18th May 2006 Archive

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The RIAA's radio lawsuit - and your iPod

Analysis The next big battleground

Ever since the invention of electricity, new technologies have been devised to create novel mechanisms for the storage and transmission of music. Finally, with digital, we're seeing the distinction between transmission and storage melt away altogether, with radio that you can record. This isn't exactly new, as anyone who grew …

Media players 18 May 2006, 08:43
AMD rolls out Socket S1 Semprons

Overshadowed by Turion

AMD has unveiled a trio of Mobile Sempron processors designed to work with the chip maker's new, DDR 2 SDRAM-supporting Socket S1 interconnect. The chips, based on the 'Keene' core, and are believed to incorporate AMD's Digital Media XPress technology. The three new Mobile Semprons are the 3200+, 3400+, 3500+. AMD didn't make …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 09:01
Nintendo steals the show at E3

E3 Round-up Motion sensitive controller wows fans

E3 certainly didn't disappoint games fans this year as new games were announced and competition in the games console market was turned up a notch. Sony's PlayStation 3 may have been the most eagerly awaited announcement at this year's event in Los Angeles, but after achieving somewhat of an anti-climax, it was the new Nintendo …

Consoles 18 May 2006, 09:14
Samsung touts Flash-fitted hybrid hard disk

Coming in time for Windows Vista

Samsung yesterday said it will ship its Flash-equipped hard disk drive in "large quantities" at the end of the year in time, it hopes, for the mass roll-out of Microsoft's Windows Vista. The announcement follows the latest demo of the company's prototype "Hybrid Hard Disk" (HHD) this week. The HHDs on show at WinHEC have …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 09:24
Intel cashes in ancient chips

i386, i486, i960 finally for the chop

Intel has finally waved farewell to is 386 and 486 processors, though their departure will be a drawn-out process, lasting through to 28 September 2007, Reg Hardware has learned, when the chip maker will no longer ship the parts. Its original RISC chip, the i960, is also for the chop. Intel documentation reveals that the …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 09:58
MS patches Win XP Core Duo battery drain bug

One out of three causes fixed

Microsoft has fixed the battery drain bug that has been affecting a number of computer owners with Intel Core Duo-based notebooks. However, two of the three causes of the drain are not fixed by a patch posted by Microsoft yesterday. The problem emerged in January. At least some Core Duo machines connected to USB peripherals …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 10:23
Sony Ericsson unveils clamshell phones

Z710 for business, Z550 for pleasure

Sony Ericsson today unveiled a pair of clamshell handsets, pitching the phones at, respectively, business users and style-conscious buyers. The Z710 is a black-clad business-oriented phone with Bluetooth 2.0 and quad-band GSM/GPRS with EDGE support for enhanced wireless data transmission speeds and global network access. Push …

Phones 18 May 2006, 11:01
Sony Ericsson unveils first 3G Walkman slider phone

Offers a 'sporty' clamshell model too

Sony Ericsson today rolled out a pair of Walkman music phones: a clamshell model with an eye on the world's joggers, and a slider phone for music fans looking for a compact candybar handset - it's also the company's first 3G Walkman with a slider. Set to ship in iPod-like white and black versions, the tri-band GSM and 3G …

Phones 18 May 2006, 11:34
Verizon claims Motorola Q exclusive

BlackBerry-beater a one-network product?

Verizon has claimed the exclusive right to ship the EvDO version of Motorola's Q smart phone. According to the US carrier's online store, the would-be BlackBerry-beater will be "exclusively from Verizon Wireless". Click for full-size image It's no surprise that Verizon will be offering the Q, said by Motorola to be the …

Phones 18 May 2006, 12:20
Every Intel CPU from 4004 to P4 up for grabs on eBay

'Museum-grade collection', claims seller

With Intel gearing up to cease manufacturing its 386, 486, 960 and other processors of yore, one eBayer is offering technology enthusiasts the chance to own almost the entire collection of the chip giant's microprocessor products. Well, not all of 'em - some are still sitting in folks' PCs, after all - but rather one of each …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 13:10
PS3 to cost £425 in the UK

A Blu-ray bargain, claims Sony executive

Sony's 60GB PlayStation 3 will cost British buyers £425 ($803) when it ships on 17 November, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's UK operation has revealed. He went on to call the machine "cheap" and a "bargain". Interviewed by Eurogamer, SCE UK Managing Director Rat Maguire said: "I don't think it's an expensive …

Consoles 18 May 2006, 16:06
Neuros solves MPEG Recorder PSP playback problem

Patch improves encoding for iPod, phones too

Neuros Technology has released a firmware update for its MPEG 4 Recorder 2 that allows the gadget to once again encode video that will play back on a PlayStation Portable with Firmware 2.7 installed. The new release also adds a set of phone-friendly recording formats. Earlier this month, Neuros warned users that Sony's latest …

Gadgets and Gizmos 18 May 2006, 18:12
Dell hooks up with AMD

Intel-only era ends

Dell has done what many thought impossible and broken its Intel-only stance. The company today announced that it will pick up AMD's Opteron processor for use in servers - a move reported first by The Register earlier today. The Opteron embrace ends years of speculation about when Dell would finally give in and pick up AMD as …

Bits 'n' Chips 18 May 2006, 20:14