Wikipedia probes content manipulation case

Wikipedia has suspended at least 10 accounts linked to the public relations firm Bell Pottinger as it investigates allegations of content manipulation, says the BBC.

The online encyclopaedia's founder Jimmy Wales told the BBC the lobbyists had “embarrassed their clients”.

He said a team of volunteers was looking at possible breaches of conflict of interest guidelines. Bell Pottinger admitted to editing entries, but said it had “never done anything illegal”.

Samsung has failed in its attempt to have the iPhone 4S banned from sale in France after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to stop Apple's device being sold in the country, reveals V3.co.uk.

The South Korean firm had issued the filing the day after Apple announced the iPhone 4S, also starting a case in Italy at the same time, in an effort to hit back against the Cupertino firm in their ongoing legal battle.

However, according to messages on Twitter by a French reporter in the court room, the judge ruled that Samsung's claim was “disproportionate” and ordered the firm to pay Apple EUR100 000 to cover its legal fees.

The Arkansas Supreme Court yesterday tossed out a death row inmate's murder conviction and said he deserves a new trial, because one juror slept and another tweeted during court proceedings, notes the Associated Press.

Erickson Dimas-Martinez's attorneys had appealed his 2010 murder conviction, because a juror sent tweets despite the judge's instruction not to post on the Internet or communicate with anyone about the case. The lawyers also complained that another juror slept.

In one tweet, juror Randy Franco wrote: “Choices to be made. Hearts to be broken... We each define the great line.” Less than an hour before the jury announced its verdict, he tweeted: “It's over.”

Microsoft and HP have signed a deal to offer joint cloud hardware and software configurations for sale over the next four years, according to The Register.

Under the terms of the deal, the duo will offer three types of set-ups to resellers and direct sales: private, hybrid and public.

The first tranche of packages will go on sale in the US, UK, Australia and Canada by the end of the month, and globally shortly afterwards.