Computing.co.uk – Microsoft cuts price of online apps
Microsoft is cutting the cost of its hosted versions of Exchange, SharePoint and Office Communications Server, and rolling the services out to 15 new countries this week.

Computing.co.uk – CIOs urged to improve communications skills
Analysts at Gartner have urged IT managers and directors to communicate more efficiently, especially when it comes to discussing risk and return. Richard Hunter, Gartner fellow, said that good leaders can increase the importance of IT systems at their firms, but only if they are able to discuss and display the benefits in a clear manner.

Total Telecom – Sony Ericsson’s first Android phone highlights Microsoft’s shortcomings
Sony Ericsson delivered a blow to Microsoft on Tuesday when it unveiled its latest Xperia handset, which unlike its Windows-powered predecessors is based on Google’s Android operating system. Called X10, the flagship smartphone comes with a new Sony Ericsson-designed user interface that aggregates the user’s contacts and communications from the likes of Facebook and Twitter into a single address book.

ComputerWorldUK – Virtualisation is the workhorse behind cloud computing
The magic pixie dust that makes a cloud a cloud is virtualisation technology. It makes one computer behave as though it were many. It also makes many computers behave as one. That may be a mind bender but it’s that sort of deconstruction of the physical world of fixed hardware that allows a cloud provider to achieve unprecedented economies of scale.

CBR Online – SMBs slam UK government broadband plans
The government’s plan to provide broadband speeds of 2mbps throughout the UK by 2012 has been lambasted by SMBs as woefully inadequate. SMBs throughout the UK, particularly those in rural areas, see high-speed broadband accessibility as a luxury rather than a necessity despite the fact that many of them rely on a speedy Internet connection for their day to day operations.

The Times – Illegal file-sharing sites up 300 per cent
Attempts to close down illegal file-sharing sites may simply spread the problem more widely, according to a new report.  The number of new file-sharing sites hosting unauthorised, copyrighted content rose 300 per cent over the past three months after the popular Pirate Bay site was prosecuted in Sweden, according to research by McAfee, the internet security group.