Open source could save EU firms billions

A transition to open source software would save organisations money in the long-term, reports Tectonic.

A new study on free and open source software and its contribution to the European Union (EU) economy found that in "almost all" cases, a transition toward open source would offer organisations savings on the long-term costs of ownership of the software products.

The report, funded by the European Commission, concludes that free software could offer organisations significant savings with little effect on their business. It found "the existing base of quality Floss applications with reasonable quality control and distribution would have cost firms almost 12 billion euros to reproduce internally".

The long-awaited PlayStation 3 (PS3) will finally go on sale across Europe on 23 March, BBC News reports.

Electronics giant Sony has said only the 60GB version of the console will be available at launch, with the 20GB model to follow later. The next-generation console is already available in Japan and the US, where it went on sale in November.

The European launch was postponed after problems with mass-producing parts for the console's Blu-ray disc drive. Sony has said one million of the consoles will be made available at launch in Europe, with around a quarter of the stock landing in the UK.

Last week's IEEE meeting in London demonstrated the move to the next stage of WiFi is nearly ready, reports eWeek.

At the meeting, 802.11n committee members unanimously approved draft standard version 1.10, and agreed to create version 2.0, which should be ready in the near future.

The outstanding issues before the committee were resolved, clearing all remaining hurdles to the interim standard. This means the WiFi Alliance can publish specifications that will allow manufacturers to build 11n products knowing that they will be compatible.