Reg Hardware

17th October 2006 Archive

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  • PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 Pro

    Review Way better price:performance than its predecessor?

    ATI's Radeon X1950 XTX proved to be an excellent performer, but the price tag was high, which put it out of reach for most of us. Today, ATI launches the X1950 Pro, a cut down version of the X1950 XTX. It comes in at an amazing price point and it's also got a couple of new features, in particular internal CrossFire connectors. …

    Bits 'n' Chips 17 Oct 2006, 06:02

  • US DoJ SRAM probe takes in Mitsubishi

    Renesas co-founder approached

    Mitsubishi has become the third company to confess it has been approached by the US Department of Justice regarding the anti-trust agency's investigation into the US SRAM market. The DoJ has itself yet to confirm it is looking into the SRAM business, or why. Mitsubishi didn't say much either, but it did admit the probe might …

    Bits 'n' Chips 17 Oct 2006, 08:53

  • Transcend touts fastest SDHC card

    Fast and capacious

    Taiwan's Transcend has launched what appears to be the world's first Class 6 SDHC device, less than a month after rival Elecom began touting the first ever Class 4 high-capacity SD 2.0 memory card. The 4GB card has a guaranteed speed of up to 6MBps - hence Class 6. The base level is Class 2 - 2MBps. The part goes on sale next …

    Storage 17 Oct 2006, 09:11

  • HDD stackers offered stackable 'naked' 3.5in drive case

    How big's the part in your Lunch Box?

    Following the trend of stacking internal hard drives externally? Japanese storage accessory specialist Century may have come up with a system to make stacking more simple. Dubbed the Naked Lunch Box - whether in homage to William Burroughs, or because the unit's see-through isn't clear - it's a plastic casing for 3.5in HDDs that …

    Bits 'n' Chips 17 Oct 2006, 09:38

  • 3G Motorola Q smart phone to ship as the 'Q Pro'?

    Release timing suggests it will

    Motorola announced it was working on a 3G UMTS version of its Q Windows Mobile-based smart phone way back in February this year. It promised to ship the product in Q4. So why are smart-phone watchers getting into such a fuss about the Motorola Q Pro? Motorola mentioned the name 'Q Pro' at market-watcher Gartner's Symposium …

    Phones 17 Oct 2006, 10:08

  • Sony begins Vaio battery recall

    Toshiba ponders compensation-seeking lawsuit

    Sony has announced details of the Vaio laptop battery recall it admitted last month it was going to initiate. And Toshiba has indicated it may sue the Japanese giant in order to gain recompense for any damage it alleges may have been done to its brand by its own battery recall. Sony's Vaio division announced on 29 September …

    PCs 17 Oct 2006, 10:49

  • Vodafone to serve up LG's 3G Chocolate phone

    Xmas line-up beefed up with Motorola KRZR, RAZR Maxx

    Vodafone will bring the 3G version of LG's Chocolate slider phone to the UK this Christmas, the carrier revealed yesterday. The KU800 will join LG's low-end 3G clamshell phone the L600V as the first two LG handsets the network has offered to UK buyers. While Vodafone has the L600V as an exclusive, other networks will offer …

    Phones 17 Oct 2006, 11:11

  • Be-ez parades autumn collection MacBook cases

    Laptop couture

    Shiny white Apple MacBook now in your possession? Want to keep it spotless and safe from scratches? Of course you do, and a slip-case is just the thing. French laptop bag designer Be-ez has extended its LArobe range of zip-up slip-cases for MacBooks and MacBook Pros with a trio of "autumn colours": purple, khaki and blue. …

    Mac 17 Oct 2006, 11:14

  • Nvidia rooted by Linux graphics bug

    Updated Binary blob malaise

    Security researchers have published an exploit that highlights a long-standing security bug in Nvidia graphic drivers for Linux. Nvidia Driver For Linux v8774 and v8762 are subject to a buffer overflow bug that creates a means for hackers to inject hostile code as root. The bug might be exploited locally or remotely, providing …

    Bits 'n' Chips 17 Oct 2006, 11:54

  • Slingbox to get Symbian smart-phone playback app

    SlingPlayer coming to Nokia, Sony Ericsson handsets

    Slingbox TV-over-the-net maker Sling Media today confirmed that it is indeed working on a version of its SlingPlayer application for Symbian-based handsets. The software is scheduled to ship by the end of the year. Sling said the software will initially be pitched at European and Asian consumers, though it pledged a US …

    Gadgets and Gizmos 17 Oct 2006, 12:13

  • Medion brings Berlitz City Guides to sat nav trio

    Berlitz City Guides on board

    Medion today widened its route-planning hardware line-up with three widescreen sat nav units ready for the bamboozled, unwilling-to-ask-for-dircections motorist in your life. The three models all incorporate Berlitz city guides to provide useful travel information typically missing from maps and places-of-interest lists. The …

    Gadgets and Gizmos 17 Oct 2006, 12:59

  • BenQ models 'world's thinnest' 7Mp compact digicam

    Not including the extendible zoom lens, of course...

    BenQ has popped a flash on what it claims is the world's slimmest seven megapixel digital camera. The BenQ X720 is a mere 1.3cm front to back, excluding, of course, the extending Pentax lens mechanism with its 3x optical zoom facility. There's a 2.5in LCD viewfinder on the back, and all the customary camera features are a …

    Gadgets and Gizmos 17 Oct 2006, 13:10

  • Sony Ericsson to bring LocationFree TV to P990i

    Tune into your telly via 3G, Wi-Fi

    Sony Ericsson is to ship a version of Sony's LocationFree TV-over-the-net software for its P990i 3G UMTS-equipped smart phone, the handset maker said today. Sony shipped its LF-PK1 LocationFree box in Europe in May this year. The unit hooks up to a range of living-room gadgets to transmit audio and video content across local …

    Gadgets and Gizmos 17 Oct 2006, 13:37

  • Samsung Flash drives win WHQL thumbs-up

    Windows compatible - official

    It's official - Samsung's Solid-State Disk (SSD) products are Windows compatible. Yes, the South Korean giant's three Flash-based hard drives - two 32GB models and a 16GB unit - have passed Microsoft's WHQL certification, the manufacturer said today. Samsung was quick to tout the units' benefits - read and write speeds of …

    Storage 17 Oct 2006, 14:17

  • Mac OS X 10.5 to support HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc?

    Why not?

    Apple may be preparing to support not only Blu-ray Disc but also HD DVD, it has emerged. The next major relase of the Mac OS X operating system, 'Leopard' may allow users to play and burn both types of high-definition media - making it a sort of Hi-Def Leppard, we suppose... oh well... - it has be claimed. According to Think …

    Mac 17 Oct 2006, 15:22

  • Linux-on-Mac team to ship PS3 release

    Yellow Dog coming to Sony's next-gen console

    Terra Soft Solutions is to port its PowerPC-based Yellow Dog Linux distribution over to the PlayStation 3, the company claimed today. PS3 support will come courtesy of YDL 5.0, which is due to ship mid-November - as is the PS3. YDL has been around since the late 1990s, when it was aimed at PowerPC-based Macs as an alternative …

    Consoles 17 Oct 2006, 15:47

  • MacBook Pro bites Man... allegedly

    Laptop singed my mitts, user claims

    MacBook Pro owner Alfredo Melloni maintains his two-month-old 15in-screen notebook runs so hot it has burned his hands. He's posted piccies of his poached palms on the web and claims to have had the alleged injury verified by his doctor. Here are the shots, but you can see full-size versions here and here. Melloni made his …

    Mac 17 Oct 2006, 16:38

  • Smartphones - cement or compost?

    Symbian Show Day One

    Symbian CEO played footsie with hubris when he predicted the end of the PC today. Nigel Clifford was speaking at a press conference at Symbian's Smartphone Show held in the London's docklands today and tomorrow. "A tipping point is arriving," he said. The death of the PC has been forecast many times, but Clifford reckons that …

    Phones 17 Oct 2006, 17:08

  • Intel beats Street by country mile

    Slumpety plummety

    Price cuts and inventory write-offs hit Intel's bottom line in Q3 with net income falling 35 per cent year on year to $1.3bn on revenues down 12 per cent. Still, the chip giant can afford to be a little cheerful - earlier gloom had led analysts to forecast net income of $1.02bn, excluding special items. Special items in Intel's …

    Bits 'n' Chips 17 Oct 2006, 22:15