europe

Despite being plagued with high prices, low sales, and difficulty with program distribution in the U.S., Google TV is expanding to Europe. Come September, Sony will sell Google TV-based products in Europe, according to GigaOM via a translation of a Les Echos article.

Slated to go on sale in France, Spain, Germany, and the U.K. are two devices: a set-top box costing 200 Euros ($266) and an integrated Blu-ray player for 300 euros ($399), according to GigaOM.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt announced Google TV's rollout to Europe last August and Sony confirmed that two Google TV-compatible set-top … Read more

Twenty-five suspected members of the online activist group Anonymous have been arrested in sweeps across Europe and South America, the international police agency Interpol said today.

The sweep, dubbed "Operation Unmask," was in response to coordinated cyberattacks against government, political, and corporate Web sites in Colombia and Chile, Interpol said. The suspects, whose ages range from 17 to 40, were arrested in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain.

"This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, … Read more

Traditional PCs are in crisis over in the U.K. and France--and Apple and tablets are picking up the slack.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, shipments in the U.K. PC market fell to 2.9 million units, a decline of 19.6 percent compared with the same period in 2010 (see table below). PCs run the Microsoft Windows operating system.

That marked the fifth consecutive quarterly shipment decline, and also the worst decline in five quarters, Gartner said. For the whole year, the U.K. market declined 15.9 percent, shrinking by nearly 2 million units from 2010. … Read more

Companies will be required to disclose security breaches within 24 hours of their occurrence under European Union proposals being made this week to strengthen data protection rules.

New rules are needed to protect consumers and reduce bureaucracy, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a speech at a conference today in Munich.

"Companies that suffer a data leak must inform the data protection authorities and the individuals concerned, and they must do so without undue delay," Bloomberg quoted Reding as saying at the DLD conference. "European data protection rules will become a trademark people recognize and trust … Read more

Apple's iPhone sales are strong worldwide, but across Europe they appear to be a bit of a mixed bag.

During the 12-week period that ended November 30, Apple's iPhone market share jumped to 36 percent in the U.S., up from the 25 percent a year ago, according to Reuters, which obtained new market share data today from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The U.S. was its strongest region, but the U.K. wasn't far behind. There, the iPhone's market share jumped to 31 percent for the period, rising from 21 percent last year.

Elsewhere … Read more

When entrepreneurs all over Europe begin speeding toward Paris for the high-profile LeWeb conference next month, one of the most innovative startups of all might well be a Trojan horse.

On December 4, the StartupBus Europe will depart the canals and revelry of Amsterdam on a three-day bus and boat trip to the French captal via Copenhagen, Berlin, and Zurich. On board will be 25 "buspreneurs" broken into teams, each of which will spend the 72 hours en route, plus the three days of LeWeb, trying to win a competition to build the best new product.

But while … Read more

We've seen some unusual Steve Jobs tributes since his passing, but a one-day pop-up shop in London should really take the cake.

A Steve Jobs-themed cake shop will open for one day only at the Hospital Club in central London this Wednesday, November 9. Not surprisingly, the shop is named Megabites. It is part of the five-day Internet Week Europe, a festival of events hosted by Europe's digital industry.

Blogger Miss Cakehead (I'm assuming that's not her real name) is behind the "iCake" project. She promises that all the treats will have a geek twist.… Read more

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has still not fully restored e-mail, messaging, and Web service to more than 10 million customers in Europe, the Middle East, parts of South America, and Africa after a disruption at one of its network operation centers yesterday.

A BlackBerry outage, which began on Monday around 10:20 a.m. BST, has resulted in limited access to e-mails, Web browsing, and messaging services such as BlackBerry Messenger, otherwise known as BBM.

Late yesterday, RIM said it had resolved the issue. But this morning, millions of BlackBerry subscribers woke up to find their service was still … Read more

Like any normal jazz fan I have 30 or 40 Miles Davis albums. It was impossible to stop adding to the collection because Davis' music was always moving ahead. Take this new set by the Miles Davis Quintet, "Live in Europe 1967." It's the first installment of the new Bootleg Series, and though it's from the tail end of Davis' acoustic period, the feel is electric.

It's a wild ride, and the band's creative energy is unstoppable. Trumpeter Davis is playing with Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on sax, Ron Carter on bass, … Read more