3rd August 2006 Archive

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Two more laptops light up

Dell breathes a sigh of relief: one of them's an Apple Mac

More notebook computers are spontaneously bursting into flames, possibly in a bid to show solidarity with similar self-combusting comrades. Is it, we wonder, a sign that the portables we take for granted have had enough of their human masters? One tale certainly reads that way. According to a report on US website …

PCs 3 Aug 2006, 09:20
Plextor preps CD, DVD zapper

Blitz the data on to-be-binned optical media

Storage specialist Plextor has announced an external optical drive designed to delete all the data stored on a recordable or rewriteable DVD or CD - permanently. It does it quickly, too - single layer CD-R/RW and DVD±R/RW media take just three minutes to wipe, the company claimed. Dubbed the PlexEraser PX-OE100E, the product' …

Gadgets and Gizmos 3 Aug 2006, 09:44
TabletKiosk adds Intel CPUs to UMPC line-up

Celeron M, Pentium M join VIA C7-M

Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) maker TabletKiosk this week extended its line of handheld computers, bringing a pair of machines based on Intel processors to the two VIA-based UMPCs the company launched in May this year. The new models - the eo UMPC i7209 and i7210 - are equipped with a 900MHz Celeron M and 1GHz Pentium M, …

Phones 3 Aug 2006, 10:11
Apple rejects Norway's 'unfair iTunes' charge

But admits it could make the iPod-only limitation more obvious

Apple has admitted it needs to make clear in iTunes Music Store promotional material destined for the Nordic nations that downloaded songs will only play on a Mac or PC running iTunes and on iPods. However, it rejected claims that such a limitation is unfair. The company's comments come from a response sent to the Norwegian …

Media players 3 Aug 2006, 11:27
PDA sales in freefall

All a bit sluggish

Shipments of handheld mobile devices in Western Europe have taken a record tumble this quarter. Manufacturers who were hoping sales of converged devices (i.e. smartphones) would help offset the decline, are also in for a disapointing time, according to analyst house IDC. Handheld shipments in Q2 2006 slumped 49 per cent on …

Phones 3 Aug 2006, 11:35
Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot K800i photo phone

Review And the best 3G handset yet?

I was reminiscing recently on days gone by when the only thing you considered before buying a mobile phone was its ability to make and receive calls. Today, such simple factors are taken for granted and have long been supplanted by how many MP3s it can store, what the games are like and whether it takes a good photo or not. Case …

Phones 3 Aug 2006, 14:25
Gateway punts Core 2 Duo workstation at corporates

High spec

Gateway today laid out its pitch for corporate power desktops, presenting its E-6610 line of Intel Core 2 Duo-based machines. With a 975X mobo, 1GB of 533MHz DDR 2 with ECC, Nvidia Quadro FX 550 dual-DVI graphics, up to 500GB of 10,000rpm Ultra SCSI 320 storage and Gigabit Ethernet, it's a workstation to be reckoned with. …

PCs 3 Aug 2006, 14:49
Ford, Mazda to drive in-car iPod integration uptake

General Motors too

Ford today pledged to listening to what its customers are listening to and make it easier for motorists to hook up an MP3 player to their car stereos. Top of list of new features for its 2007 line-up are auxiliary audio input jacks, but the auto maker also promised tighter iPod integration for its higher-end motors. Cars …

Media players 3 Aug 2006, 15:22
Scientists create real-time arousal-adjusted artwork

Come up and see my etchings...

British boffins have built a digital picture frame that adapts its image to suit the mood of the viewer. Dubbed 'empathic art', the interactive image responds visually to eight distinct facial expressions. Created by a team from the UK's University of Bath computer science department with the help of workers from the Boston …

Gadgets and Gizmos 3 Aug 2006, 16:06