Reg Hardware

4th May 2006 Archive

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  • Apple sues itself in the foot (again)

    Legals gun for deep links

    Apple Computer's legal policy of shoot first, and ask questions later, has got the company into trouble again. Apple's lawyers have gone after the popular humor community site Something Awful for posting a link to one of Apple's own internal service manuals. The link resolves to a third party website, and was posted in a useful …

    Mac 4 May 2006, 04:14

  • Trolltech sees a billion Linux phones

    Qtopian visions

    If Linux is to grab a significant chunk of the mobile phones business in the coming years, as supporters hope, then much of its fate is in the hands of Trolltech. The Norwegian software house is best known among software developers, for its GUI toolkit - rather unfairly, as it's been playing in the embedded arena for six years …

    Phones 4 May 2006, 06:48

  • Intel asks judge to dismiss AMD complaint

    AMD vs Intel Overseas sales not a matter for the US court, chip giant claims

    Intel has called on Delaware District Court Judge Joseph J Farnan to dismiss the overseas element of the legal action brought against it by its arch-rival, AMD. The move had been expected: Intel's lawyers announced last month they would make the request. AMD's response could have been forecast too: it said the move was an " …

    Bits 'n' Chips 4 May 2006, 08:52

  • RIM countersues Visto over patent spat

    Demands non-infringement ruling

    Research in Motion (RIM) has countersued Visto, the wireless email specialist that formally accused it of intellectual-property infringement on Monday. RIM's complaint demands the Dallas court declare its products do not incorporate technology detailed in Visto's patents. RIM is alleged to have infringed Visto patents 6,023, …

    Phones 4 May 2006, 09:04

  • Sky names HD launch day

    But Telewest/NTL gets Lost and Desperate Housewives in high def

    After months of speculation Sky has officially confirmed that its HD service will start broadcasting on Monday, 22 May. On that date the first of the 40,000 telly addicts who have signed up to the HD service will have their system installed. Sky has also revealed what HD punters will be watching in the first week on its HD …

    HD 4 May 2006, 09:25

  • Neuros tells PSP users 'don't run firmware 2.7'

    Video playback breakdown

    PlayStation Portable owners who use Neuros Technology's MPEG-4 Recorder 2 to record video for playback on their consoles are being warned not to apply Sony's latest PSP firmware, version 2.7. Neuros claims the update prevents the PSP playing video recorded on its device. “We don’t think Sony did this on purpose, but, for now …

    Consoles 4 May 2006, 09:41

  • Early MacBook Pros hit by battery glitch?

    Charge plunges for some users

    Apple has apparently added battery problems to the list of woes potentially affecting its MacBook Pro notebook family. Online reports allege a small number of early versions of the Intel-based machines may have shipped with troublesome batteries. Apple is said to be replacing the power units on a customer-by-customer basis. …

    Mac 4 May 2006, 10:23

  • ATI Radeon X1900 GT slips out early

    Week ahead of time

    ATI's upcoming Radeon X1900 GT GPU appears to have slipped out early. Boards based on the chip aren't expected to arrive until 9 May, but at least one store from the US retail chain Best Buy put a handful of the units on sale this week, an online report alleges. And Digit-Life.com has the pictures to prove it. The box-shot …

    Bits 'n' Chips 4 May 2006, 10:45

  • Toshiba pegs laptop refunds on England World Cup win

    Offers 66% off purchase price

    If England wins the 2006 World Cup, Toshiba will refund 66 per cent of the purchase price of many of its Centrino Duo-branded Satellite, Satellite Pro, Portégé, Tecra and Qosmio and notebooks, the company has announced. You have to buy the machine first, of course, and to have done so between 27 April 2006 and 8 June 2006. …

    PCs 4 May 2006, 11:10

  • ATI, Nokia converge on phone multimedia

    Heralds major Imageon design win?

    ATI may have scored a major design win for its mobile phone graphics chips: the world's leading handset maker, Nokia. The pair today announced they are to make it easier for developers to create multimedia material for phones, giving content creators a "12-18 months" heads-up, presumably a launch target for ATI-powered Nokia …

    Phones 4 May 2006, 11:46

  • Sony delays Blu-ray Disc movie launch

    First titles out in June, not May

    Sony's US home video division has put back the release of pre-recorded Blu-ray Discs by a month because machines capable of playing them will not be available until 20 June. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) had originally intended to ship the discs on 23 May. "The majority of our retail base and hardware partners have …

    HD 4 May 2006, 12:45

  • Ageia PhysX physics accelerator chip

    Review Very special effects?

    Accelerating game physics is a hot topic for gamers. The concept of using add-on hardware - be it GPU or even a new kind of dedicated physics processing unit (PPU) - to speed up physics calculations that would otherwise have to run on the CPU is back at the forefront of developers' discussions... The idea isn't new - games …

    Bits 'n' Chips 4 May 2006, 14:00

  • June US debut for Nintendo DS Lite

    iPod-like trim

    Nintendo's redesigned handheld games console, the DS Lite, will go on sale in the US on 11 June, the company announced today. The new version will retail for $130, and will be available in a single colour: glossy white. The DS Lite weighs in at 218g, less than the standard DS' 275g. It's smaller too: 13.3 x 7.4 x 2.2cm to 14. …

    Consoles 4 May 2006, 14:22

  • 'Buy our PCs or founder,' Dell tells nations

    WCIT Survival of the Dellest

    The Dell model isn't just about removing the middle man and creating an efficient business. When it comes to developing nations, the Dell model is one where the countries create policies that make buying computers, servers and storage easy. "All governments should set an ambitious goal that anyone in their country that wants …

    PCs 4 May 2006, 14:49

  • VESA completes DVI successor

    DisplayPort 1.0 finalised

    The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has unwrapped the final version of DisplayPort, the monitor interconnect it hopes will succeed DVI by adding HD audio as well as picture signals, and support for higher resolutions and refresh rates than are available today. DisplayPort is designed to support both internal …

    Bits 'n' Chips 4 May 2006, 15:15

  • Apple heads for new carrier collision

    Wireless iPod patent uncloaked

    The US Patent and Trademark Office has published two patent applications today which offer some clue to the future shape of the iPod, and also Apple's ambitions as a digital media distributor. As well as an intriguing glimpse of what a wireless iPod could do, it potentially sets Apple on a collision course with the major …

    Media players 4 May 2006, 21:28