SAP responds to criticism

Following considerable criticism of the slow uptake of SAP's SaaS offering, Business ByDesign, UK country manager for SAP Business ByDesign Ian Anstey, argued there is much to be positive about, according to Computing.

The criticism centres on SAP's prediction in 2007 that it would have rolled out the product to approximately 10 000 users by 2010. The company actually reported only 100 customers in September this year.

Anstey conceded that the number of users is low, but argued that the company has retained up to 80% of them.

One of the first batches of Apple PCs has sold at an auction in London for £133 250, reports the BBC. It was bought over the phone at Christie's by Italian businessman and private collector Marco Boglione.

The Apple I came with its original packaging and a signed sales letter from Apple co-founder and current chief executive Steve Jobs.

The computer, one of only 200 of the model ever made, originally sold for $666.66 when it was introduced in 1976.

Acer has revealed a range of devices, including a laptop with a second screen in place of a keyboard, three new tablets, and its next-generation smartphone with a 4.8-inch touch-screen, states V3.

Unveiled at Acer's global conference in New York, the most interesting device is the Iconia, a Windows 7 laptop with a dual-screen layout described as a new concept that will introduce “a brand new tablet experience”.

The Iconia's two 14-inch displays are protected by Gorilla Glass, feature a 1 366 x 768 resolution, and are designed to allow the user to interact using touch alone.

A grassroots effort that began with a single Web page exhorting US air travellers to decline body scans has become a full-fledged Internet sensation that has the uncommon distinction of officially irking the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), says CNet.

The idea behind National Opt-Out Day is simple: on the day before Thanksgiving, when screening lines stretch so far they seem to snake back on themselves, Americans should opt out of what critics call “pornoscans”.

Instead, they should choose a police-style pat-down instead, which will take TSA screeners far longer to complete.