Stories by Jeremy Kirk

Radiohead shuns iTunes, sells new album online direct

UK band Radiohead will let fans choose how much they want to pay for downloads of its next album.

Yahoo sharpens precision of search terms

The latest version of Yahoo's search engine senses when people are trying to find the right keywords and offers suggestions, an improvement the company says reduces "search fatigue."

Critical vulnerability found in Ask.com toolbar

A vulnerability in Ask.com's toolbar for Internet Explorer could allow an attacker to take control of a person's computer, according to security advisories.

Pirate Bay hopes for action by Swedish police

Swedish police are expected to decide later this week whether a criminal case is warranted against 10 major music and movie companies over their alleged efforts to disrupt the Pirate Bay, one of the largest file-sharing search engines.

Gartner: PC shipments on track for growth this year

Lower prices and the improved performance of laptops will fuel continued growth in PC sales this year and next, despite concerns a recession could be on the horizon for the U.S., market analyst Gartner predicted Thursday.

Nokia targets businesses with shiny dual-mode E51

Nokia released on Tuesday the newest addition to its E-series lineup of mobile phones for businesses, revamping the user interface for easier navigation, executives said during a London product launch.

Symantec: Bank account details fetch US$400 online

Stolen bank account numbers are commanding the highest price in an underground trade of personal details stolen by hackers, according to a survey released Monday by security vendor Symantec.

Free gift offers dupe users into giving personal data

The personal details of thousands of mostly U.S.-based PC users have been discovered stashed on a server located in France, another indication of use of the Internet to collect personal data on a vast scale.

Microsoft trumps Google on free e-mail storage limit

Microsoft is increasing the storage limit for its Web-based e-mail service, surpassing competitor Google's limit but far short of Yahoo's unlimited storage.

Risky business: using Web apps over Wi-Fi

People who use online e-mail or social-networking sites at Wi-Fi hotspots could risk having their accounts hijacked.

Former spammer: 'I know I'm going to hell'

"Ed," a retired spammer, built a considerable fortune sending e-mails that promoted pills, porn and casinos. At the peak of his power, Ed says he pulled in US$10,000 to US$15,000 a week, storing the money in US$20 bills in stacks of boxes.

Maporama picks Microsoft's Virtual Earth over Google

Maporama International, a French location services company, has partnered with Microsoft to use its Virtual Earth mapping and satellite imagery, the companies said on Thursday.

Microsoft moves to replace JPEG with HD Photo

Microsoft will soon submit a new photo format to an international standards organization that it says offers higher quality images with better compression, the company said on Thursday.

Corel releases public beta of WordPerfect Lightning

Corel has released a free public beta of WordPerfect Lightning, a word processor that blends a desktop-based application with online collaboration and storage features.

CES - Nokia slims phone and adds a new Internet tablet

Nokia unveiled a slim mobile phone, a mobile phone for bloggers and an updated wireless Internet tablet with VOIP capabilities at the CES show in Las Vegas on Monday.