Proposals to help clarify open source
licences
The Open Source Initiative has published a draft plan aimed at
reducing the proliferation of different open source licences. It
said the aim of the proposals was to help the open source community
determine which licences are useful in which circumstances.
Microsoft faces SQL Server patent dispute
Microsoft is facing a fresh patent lawsuit over its SQL Server
database. Software firm Timeline has alleged that SQL Server
infringes its patents by creating databases for online analytical
processing and that Microsoft has breached the terms of an earlier
agreement that gave it a limited licence to use Timeline's
technology.
Number of voice over IP subscribers rockets
Use of voice over IP services is rocketing, with an 83% increase
in subscribers to retail VoIP services worldwide last year. The
number of subscribers rose from 10.3 million to more than 18.7
million during 2005, said analyst firm Point Topic.
New method promises faster wireless chips
Engineers at the University of Southampton have developed a
method to make bipolar transistors used in mobile phones and
wireless hardware twice as fast as current devices. Researchers
used fluorine implants to create a 110GHz chip.
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