalled the UK's second-largest fixed-line telecoms network operator could become a takeover target for private equity funds following a recent profits warning.

AP - Shares of Quest Software Inc. rose sharply, a day after the company reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.

PC World - Pledges long-term allegiance to Palm OS even as company starts to release Windows products.

AP - The technology industry shift's to Internet-based software and services represents a massive and disruptive 'sea change,' Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates wrote to top-level executives in a memo aimed at rallying his troops against the new competitive threats the company faces.

AP - Invisible marks that can be used to trace illegal copies of television shows and movies will be embedded in programs available on demand across the country using technology from Widevine Technologies.