Az Oracle-felhasználók idei konferenciáján a változások helyett inkább a folytonosságon volt a hangsúly. (x)

A new report from Forrester Research declares that the wave of mega-acquisitions in the software industry is over for now, though big vendors will continue to snap up smaller firms as they round out their portfolios.

Researchers have demonstrated disk write speeds one hundred times faster than current hard drives. The method uses a laser to heat the recording surface and alter its magnetic field. There is no equivalent read speed increase though.

Mozilla Corp. is considering adding a tool to Firefox 3.0 that would automatically block Web sites thought to harbor malicious downloads, but the company's security chief refused to spell out details, saying Mozilla is "not ready to talk about the feature."

Google Inc. has commented on a new software tool it released in China this week, although it did not address allegations that the software bears more than a passing resemblance to a rival's product.

Name recognition alone makes WinZip the compression program with which all others must compete. Though it's no longer the must-have utility it was in the 1990s, it's still the program people think about when Windows XP's file compression isn't enough.

Electronics manufacturers in China may be gearing up for another attempt to establish a proprietary optical disc format, although some analysts said such a move is unlikely to succeed.

Commuters in Tokyo are getting a chance to experience some cutting-edge display technology from Thursday -- although they might have to look hard to see it.

Rumors that Apple Computer Inc. plans to launch a mobile phone next year are gaining momentum, although the company's Taiwanese manufacturing partners are giving little away.

The PS3 and the Wii aren't the only new gadgets in the house. Microsoft's Zune arrived here as well this morning. I'm working to get our review ready ASAP, but I thought I'd check in with a few very early first impressions.

Although you might have missed it, Apple once again revolutionized the way we consume media. It was a quiet revolution, one that went largely unheralded and barely warranted a mention outside of the Apple-obsessed blogosphere. This revolutionary event came in the form of a Disney Channel musical called High School Musical.

Though the new head of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division has been calling the company's MSN portal "MSN Media Network" internally, Microsoft has no formal plans to rebrand the site, a Microsoft spokeswoman said Thursday.