John Blau

Allied Telesyn Inc. hopes to offer European users of wide-area Wi-Fi networks the ability to move from one access point to another without losing a connection, using proprietary technology developed and deployed in Asia.

Thieves may soon have to learn how to imitate walking styles if they hope to steal pricey handsets and notebooks, which have become popular targets in recent years. New technology developed by Finnish scientists aims to curb theft of portable devices by enabling them to detect changes in their owner's physical movements and then lock up to prevent unauthorized usage, the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said Thursday.

Internet governance was a contentious issue at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2003 and, judging by the preparatory talks currently under way in Geneva, the issue will remain red hot at the second phase of the summit in November.

Online auction site EBay Inc. has agreed to acquire Internet telephony company Skype Technologies SA for US$2.6 billion, the companies announced. The deal will help eBay move into new business areas while allowing Skype to expand the customer base for its VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) services, the companies said.

Users of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Messenger should be aware of a new "smart" worm that checks the configuration of their Windows client and sends a message in the appropriate language, according to security companies Akonix Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp. Both companies published alerts.

The German government aims to counter the alarming rise in computer viruses with a national IT security plan that includes the establishment of a computer emergency response centre. The new plan, unveiled Thursday in Berlin by Interior Minister Otto Schily, comes as Germany and many other industrialized nations struggle to come to grips with attacks on IT systems in both the public and private sectors.

Next year's FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in Germany could be fertile ground for mobile phone viruses if the World Athletics Championships in Finland, which ended Sunday, are any indication, security experts warn.

SAP AG plans to introduce later this year what it says will be a new model for offering CRM (customer relationship management) applications, one that combines elements of both hosted and on-demand computing.