Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies

5 October 2011 Last updated at 20:33 ET <!-- Embedding the video player --> <!-- This is the embedded player component -->

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Jobs introduced the iPod and the iPhone to the world.

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Former chief executive and co-founder of US technology giant Apple Steve Jobs has died, the company says. He was 56.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said.

Jobs announced he was suffering from pancreatic cancer in 2004.

Fellow internet pioneer Bill Gates said Jobs' "profound impact" would " be felt for many generations to come".

Mr Gates added: "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely."

'The face of Apple'

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being," Apple said.

"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

He was one of the world's best-known business leaders and introduced the iPod and the iPhone to the world.

His death came a day after Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 4S model.

Jobs announced in 2004 that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant five years later.

In January, he took medical leave, before resigning as CEO in August and handing over his duties to Tim Cook.

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In his resignation letter, Jobs said: "I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role."

However, Jobs stayed on as Apple's chairman.

More than almost any other business leader, he was indistinguishable from the company he co-founded in the 1970s.

As the face of Apple, he represented its dedication to high-end technology and fashionable design.

And inside the company he exerted a level of influence unheard of in most businesses.

What is your reaction to the passing of Steve Jobs? You can send us your comments using the form below.

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Yahoo&#33; surges on takeover rumour

5 October 2011 Last updated at 17:40 ET

Shares in the internet portal firm Yahoo have leapt 10% on rumours that Microsoft is considering a second attempt at a takeover.

Microsoft, which last bid in 2008, joins a host of other companies which are considering buying Yahoo, one of the internet's best-known brands.

China's giant internet company Alibaba has already said it might buy Yahoo.

Rumours of a bid from Vodaphone also pushed shares in BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, 12% higher.

Yahoo shares jumped 10.1% to close at $15.92 and Microsoft shares ended 2.2% higher at $25.89.

Yahoo's current market value is $20bn (�13bn), compared with Microsoft's previous bid of around $45bn.

Neither party has made any official comment.

Microsoft is said to be divided as to whether it would make sense to mount such a bid.

Reasons in favour include the ability to beat AOL as a competitor by creating a stronger web portal.

Market share

Microsoft already has an agreement with Yahoo involving its Bing internet search engine, which powers Yahoo's search but gives 88% of advertising revenue back to Yahoo.

Combing the two could give Yahoo 30% of the US search market, according to analysts.

According to the latest figures from research firm comScore, Google has 64.8% of the US search market, Yahoo has 16.3% and Microsoft 14.7%.

Against, is that Yahoo is seen as lacking in growth potential.

Early last month, Yahoo fired its chief executive in a row over the company's future direction.

It said last month that it had received "inbound interest" from a number of parties.

Sid Parakh, analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen, told the Reuters news agency: "There are many reasons why this thing probably makes sense.

"If you strip out the variety of assets Yahoo owns, you are pretty much paying nothing for the core business."

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BT turns up broadband speed dial

5 October 2011 Last updated at 06:50 ET

BT is to launch a fibre optic service that will deliver speeds of up to 300Mbps (megabits per second) to some UK homes by spring next year.

The service is only likely to be made available to a minority of people with others promised speed boosts of up to 80Mbps.

The UK government welcomed the news.

But broadband figures reveal the UK still has a long way to go to achieve its goal of being the fastest in Europe by 2015.

BT said it will begin trialing the super-fast technology known as Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) this month.

It is investing �2.5 billion to make fibre broadband available to two thirds of UK premises by the end of 2015 but only around a quarter of these will benefit from FTTP.

The majority of its money is going into Fibre-to-the-Cabinet technology (FTTC), which is slower because it uses copper wire to connect the street cabinet to users' homes.

Full fibre

FTTC currently has a top speed of 40Mbps although BT promised to double that to around 80Mbps next year.

Currently BT's fibre services serve around 5 million homes but take-up has been sluggish. Its super-fast service BT Infinity service has just 200,000 users so far.

Seb Lahtinen, co-founder of broadband news site ThinkBroadband, said there is pent-up demand for faster broadband.

"It is likely to be driven by high definition video-on-demand content as well as households where many different family members are using the internet at the same time," he said.

He welcomed BT's decision to roll out faster fibre.

"Wider availability of 'full fibre' FTTP services is clearly an important milestone as it represents a move to leading edge technology capable of delivering services beyond speeds which one could imagine requiring in the next decade," he said.

Trials of FTTP will be small-scale at first, with the service going live this month in just six areas - Ashford in Middlesex, Bradwell Abbey, Chester South, Highams Park, St Austell and York.

BT Openreach chief executive Liv Garfield said the announcement was "a significant step in the UK's broadband journey."

"These developments will transform broadband speeds across the country and propel the UK up the broadband league tables," she added.

Eastern Europe

It has some way to go though, according to figures released last week by the Fibre-to-the-Home Council for Europe.

Penetration rates of FTTP technology in the UK are too low for it to feature in the league table.

Lithuania leads the European FTTP ranking with 26.6% of households subscribing to the technology, followed by Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, Russia, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia and Denmark, in that order. Each of the top ten FTTP nations has a penetration rate of at least 6%.

A handful of rival companies already offer FTTP technologies in the UK, but they tend to be limited to new housing developments.

The government is keen that rural areas should not fall behind when it comes to super-fast broadband and has made �530m available to boost investment in these areas.

To encourage alternatives to BT, it forced the telco to open up its ducts and overhead poles to rivals.

Fujitsu pledged it would offer a rural FTTP network run on BT's infrastructure but the sticking point appears to be what BT will charge for access to its ducts and poles.

Communications minister Jeremy Hunt recently urged the company to hurry up and sort the issue out.

For its part, BT told the BBC that it was in talks with regulator Ofcom regarding the prices and "hoped those discussions will be concluded shortly".

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Samsung wants iPhone 4S Euro ban

5 October 2011 Last updated at 08:35 ET

Samsung is seeking an injunction to get the new iPhone 4S banned from sale in France and Italy.

It claims that Apple has used 3G wireless technology, which Samsung invented, without paying for it.

A patent war between the companies has been rumbling on for months in courts around the world.

Apple has obtained temporary embargoes on its rivals' products in Australia and Germany and is seeking similar rulings in several other countries.

In a statement, Samsung said: "Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology, and we will steadfastly protect our intellectual property."

Patent law blogger Florian Mueller warned that Samsung was putting the cart before the horse by seeking an injunction before negotiating terms.

"Imagine what would happen if every participant in a standard-setting process could later shut down entire telecommunications networks even if the alleged infringers are willing to pay a royalty to be determined, in the event of a commercial disagreement between the parties, by a court of law," wrote Mr Mueller on his Foss Patents site.

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Bletchley Park wins �4.6m grant

4 October 2011 Last updated at 20:05 ET

The home of World War II codebreakers at Bletchley Park has been awarded a �4.6m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The investment will enable the restoration of key codebreaking huts and create a world-class visitor centre at the Buckinghamshire site.

The HLF said new exhibitions and interactive displays will bring Bletchley's story alive.

Bletchley Park was the wartime home of the Government Code and Cypher School.

'Ground-breaking work'

Carole Souter, chief executive of HLF, said: "The complex story of Bletchley Park revolves around a group of dedicated men and women who quietly worked away with no expectation of public recognition.

"Now, more than 60 years later, the trust will bring to life fascinating tales of the ground-breaking work that took place in this sprawling country estate.

"I cannot think of a better use of Heritage Lottery Fund money than to support this project and, in so doing, honour the memory of all who were involved."

A spokesman for the Bletchley Park Trust said: "The ambition of the Bletchley Park Trust is to complete the restoration of the site, and to tell its story to the highest modern standards."

The HLF has also announced a grant of �1.4m to restore Newcastle's 13th Century monument the Black Gate, bringing the currently vacant building back into public use as a heritage, education and community space.

And it has also given its initial backing to plans to restore the 12th Century Delapre Abbey in Northamptonshire with �250,600 of development funding.

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