Vegas hit by 'Izinyoka'

As the price of the metal skyrockets, copper is looking increasingly appealing to thieves, and telcos and data centre operators are being warned to safeguard their copper, reports The Register.

Embarq, a communications service provider in 18 US states, is offering a $5 000 bounty for information leading to the prosecution of people who steal its cable in Las Vegas.

The company has already spent $400 000 this year replacing pilfered lines in that city alone. More than 60 individuals have been arrested for copper theft in Las Vegas.

Google Earth turned its gaze upward yesterday with the debut of a feature that allows users to view the best images of the sky captured by astronomers around the globe, reports Tech News World.

Called "Sky", the new feature allows Google Earth users to view and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. The images presented are a combination of those from numerous scientific third parties.

"We're excited to provide users with rich astronomical imagery and enhanced content that enables them to both learn about what they're seeing above and tell their own stories," said Lior Ron, a product manager with Google. "By working with some of the industry's leading experts, we've been able to transform Google Earth into a virtual telescope."

A report from the UK communications watchdog shows cellphone use is continuing to reduce the amount of time people spend using landlines, reports BBC News.

For the first time, calls from mobiles now account for more than a third of time spent on phone calls in the UK, says Ofcom. Mobile phone call minutes totalled 82 billion last year, in an overall total of 234 billion.

Nine percent of UK households rely solely on mobile phones, compared with 7% that only have a landline, the report added. "There are more households which are now mobile-only in terms of their phone. The first quarter of 2007 is the first time that has happened," said Ofcom spokesman Peter Phillips.

Nokia and Microsoft have penned a deal that allows customers in 11 countries with compatible Nokia S60 phones to access a suite of Windows Live services specifically designed for those devices, reports eWeek.

The software is only available to Nokia customers in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Nokia N73, N80 Internet Edition, N95, N76 or N93i phones.

The Windows Live trial service for Nokia S60 phone owners will initially be free, but customers may then have to pay to continue using the suite.