AP - Microsoft Corp. is developing software for high-performance computers often used in engineering and science research, in a move that puts the company in another head-to-head battle with open-source developers.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, does not expect high oil prices and an anticipated economic slowdown to hurt it in the Asian region, where its business is growing fastest, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday.

TechWeb - Funk, founded in 1982, was an early pioneer in Radius and AAA authentication server software, and expanded into wireless LAN security clients.

TechWeb - The new UltraSparc chip uses about 70 watts of power on average, significantly less than the 150 watts to 200 watts required by server chips from Intel or IBM, Sun claims.

TechWeb - Intel is embedding virtualization technology in two single-core Pentium 4 processors. Acer, Founder, Lenovo, and TongFang are expected to make PCs using the processors available soon.

TechWeb - The system combines IBM's blade server and PC blade platform, client systems from ClearCube, and services from IBM Global Services in a package that costs about $100,000.

TechWeb - Two-thirds won't pay a premium for an Intel server, while a quarter said they would pay up to a 10% premium and one in 10 said they would pay more than a 10% premium.

PC World - Our series on the battle between the next-gen optical formats continues with reports on the latest salvos--and what they mean to you.

TechWeb - Analyst firm Gartner has recommended that companies wait until 2008 to begin adopting Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp.'s next upgrade of its desktop operating system.

TechWeb - Microsoft's security tools will be updated to detect the controversial Sony BMG copy protection software installed on PCs when some audio CDs are played.

TechWeb - A third of professionals using mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones do not use passwords or any other security protection, according to a survey by Pointsec Mobile Technologies.

AFP - The small screen is heating up with a new wave of racy images and film clips making their way to mobile phones and the new video iPods, raising new questions for telecom companies and regulators.

Reuters - Microsoft said it would remove controversial copy-protection software that CDs from music publisher Sony BMG install on personal computers, deeming it a security risk to PCs running on Windows.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp.'s Internet unit, MSN, expects China to become one of its top five markets by 2010, fueled by growing demand for its popular email and search engine software, executives said.

Reuters - Cingular Wireless on Monday introduced a radio service for its mobile phone customers, using about 40 channels of commercial-free music from Music Choice and MobiTV Inc.'s streaming media service.

LONDON (Reuters) - The online DVD rental market is expected to capture a quarter of all video rental spending in the United States and one-third in Europe by 2009 as consumers get more comfortable paying for the convenience of receiving Hollywood blockbusters in the mail.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Germany's Siemens AG SIEGn.DE said on Tuesday its mobile communications unit will invest hundreds of millions of euros in Asia this year as it aims to pass Nokia NOK1V.HE to become the No. 2 global player.

Ziff Davis - WinBook's (www.winbook.com) W515, a recent addition to its collection of widescreen notebooks, features a 15.4-inch WXGA (1,280 by 800) display and weighs about 6 pounds. Even better, it's under $1,000. The notebook comes standard with an Intel Pentium-M processor 725 (1.6 GHz), 512MB SDRAM, an 80GB hard drive, a DVD±RW dual-layer burner, Intel PRO Wireless 2915 802.11 a/b/g wireless, and a 3-in-1 media card reader. Not bad for $999!

USATODAY.com - Sony BMG Music Entertainment said Monday it will pull some of its most popular CDs from stores in response to backlash over copy-protection software on the discs. Sony also said it will offer exchanges for consumers who purchased the discs.

Ziff Davis - Logitech has launched the newest addition to its Harmony line; the 360 Advanced Universal Remote Control for Xbox 360 has one-touch activity control for the entire home entertainment system.

Ziff Davis - MobiTV announces the initial launch of its MobiRadio streaming digital music service, while MSpot, another player in portable entertainment, increases its output in the multimedia market.

Reuters - Would-be migrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America are being tricked into paying up to $1,000 for promises of travel to a rich country by Web sites claiming links to the United Nations, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

FT.com - Investors and analysts will on Tuesday get a chance to question Arun Sarin, the chief executive of Vodafone, about the latest spending spree by the world's largest mobile network operator.

USATODAY.com - The security-software market has never been so hot, or so crowded. Even the biggest player, Symantec, is feeling the fallout. As more consumers and businesses protect their PCs with security software, companies such as Microsoft and Comcast are grabbing for a piece of the $5.5B market.

Ziff Davis - Redmond targets performance, hardware management and data migration in the second release candidate of its Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Bill Gates will detail Microsoft's growing high-performance research investments.

AP - The European Union's compromise proposal on how to govern the Internet is gaining international support ahead of this week's U.N. technology summit, the EU's executive Commission said Tuesday.

AP - LIFEbeat — the Music Industry Fights AIDS will honor World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 with an Internet auction featuring some 1,000 items from stars in music, film, theater and television.

AFP - The Japanese unit of British mobile telephone giant Vodafone said that market conditions remained fierce in the first half to September as customers defected to rival operators.

PC World - Software giant wants U.S. government to intervene in European Commission investigation.

Reuters - A senior Dell Inc. executive on Tuesday said that his company is far behind rival Apple Computer Inc. in digital music, adding that the phenomenal success of Apple's iPod music players have reinvigorated sales of Apple's Mac computers.

AP - Negotiators seeking to avert a U.S.-EU showdown at this week's U.N. summit on the information society watered down language on the Internet's governance in talks Tuesday.

BusinessWeek Online - At the recent Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco, Jason Fried created something of a stir with a talk that advised startups to do less than their competition: Spend less money, hire fewer people, work fewer hours, and -- most surprising of all -- offer fewer features. It's a philosophy his company, 37signals, has taken to heart in its dead-simple Web offerings, which range from project-management service Basecamp to a group task list called Ta-da List to the Writeboard collaborative-document service.

AFP - A UN summit opens Wednesday in Tunis with the aim of harnessing the IT revolution for poor countries, as rich nations squabble over control of the Internet and a row brews over freedom of expression in its host Tunisia.

InfoWorld - LogicBlaze announced it is now offering support for ServiceMix, an open source enterprise service bus (ESB).

BOSTON (Reuters) - A senior Dell Inc. DELL.O executive on Tuesday said that his company is far behind rival Apple Computer Inc. AAPL.O in digital music, adding that the phenomenal success of Apple's iPod music players have reinvigorated sales of Apple's Mac computers.

AP - The fallout from a hidden copy-protection program that Sony BMG Music Entertainment put on some CDs is only getting worse. Sony's suggested method for removing the program actually widens the security hole the original software created, researchers say.

AP - Uncle Sam wants you to pay your taxes — simply. The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday launched a national campaign to urge individuals, tax preparers and small businesses to pay taxes electronically via the government's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, or EFTPS.

Reuters - Negotiators agreed on Tuesday to set up a global forum to discuss online crime, but appeared unlikely to resolve a dispute about control of the Internet ahead of a U.N. technology summit.

FT.com - Telstra (NYSE:TLS), Australia's dominant communications company, issued another profit warning and unveiled plans to shed a fifth of its workforce over the next five years to kickstart growth ahead of its proposed full privatisation.

Macworld.com - When Mac OS X 10.4 was in its preview stages, Spotlight was one of its most-discussed features.

AP - A media Web site scheduled to debut Wednesday will seek to blend traditional journalism with the freeform commentary developed through the emerging Web format known as blogs.

AFP - Worldwide online gambling revenues will top 10 billion dollars in 2005 for operators of virtual casinos and bookmaking, a market research firm said.

InfoWorld - 'Cisco gets hip' might be the headline following news on Tuesday that the giant networking company is finally recognizing both the need to centrally manage large Wi-Fi networks and the new capabilities that mesh networks offer.

AFP - US software titan Microsoft released super-computing server software, with the company's founder declaring such analytical power vital to innovation and invention.

AP - Security experts have found that a hidden antipiracy technology on some Sony BMG music CDs causes dangerous computer vulnerabilities — as does the company's method for removing the original program. Among the questions users might have:

Reuters - Sony Computer Entertainment America's third-person shooter 'SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs' was the best-selling video game in the United States in October, market research firm NPD Group said on Tuesday.

NewsFactor - Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced a version of its desktop-search software geared toward enterprise users. The offering is specifically tailored to users who need to search through data that resides on multiple computers across a company's network.

NewsFactor - Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is now offering its Web analytics service at no charge, hoping to draw more advertisers, Web publishers, and site owners to the company's set of tools for monitoring online marketing efforts.

NewsFactor - Four failed enterprise-resource planning (ERP) pilot projects have cost the U.S. Navy approximately $1 billion since 1998, according to a report released in September by the Government Accountability Office.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O, which built its business by aiming to put a 'computer on every desk' is moving into the high-end supercomputing market as hardware becomes more affordable, Chairman Bill Gates said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp S.N plans to start selling a slim phone from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS in a few weeks in a bid to attract fashion conscious customers, Sprint Nextel's chief operating officer Len Lauer said on Tuesday.

AP - President Bush said Wednesday the United States has reached agreement with the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to eliminate tariffs on multi-chip integrated circuits — the semiconductor devices used in computers, cell phones and other high-technology products.

PC World - Announces updates to Windows Server 2003 and Virtual Server 2005.

Reuters - U.S. law enforcement authorities want expanded ability to tap any phone call between an Internet phone and a traditional phone if needed for an investigation, according to documents filed this week.

InfoWorld - IBM Rational plans to enhance its application testing tools with support for Visual Studio 2005, Tivoli, and SAP.

PC World - Bug makes VPN products vulnerable to a denial of service attack.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Motorola Inc. MOT.N, riding high on the success of its eye-catching Razr phone, is determined to stay on top in the design battle with rival cell phone makers next year, the head of its mobile devices division said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - I2hub, the superfast Internet service popular with college students, shut down Tuesday.

DIPICHI, South Africa (Reuters) - It is hard to believe that 19 shiny flat screen computers can cure the ills of this tiny community in South Africa's arid north where people battle every day against poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and hunger.

AP - An anti-spyware initiative backed by Internet portals Yahoo and AOL would certify downloadable software as consumer-friendly and non-invasive.

AP - A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to delay new Federal Communications Commission guidelines requiring Internet telephone companies to provide reliable 911 emergency call service.

PC World - This mass-mailing worm is circling the Internet again.

Reuters - Database software giant Oracle Corp. said on Tuesday that U.S. antitrust regulators had cleared its $5.9 billion purchase of formerly fierce rival Siebel Systems Inc .

Reuters - Cost cuts and steady growth in its printer, server and personal computer businesses will drive a rise in Hewlett-Packard Co. quarterly profit when the company reports on Thursday, analysts said.

AP - The Justice Department on Tuesday approved Oracle Corp.'s proposed $5.85 billion acquisition of rival Siebel Systems Inc. after finding the deal raised no antitrust concerns.