Amazon accepts Vista orders

Amazon.com has started taking early orders for Microsoft`s Windows Vista operating system, reports Xinhuanet.

The company said it would ship the software, which will be sold in multiple versions, targeting consumers and businesses, on 30 January.

Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos declined to comment on the Web retailer`s pre-sale, saying the software maker is still completing its pricing model for Windows Vista.

AT&T says hackers broke into one of its computer systems and accessed data on thousands of customers who used its online store, reports CNet.

The illegally accessed information includes credit card numbers and affects about 19 000 customers who purchased equipment for high-speed DSL Internet connections through AT&T`s Web site.

The telecommunications company is in the process of contacting the affected customers via e-mail, phone and letter.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been appointed as a board member of Apple Computers, reports BBC News.

Industry experts say the move suggests a growing alliance between two of the world`s biggest technology players.

"We look forward to his contributions as a member of Apple`s board of directors," Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said.

A London school is to embark on a trial to fingerprint children when they return to school, reports The Register.

Holland Park School is believed to be one of the first schools in the UK to seek to fingerprint every pupil in an effort to monitor attendance.

The school said it will test the system, costing about lb4 500, on pupils who are late to school from next week before rolling it out to all 1 500 pupils.

The battle to get a Microsoft-held XML patent overturned in SA, could prove to be harder and more expensive than it was in New Zealand last week, reports Tectonic.

Peter Harrison, local anti-patent activist and the head of the New Zealand Open Source Society (NZOSS), says one of the critical differences between the two scenarios is that the patent was defeated at the "pre-grant" stage in New Zealand while in SA the patent has already been granted by the patent office.

This means that in SA the patent will have to be challenged in court, making it more expensive. NZOSS led the challenge to the patent in New Zealand.