30th January 2006 Archive

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Dell: no Intel exclusive

Definitely maybe

It's official: Dell doesn't have an exclusive deal with Intel, and has an open mind on using AMD processors in its products. So said company chairman Michael Dell last week when cornered by a Reuters reporter at the World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland. "Sure," he said when asked if the company might offer Opteron …

Bits 'n' Chips 30 Jan 2006, 10:27
Netgear's newest MIMO Wi-Fi gets full test

Result: wakes up neighbours, useless at WEP

The test is a disaster for the IEEE and 802.11n. The good news is that the new Wi-Fi MIMO technology really does reach throughput speeds of 100Mbps. The bad news: it utterly crushed a neighbouring network that used standard 802.11g. The review is an astonishingly thorough technical analysis, complete with every kind of test of …

Gadgets and Gizmos 30 Jan 2006, 10:40
Intel Core Duo hit by USB battery drain bug

Microsoft driver blamed

Intel may be off the hook as the source of a bug observed by reviews that significantly reduces the battery life of Core Duo-based notebooks - apparently it's all Microsoft's fault. Or is it? The glitch was first noted by Tom's Hardware Guide last week. The site identified a persistent power drain whenever USB 2.0 devices are …

Bits 'n' Chips 30 Jan 2006, 12:24
Sony admits Connect Player 1.0 music software 'problems'

Investigating performance issues

Sony has apologised for problems some users have experienced with its Connect Player utility when the jukebox software is used with the firm's NW-A1000, NW-A3000 and NW-A608 digital music players, launched last November. Quite a few UK-based Walkman owners have complained on bulletin boards and to Sony directly that running the …

Media players 30 Jan 2006, 13:43
Macally readies iPod Nano dockable headphones

Plug and play

Don't want to carry your iPod Nano in a pocket or around your neck? Then how about carrying it on your head? Accessory maker MacAlly has announced a set of cordless headphones that incorporate their own iPod Nano dock. Like Macally's older Shuffle-connectable headphones, the mTune-N's right speaker sports a slot for the music …

Media players 30 Jan 2006, 14:30
Time Warner embraces P2P

My enemy's enemy is my friend

Time Warner (TW) is embracing peer-to-peer technology to distribute films and other media in Germany. Despite leading the digital rights charge against Napster, the firm can now see the benefits of the technology. From March, when the service should launch, Time Warner will offer a selection of films including Batman Begins and …

Networking and Wireless 30 Jan 2006, 15:21
Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom nine-megapixel camera

Review Can it compete with budget SLRs?

Fujifilm's FinePix S9500 Zoom is a nine megapixel all-in-one 'bridge' camera with a long 10.7x optical zoom lens and SLR-like styling. With its design and features, Fujifilm is clearly targeting buyers of budget digital SLRs, quoting LCD-based composition, a tilting monitor, movie mode and no concerns over dust getting on the …

Cameras 30 Jan 2006, 15:22
RIM defeats intellectual property firm

InPro, in Germany, not the more famous one...

Research in Motion (RIM) has prevailed in a patent infringement legal battle in Germany, the company said today. Like its better-known fight with US intellectual property holding company NTP, RIM's tussle with Luxembourg-based InPro centres on allegations that it used, without permission, technology patented by InPro. However, …

Phones 30 Jan 2006, 15:26
i-mate extends Jam PDA phone line-up

The joint is jamin

PDA vendor i-mate has posted details of its latest model, the Jamin - also known as the HTC Prophet - on its website ahead of next week's anticipated launch date. According to the site, the Jamin is a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE PDA-style smart phone running Windows Mobile 5.0 on a 200MHz Texas Instruments …

Phones 30 Jan 2006, 17:35