Skill Zone News issue 49
Google's revenue for the last quarter of 2011 broke the ten billion dollar mark for the first time in its history, a revenue increase of 25%. Wall Street considered this result disappointing and Google's share price fell by 10%. Wall Street is much happier with Apple, which sold 37 million iPhones in the last quarter, and has posted revenue figures of 46 billion dollars, of which 13 billion dollars was pure profit. No wonder Microsoft is desperate to grab a slice of the mobile phone market.
27th January 2012
Skirmishes in the patent war
Before Christmas, Apple launched lawsuits in several countries against Samsung, claiming the Samsung Galaxy tablet computer infringed Apple's iPad patents, including its patent on the use of rounded corners. In the Netherlands, the Court of Appeals at the Hague has rejected Apple's arguments.
Pushing the boundaries
Richard O'Dwyer, a 23 year old from Bolsover, Derbyshire, and a computer science student at Sheffield Hallam University, is facing extradition to the US and a possible five year prison sentence for copyright crimes committed over the internet,... despite those actions not being prosecuted as criminal offences here in the UK.
Bitter pill for the NHS
The Information Commissioner's Office is proposing to issue its biggest ever fine to the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust after patient records were sold on E-Bay. But does the punishment fit the crime?
Buyer beware,... and sellers too
Cautionary tales about the perils of doing business over the internet are far from new. Sadly, in one case, it apparently led to PayPal ordering the destruction of an antique violin.
Phones from space
So how tough is your computer? Would your laptop survive if you knocked it off the table? How would your phone fare if it fell from a second floor window? And what about the third floor? Or the fourth? Some of our computer gadgets are a lot stronger than you might expect.
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.