14th September 2006 Archive

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Dell launches AMD-based desktops

Entry-level systems

Dell has announced its first desktop PCs based on AMD chips. Both machines are pitched at entry-level business and mainstream consumer buyers. The Dimension C521 and E521 are both offered with a variety of Sempron, Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 X2 processor options, all of which clip into the machines' Nvidia integrated nForce …

PCs 14 Sep 2006, 09:28
Nintendo details Wii console's Japan debut

European, US dates coming later today

Nintendo will wheel out its Wii games console on Japan on 2 December, the videogames pioneer has confirmed. Japanese buyers should expect to pay around ¥25,000 ($213/£113/€168) for the product, Nintendo added. It is expected to announce the US and European release dates and pricing later today. Nintendo said it expects 25 …

Consoles 14 Sep 2006, 09:54
Sony pre-announces Nvidia GeForce 7600 GTL

Media Center PC to incorporate Blu-ray, HDMI too

Sony has extended its Vaio Digital Media Center line-up with a pair of new models pitched at European consumers keen to embrace HD content with Blu-ray Disc technology. Interestingly, the VGX-XL201 and VGX-XL202 machines both feature an as yet unannounced Nvidia graphics chip. Both models are based on Intel Core 2 Duo …

Bits 'n' Chips 14 Sep 2006, 10:25
HTC preps candybar phone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Libra's balancing act

Smart-phone maker HTC and carrier partner UTStarcom this week took the wraps off a handset, codenamed 'Libra', that attempts to balance the need for a QWERTY keyboard with the space restrictions inherent in the candybar phone form-factor. The Windows Mobile-based device is equipped with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard …

Phones 14 Sep 2006, 11:41
Creative launches widescreen Zen Vision in US

Ready for Amazon Unbox downloads, maker says

Creative today formally launched its second-generation Zen Vision portable media player in the US after unveiling the device in Europe and Singapore earlier this month. The new model is essentially a stretched version of its predecessor, pulled out to accommodate a 4.3in, 16:9 ratio, 480 x 272 widescreen LCD. The Zen Vision …

Gadgets and Gizmos 14 Sep 2006, 12:02
Apple iPhone slips out in Paris?

French news mag makes a splash

Apple's eagerly anticipated 'iPhone' may have made an unscheduled appearance in public this week - on the front page of a Paris newspaper. French publication 20 Minutes on Tuesday splashed a picture of the device on an edition of the paper timed to coincide with the opening of Apple Expo Paris. French phone-oriented website …

Phones 14 Sep 2006, 12:28
Segway sounds sudden wheel reversal warning

Upgrade your machine or risk falling off, company says

Segway has asked its customers around the globe to return their "personal transporters" for a essential software update intended to eliminate an unfortunate glitch which, in the words of the manufacturer, "can unexpectedly reverse the direction of the wheels which can cause a rider to fall". The company said the bug affects …

Gadgets and Gizmos 14 Sep 2006, 12:58
Nvidia ships 'first' 80nm mobile graphics chip

GeForce Go 7700 to debut in Asus laptop

Nvidia has introduced what it claims is the first notebook-oriented graphics chip fabbed at 80nm, the mid-range GeForce Go 7700. It will initially feature in Asus A8 laptop family. The GPU contains 12 pixel pipelines, four more than the 90nm GeForce Go 7600, which explains the new chip's higher fill rate - 5.4bn pixels per …

Bits 'n' Chips 14 Sep 2006, 13:28
Sony unveils mobile-on-desktop all-in-one media PC

Media Centre

Sony launched the Vaio LS1 PC-TV combo in the US last month, and now it's introduced the machine into Europe, as the Vaio LA1. Over here, the spec's better: the Euro model features an Intel 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo mobile processor, a 300GB SATA hard drive and it features a hybrid analog/digital TV tuner. The display's a 1,680 x 1, …

PCs 14 Sep 2006, 14:09
Virgin tells travellers to remove Apple, Dell laptop batteries

Pack away those power cells

Virgin Atlantic has become the third airline to restrict the use of Apple and Dell laptop batteries on its flights. Passengers who want to take their Inspirons, Lattitudes, iBooks, PowerBooks, MacBooks or MacBook Pros onto the carrier's planes are asked to remove the battery first. Like Korean Air, which recently instituted …

Mac 14 Sep 2006, 14:44
Sonos updates network music player code

Rhapsody support added and more

Sonos has updated the system software underpinning its Digital Music System. Following a similar move by rival network music player maker Slim Devices earlier this year, Sonos' own system will now support RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service. Echoing Apple's iTunes 7 announcement earlier this week, the Sonos software update …

Gadgets and Gizmos 14 Sep 2006, 15:01
China's sub-£100 PC launches

Unveils P4-speed successor

A Chinese PC vendor has begun shipping a box with its homegrown Godson CPU, with a price tag of between $175 to $200. Thanks to current exchange rates, that's under £100. Eventually, though, OEM ZhongKe Menglan Electronics expects to sell the unit for $125. Processing is powered by the Godson-2 chip, also known as Longxhin, a …

PCs 14 Sep 2006, 15:21