Bomb scare at Apple campus

A bomb threat cleared an Apple facility outside Sacramento, California, yesterday morning, but a subsequent search turned up no explosives, reveals The Register.

According to a video report from Sacramento television station KCRA, “several hundred employees” were evacuated from three buildings at Apple's Laguna Blvd campus in Elk Grove, a suburb of California's capital city.

Sacramento's KTLX TV subsequently reported that an all-clear status was declared by area police five hours after the threat. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department used a quartet of bomb-sniffing dogs to search the facility, which was opened in 1992 as a manufacturing centre.

Xhead = UK's online ads worth £4bn

The Internet now accounts for a quarter of all advertising spending in the UK, according to figures, reports the BBC.

The value of online advertising grew by 12.8% in 2010, breaking through the £4 billion barrier.

The study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and accountants PwC found that online advertising spending grew three times as rapidly as in 2009.

Nokia has reiterated its commitment to Symbian, saying it will sell phones based on the platform long after the first Windows Phone 7 devices begin appearing in the shops, according to reports, states V3.co.uk.

The Finnish handset firm entered a partnership with Microsoft in February, which was widely seen as the final nail in the coffin for the Symbian platform, as well as Nokia's involvement in the Intel-backed MeeGo open source platform.

However, in an open letter to developers seen by Reuters, Nokia's head of developer relations, Purnima Kochikar, said struggling Symbian, which was only recently passed by Android in the market share stakes, will be around for a while to come.

A Web site that sold Beatles songs online for 25c apiece before they became legally available has agreed to pay record companies nearly $1 million to settle a federal lawsuit, writes the Associated Press.

US district judge Josephine Staton Tucker signed off on the settlement between BlueBeat.com and music companies EMI Group, Capitol Records and Virgin Records America on Friday.

The judge ruled in December that the site violated the music labels' copyrights and presented unfair competition.