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The European Union’s antitrust investigation of Intel is “discriminatory and partial,” the chip maker complained in an action that’s detailed in a recent edition of the EU’s official journal, saying it’s not being permitted to properly defend itself against the charges. In previous public statements, Intel has professed its innocence and said it expects to be cleared of the charges. Now, the chip maker is taking aim at the European Commission itself and its handling of the antitrust investigation. In the action filed on Oct. 10, Intel claimed the EC failed to obtain “documentary evidence” from the complainant in the case, an apparent reference to AMD, and rejected Intel’s assertion that it cannot respond to the antitrust charges without these documents. Intel declared that decision was “manifestly illegal.”
Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Friday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai. On Mumbai Help, bloggers offered to help users get through to their family and friends in the city, or to get information on them. Mobile and fixed line circuits to Mumbai were clogged by the large number of people trying to get in touch with people in Mumbai after the crisis. A significant number of the people trapped in the hotels are foreigners, according to media reports. More people are likely to use mobile phones and technologies like SMS to get in touch with relatives than go online, because the number of mobile users outstrips that of online users in Mumbai. But when the phone lines are clogged, some people are realizing that going online may be a good alternative.
The world’s largest cell phone maker is pulling out of one of the world’s biggest cellular markets. Nokia said on Thursday that it will stop developing handsets for NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile, effectively ending a push that began five years ago when Nokia re-entered the Japanese market with the launch of 3G services here. The current global economic conditions pushed Nokia to withdraw from the Japanese market. Faced with lower demand for cell phones the company is examining its operations worldwide and decided that development for the Japanese market is not a priority.
Asustek Computer plans to debut a nature-friendly laptop PC with a casing made of bamboo on Saturday at Taiwan’s IT Month exhibition. The laptop, first announced last year, is part of Asus’s efforts to use renewable materials in products. The shell of the laptop is made of real bamboo, which grows fast and is used widely throughout Asia in furniture, as well as construction scaffolding, food for pandas, and in artworks. Asus plans to sell them at the Taipei IT show for NT$59,900, or US$1,802 each. The company will launch the bamboo laptops in the U.S. and Europe at a later date
…And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I’m Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.