Apple faces rebellion

Steven Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, is an emerging force in the mobile phone business, thanks to the snaking lines of gadget fans who queued up last week to buy the iPhone.

But now he faces a headache in an industry Apple already dominates - digital music, reports New York Times.

The Universal Music Group of Vivendi, the world's biggest music corporation, last week notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. This is according to executives briefed on the issue who asked for anonymity because negotiations between the companies are confidential.

Chinese wireless value-added services firm KongZhong last week inked a one-year agreement to co-operate with MSN China on Mobile Messenger 3.0, says China Tech News.

KongZhong will pay MSN China an undisclosed fixed fee per channel for the length of the deal.

Nick Yang, KongZhong's president, said: "This co-operation agreement is a win-win for KongZhong and MSN China."

A day after launching into orbit, the privately-built Genesis 2 expandable module successfully relayed high-resolution images taken on 29 June during on-orbit checkout procedures, reports Space.com.

The two pictures confirmed the operation of the inflatable module's camera system followed by download to the mission operations centre for the Las Vegas, Nevada-based spaceflight firm Bigelow Aerospace. The testing will continue as the ground team perfects the acquisition of the Genesis 2 signal.

A camera on the interior of Genesis 2 captures a test image of the expansive space created by the inflation technology. In this early stage of checkout, this image was taken without the spacecraft interior lighting turned on.

HSBC will invest $90 million over five years in a global environmental efficiency programme (Geep), which will take on board emerging technology to help reduce its impact on the environment, says Computing.co.uk.

The Geep programme centres on the bank's aim to develop a sustainable business and is a direct internal investment in activities that help create environmental efficiencies throughout the organisation.

Key to its aim is embracing new technology, including renewable energy technology, footprint management and innovation. Geep will oversee pilots of innovative and new technologies, as well as environmental management systems and processes to optimise the efficiency of the bank's operations.