Siemens prototypes SMS pen

Siemens has developed a prototype phone in the shape of a pen that allows heavy SMS users to enter data directly by writing on virtually any surface.

PC World says the prototype PenPhone uses integrated handwriting-recognition technology. It also offers the standard features of a mobile phone.

Siemens says the device will be demonstrated at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, next month, but the company has not yet decided whether the PenPhone will go into production.

The US state of Michigan has completed the only presidential contest in 2004 to use Internet voting.

CNet reports that the Michigan`s caucus, in which nearly one-third of the votes cast arrived through the Internet, gave presidential contender John Kerry another early victory over rivals Howard Dean, John Edwards and Wesley Clark.

Michigan`s experiment comes as Internet voting is drawing both interest and criticism. Four computer security experts recently warned that methods of Internet voting cannot be secured against fraud and other security risks.

Last week, the Pentagon scrapped plans for service members and other Americans living oversees to cast their votes online, but Michigan was unable to halt its experiment because it had started accepting online votes weeks before the Pentagon`s announcement.

IBM says a division of Germany`s finance ministry responsible for paying public sector employees has installed two large IBM mainframe computers that run IBM`s operating system and Linux.

The company says the computers replace 30 computer servers from Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu Siemens that run versions of the Unix operating system.

Reuters quotes Larry Singer, Sun senior VP, as saying the IT industry is consolidating around IBM and Sun. "We look forward to continuing to go toe-to-toe with IBM. Hewlett-Packard is increasingly seen as the big loser."

Sun Microsystems has launched two new, faster computer servers and updated software in what is seen as an attempt by Sun to cash in on modestly improving spending on information technology.

Reuters says one of the servers uses Advanced Micro Devices` 64-bit Opteron processor. The V20z server runs both 32-bit and 64-bit software applications on Sun`s Solaris version of the Unix operating system and the freely available Linux operating system.

The report says Sun also announced new servers running on the next version of its microprocessor, the UltraSparc IV. The processors are the first for Sun to use new performance-boosting multithreading technology.