Week in Review: Vodafone looks to the future

Vodafone head to step down

The Vodafone chief executive steps down after five years just as the company reveal solid 2008 results. IT PRO looked in detail at the reasons for Sarin's departure, and what the future holds for Vodafone in the UK mobile phone market which is more competitive than ever.

NHS IT in turmoil as Fujitsu contract terminated

The National Health Service's attempt to computerise its system suffers a big blow as a contract it had with Fujitsu Services terminated after discussions between the two parties broke down. The deal was worth 895 million and leaves the 12.7 billion programme in difficulties.

Dell shows off its Eee PC rival

Dell will enter the crowded low-cost laptop market with a new Mini-Inspiron. The company was forced to post pictures of the device on its blog after Michael Dell was snapped with it at an event. No specification, pricing or release date has been revaled, but the upcoming Computex event in Taiwan may shed more light.

Yahoo says Microsoft no longer wants to merge

Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang makes his thoughts public about the Microsoft merger saga and reveals that he believes Microsoft are no longer interested in a full merger. IT PRO has covered this in much depth, and it seems that although Yahoo are still open to offers, the deal as it was looks pretty much dead.

Samsung solid state drive hits 256GB

Breakthrough technology from Samsung is revealed with the announcement of 256GB solid state drive that is cheaper to manufacture and four times the capacity of solid state drives in devices like the Macbook Air. It would remove the capacity as a barrier to moving to SSD for many markets.

Banking payments get quicker

A new system has been installed in some banks which will allow customers to speed up one-off payments by internet or phone, reducing the current three-day timescale to a matter of hours. The service will be rolled out gradually, with customers being informed when it becomes available to them.