Unwelcome publicity: company victimized by stock spammers

Disproving the adage that 'no publicity is bad publicity', a company today disowned a flood of emails that was apparently crafted to boost its stock price. Pay88 Inc claimed that it was an innocent pawn in an apparent 'pump and dump' scheme' run by unknown spammers.

The unwanted emails began appearing in inboxes on July 14, the company complained in a statement to the media.

PS3 price cut this month say Japan analysts

sony ps3 cheaper in july analysts forecastA price cut is 'likely' for Sony's PlayStation 3 games console this month, say leading analysts in Tokyo.

iPhone: Who's the real manufacturer? (It isn't Apple)

Who makes the iPhone? If you answered 'Apple', you're wrong. The iPhone is a global effort. Tens of thousands of people at more than 30 companies on 3 continents work together to make Apple's first phone possible.

Apple, of course, designs the product, and also created the single most important 'component' – the software that gives the iPhone its unique personality.

Symantec offers free antivirus software to users whose PCs were crippled... by its antivirus software

One month after tens of thousands of PCs in China were disabled by a bug in its Norton antivirus software, Symantec has offered to compensate the owners. However, the compensation – more copies of the software that caused the problem – has sparked outrage on some online forums.

Microsoft pays $50 million for Xbox GTA game exclusive

Microsoft is paying an unprecedented $50 million for exclusive rights to publish two episodes of the forthcoming game, Grand Theft Auto IV, on its Xbox 360 games console, according to statements from a senior executive at GTA IV publisher, Take-Two Interactive.

Take-Two has already recorded the payments in financial filings as deferred revenue, explained Lainie Goldstein, Take-Two's newly appointed CFO, in a conference call with analysts.

Samsung claims 500,000:1 contrast ratio with 70-inch LCD

Samsung has introduced a new high definition 70-inch LCD TV with dynamically-controlled LED backlighting that provides a contrast ratio of 500,000:1 and can halve power consumption, the company has announced. The new display was launched in South Korea today, and will go on sale worldwide in the second half of the year.

Iraq war has 26 percent chance of success, researcher says

soldier shares meal with Iraqi child from APC - US DOD image'Mission creep' in the Iraq conflict dropped US chances of success from 70 percent to 26 percent, says a University of Georgia researcher. The predictions were produced with a statistics-based approach that has proved accurate in 80 percent of former conflicts, claims assistant professor Patricia L. Sullivan of the UGA School of Public and International affairs.

Automatic shopping: take a photo to buy a CD

Lazy shoppers who see an ad for a music CD that they like can buy it instantly by snapping a photo with a camera phone, thanks to a new service now available in Japan.

The 'ER Search' service links a mobile phone with image recognition software via a 3G network to a server which hosts a database of CD covers.

Google announces China deal

Google and Sina logosGoogle has signed a new cooperation deal with leading Chinese web portal, Sina.com, Sina announced today. The giant global internet search provider is locked in a battle for dominance with local search firm Baidu, which controls more than half the Chinese search market.

'Epidemic' of senile dementia predicted

First recognized Alzheimers patient 1906 GermanyMore than 100 million will develop Alzheimer's disease in the near future, unless new treatments are developed to prevent or delay the condition, researchers have warned. One in every 85 people worldwide will have Alzheimer's by 2050, predict scientists from Johns Hopkins University.