Apple — which has its European headquarters in Cork — is close to paying a record $3.2bn (€2.3bn) for Beats Electronics, which also has a Cork link.

MICROSOFT unveiled its new controller-free, motion sensor system Kinect for Xbox 360 at a launch in Los Angeles.

GOOGLE believes it has come up with the technology to unite web surfing with channel surfing on televisions.

HULU, an online video service formed by two media conglomerates, began private testing yesterday with two new partners in one of big media’s most ambitious attempts to court viewers wherever they spend time.

Apple has indicated it would open its iTunes store to other portable players besides its ubiquitous iPod if the world’s major record labels abandoned the anti-piracy technology that serves as the industry’s security blanket.