IBM in move to go green

In an effort to reduce its energy output by 80% over the next five years, IBM is planning to merge its 3 900 computer servers worldwide into 30 mainframes.

Project Big Green, which will transfer the current servers on to System Z mainframes running on Linux, is not only aiming for environmental friendliness, but also expects marked savings through less software and system support costs.

While IBM is spending $1 billion per year on implementing Project Big Green, it will save $250 million in overall costs, aside from drastically reducing its energy requirements.

Americans may finally get a taste of Europe on their cellphones, after the Federal Communications Commission decided Tuesday to force some carriers to let consumers use any device they choose, rather than only the devices pre-selected by the company.

US cell users have watched jealously as some Europeans and Asians seem to enjoy the most advanced wireless devices, which they typically buy at electronics stores and then separately sign up for service from one of several carriers, reports US News.

With rare exceptions, North American cell users buy a phone that works exclusively with one wireless company, such as Verizon or Sprint.

Apple has been quick to protect its huge iPhone investment, and making sure the seemingly ubiquitous device is secure remains a top priority, says TMCnet.

The company took another step toward getting the bugs out yesterday by issuing the first security update for the iPhone ahead of a self-imposed 2 August deadline.

Researchers at the Cupertino, California-based, company say they patched the flaw that could be used to steal data from the device, or under certain circumstances make phantom calls without users even picking up the gadget.

Sony has opted to keep its PlayStation 3 price steady as it continues to pitch the console as a complete home entertainment solution that could soon function as a personal video recorder, reports The Sidney Morning Herald.

Around March next year, Sony expects to introduce a digital TV tuner add-on, which would turn the console into a programmable TV recorder.

Head of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand said PS3 was not just a games machine, but a "future-proof super computer".