HP notebook batteries recalled

HP is recalling around 16 000 notebook batteries worldwide after reports that they can overheat and burn, reports CNet News.

The recall follows a report issued by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The report says batteries beginning with the bar code L3 are affected and may be found in HP and Compaq notebooks. HP Pavilion family notebooks with model numbers dv1xxx, ze2xxx, as well as HP Compaq family notebooks with model number nx48xx, may be affected. Compaq Presario models V2xxx and M2xxx may also be affected.

The chief executive of Technologies SA, Niklas Zennstrom, has admitted Skype`s Chinese partner filters text messages, reports Computer Business Review online.

He said Tom Online, the Chinese portal that runs the joint venture with Skype, censors text messages in compliance with the strict censorship laws of the state.

Other Western companies such as Microsoft and Google have been criticised for implementing Chinese censorship laws. Yahoo in particular has been slated for providing information that recently helped Chinese authorities jail two dissidents.

Opera Software has released the first public beta of its Opera 9 Web browser, reports CIO Tech Informer.

Opera 9 includes a feature called "widgets", which are small Web applications such as newsfeeds or games that reside in a window on a user`s desktop. It also comes with the BitTorrent file-downloading software built in, so that users don`t have to start that software as a separate application.

The beta release follows a second technical preview of Opera 9 that was released about two months ago.

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton is the star of a new mobile game released by Gameloft, reports Reuters UK.

Gameloft, a mobile game developer and publisher, said it plans several games under its exclusive, multiyear licensing agreement with Paris Hilton Entertainment.