14th March 2006 Archive

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Blanket digital licence fails in France

Carry on pirates, carry on DRM

Under heavy pressure from the French government, the country's parliament has voted against introducing the world's first blanket licence for sharing digital media. A section that would have permitted internet users to freely exchange copyrighted material, effectively legitimizing file sharing, and hastening the demise of …

Media players 14 Mar 2006, 09:56
World LCD TV sales overtake CRT revenues

More CRTs were shipped, though

Display manufacturers made more money from LCD TVs than they did from sets based on CRT technology, market watcher DisplaySearch's figures for Q4 2005 reveal. However, far more CRT TVs shipped during the quarter, making it the dominant telly technology by a large margin. Q4 revenues from LCD TVs reached $10.1bn, up 54.3 per …

HD 14 Mar 2006, 11:03
Intel to hop on third-world-PC bandwagon

Better to use old machines first?

Intel is to follow AMD's lead and pitch an ultra-low cost PC at the developing world. It will tout a machine priced at significantly less than $300 "in the next several weeks", according the company VP Bill Siu. Speaking in an interview with CRN, Siu said the system will provide full PC functionality to "take advantage of all …

PCs 14 Mar 2006, 12:28
Samsung YP-Z5 MP3 player

First UK Review Can it size up to Apple's iPod Nano?

There's no doubt Samsung has its eye on the hugely popular iPod Nano, and the YP-Z5 is its boldest attempt to woo consumers away from the Apple product. The Z5 is roughly the same size as a Nano; has a similar storage capacity and feature list; has a cool, visually stylish user interface; and even comes an a comparably sized box …

Media players 14 Mar 2006, 13:07
Ex-Gizmondo team form ads-for-airtime phone firm

Xero Mobile applies Smart Adds approach

Three ex-Gizmondo Europe executives have have emerged as the minds behind US-based virtual network operator Xero Mobile. The start-up's pitch: offer mobile phone users free airtime if they'll put up with adverts being pushed to their handsets. Xero Mobile first started making headlines last month when the company's detail- …

Consoles 14 Mar 2006, 13:45
MSI takes a shine to solar-powered MP3 players

Demo'd at sunny CeBIT

MSI has unveiled what it has been claimed to be the first solar-powered, hard drive-equipped MP3 player, though it appears a custom job kitted out to wow the crowds at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany this week. The player is the Mega Player 540, which sports a 1.8in, 128 x 160 colour display - the same size as the one …

Gadgets and Gizmos 14 Mar 2006, 14:34
D-Link shows off 'first' clamshell Wi-Fi VoIP phone

TelTel on board, not Skype

D-Link said today it will ship this Summer what it claims is the first clamshell Wi-Fi VoIP phone. Lest enterprising Reg Hardware readers come up with such a device already on the market, the networking gear company qualified its claim by noting its DPH-540 is the first Wi-Fi "flip-style" handset pre-loaded with TelTel VoIP …

Phones 14 Mar 2006, 14:50
WD brings external hard drive biz to book

Hardback-shaped disk

Hard drive maker Western Digital clearly hopes to appeal to more literate computer users with its latest external hard disk: between 160GB and 500GB of back-up space and media storage capacity dubbed My Book that "sits naturally on desktops and bookshelves", according to the company. WD is offering two versions of My Book. …

Gadgets and Gizmos 14 Mar 2006, 15:24
Olympus recalls 1.2m film cameras

Last nail in the coffin for 35mm?

Olympus has asked the buyers of 1.2m Infinity Twin, AF-1 Twin, Infinity Z00 200 series, AZ 200 series and other film cameras sold in the US between 1989 and 1995 to return them for repair after the manufacturer discovered that the products' flash units may overheat and produce smoke. Fortunately, no one's yet been injured, but …

Cameras 14 Mar 2006, 16:37