Gillian Law

Microsoft Corp. launched version 1.2 of its customer relationship management (CRM) software Monday, making it available for the first time outside of North America.

The U.K. government passed controversial communications surveillance laws last month, after a close-run debate in the House of Lords. These new laws will have a powerful impact on Internet service providers (ISPs ) and their U.K. customers. However, companies are not clear on how the law must be followed, ISPs and industry bodies say.

Strong third quarter PC sales have led Gartner Inc. to increase its fourth quarter PC shipment projections to 47.2 million units worldwide, it said Friday.

First-time buyers in emerging markets helped drive the still-growing mobile phone market in the third quarter of this year, IDC said Wednesday.

British Telecommunications PLC (BT) will offer a 1Mbps broadband service to its wholesale customers from Nov. 20, it said Wednesday.

Consumers in Western Europe will spend

In an attempt to boost its presence in the European IT services market, Cap Gemini SA, parent company of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Group, has filed an all-share bid for French systems integration company Transiciel SA, it said Monday.

Motorola Inc. and Microsoft Corp. launched a clamshell format cell phone Monday, based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone software.