A CONSORTIUM of studios and consumer-electronics companies is trying to kick-start the market for digital movies and other content by making it more convenient for consumers to use.

DELL'S plan to sell its assembly plants could pose problems for cities that count the tech giant as a major employer. Nowhere have worries been greater than in Limerick, Ireland, where a Dell facility with about 3000 workers helped revitalise the economy.

SAP is "back to normal business" after clients hesitated in the first quarter to make orders, according to boss Henning Kagermann.

DELL is trying to sell its computer factories around the world, a move to overhaul a production model that was long a group hallmark.

RED Hat, the world's biggest seller of Linux software, has bought closely held Qumranet for $US107 million ($131 million) to add technology that helps computers run multiple programs, challenging VMware and Microsoft.

SOUTH Korean police have arrested four people over the theft of data on 11 million customers of a local oil refiner, in what is being called the country's largest-ever data leak.

PALM has introduced a second Treo email phone in less than two months to challenge Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone.

MICROSOFT will feature comedian Jerry Seinfeld and former chairman Bill Gates in a $US300 million ($342 million) advertising campaign.

THREE investors in Napster have urged shareholders to elect them to the board, saying the money-losing internet music company should consider a sale or merger.

PERSONAL details of 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales have been lost, the British Home Office says.

APPLE is investigating why access to iTunes appeared to be blocked for users in China after a pro-Tibet album became a hit on the online music store.

PALM has introduced a second Treo email phone in less than two months to challenge Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone.

IBM, the world's largest provider of computer services, is spending $US300 million ($340 million) on 13 new disaster recovery centres to protect customers' data.

SALESFORCE.COM, the biggest seller of internet-based customer management software, says its sales growth has slowed and has reduced earnings projections for the year.

A CUSTOMER is suing Apple over its iPhone 3G, saying it does not download web pages and music at twice the rate of its predecessor, as the company advertises.

SIRF Technology Holdings, the maker of chips for global positioning systems, has failed to persuade the US International Trade Commission to overturn a finding that rival Broadcom did not infringe its patents.

BROCADE Communications Systems has reported a profit that beat analysts' estimates after an acquisition boosted its services unit.

ATTACKS by Russian hackers against Georgian websites, including one hosted in the US, have continued despite Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordering a halt to hostilities against Georgia.

EUROPEAN regulators have increased pressure on mobile phone operators to change their billing practices.

TANDBERG, a Norwegian maker of videoconferencing equipment, says it has been approached by a private equity company about a possible bid and agreed to enter "preliminary discussions" with the unidentified suitor.