Gmail crash leaves millions stranded

Google's e-mail service, used by more than 100 million people, suffered a global crash yesterday, raising concerns about the world's growing reliance on Web services, reports FT.com.

The Gmail failure lasted more than two hours, from about 1.30am on the US West Coast, hitting users in Europe and Asia hardest as America slept.

The Internet giant said its monitoring systems had alerted it that consumer and business accounts worldwide could not access e-mail and apologised for the inconvenience.

Apple has introduced the latest beta version of its Safari browser, promising a much faster browser with improved navigation and searching, says China View.

The company said Safari 4 for both Mac OS X and Windows commands 4.2 times faster than Safari 3, thanks, in part, to the new Nitro engine, which runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than its predecessor.

According to the company, Safari 4 loads JavaScript "up to 30 times faster than IE7 and more than three times faster than Firefox 3". As for HTML pages, Safari, "loads [them] three times faster than IE 7 and almost three times faster than Firefox 3". Safari 4 is also the first browser to pass Web Standards Project's Acid3 test.

Microsoft has unveiled an Xbox 360 Resident Evil Limited Edition console bundle to celebrate the Resident Evil franchise coming to Xbox 360, reports Geekzone.

Xbox 360 fans will be able to pick up the bundle, which features an exclusive red Xbox 360, from 13 March.

For the recommended retail price of NZ$596, fans can enjoy the premium Xbox 360 Elite experience with a copy of Resident Evil 5, matching limited edition red wireless controller, Xbox 360 headset, a 120GB hard drive, exclusive premium Resident Evil 5 theme (download via Xbox LIVE), and Street Fighter 2 download.

Apple has introduced its Pass service for its popular iTunes music store, says USA Today.

It's like a season pass for a favourite artist, in this case the electro band Depeche Mode. Fans who pay $18.99 for this first iTunes Pass immediately get two Depeche Mode singles, Wrong and the Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix of the new track Oh Well.

Then, on 21 April, they'll receive Depeche Mode's new album called Sounds of the Universe.