It seems rumors of the death of the tablet in western Europe have been greatly exaggerated. That's the conclusion of a new report from IDC , which reveals that the tablet market in western Europe contracted by just 0.5% year-on-year, with 7 million devices being shipped in the region in the second quarter of 2017. And in the context of the tablet's recent history, that virtually counts as growth, according to IDC. The report attributes much of the recovery to Apple's latest tablets and the improvement in several countries' economies. (See 10 Alternate Uses for Tablets.)

Following a cyber attack on the UK's Westminster parliament in June, it's now the turn of the Scottish parliament to suffer a similar fate, the Guardian reports. In what is described as a "brute force" attack, hackers repeatedly attempted to crack the MSPs' email passwords, with the result that some were likely to be locked out of their accounts. (See Eurobites: Grow Some Cyberballs, UK Industry Warned.) Figure 1: Under attack: the Scottish parliament building at Holyrood

Ride-sharing service Uber has temporarily pulled its Uber Pop offering from Finland following a legal crackdown, YLI reports, though its high-end Uber Black service will remain in operation. Uber says it plans to bring Uber Pop back to Finland in 2018, by which time it hopes the cap on the number of taxi licenses granted in Finland will be removed.

Accedo , the Swedish video delivery specialist, has helped UK broadcaster Channel 4 extend its All 4 catch-up service across more platforms. The service, which currently offers such treasures as Tattoo Fixers on Holiday and Celebs Go Dating, will now be additionally available on Now TV/Roku, Samsung Connected TVs, Amazon Fire, PlayStation 3 and 4, Freeview Play and Freesat.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading