27th November 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site. Or try the full archive of all our sister sites.

Apple 'looking into' duff Chinese hard drive claims

Responds to above-average drive failure rates

Apple has admitted it is examining claims that a number of its MacBook laptops include poorly manufactured hard drives that expose users to data loss. “We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues,” a company spokesman told Information Week, “and we're looking into it.” The …

Mac 27 Nov 2007, 10:11
Alba readying cut-price Blu-ray Disc player for Europe?

Chinese maker claims order taken

Are low-cost Blu-ray Disc players coming to Europe in the near future? They are if claims that local consumer electronics company Alba has ordered 4000 players a month from January are to be believed. Chinese-language newspapers Commercial Times and Economic Daily News today quote the head of Chinese manufacturer Forworld …

HD 27 Nov 2007, 11:14
FCC reveals Motorola Z6c handset

Testing's complete

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) website has come up trumps once again. It’s revealed some definitive specifications of Motorola’s latest handset, the Rizr Z6c. Motorola's Rizr Z6c Motorola’s handset, which appears to have successfully passed the FCCs various communications tests, runs on CDMA, and 900MHz and …

Phones 27 Nov 2007, 11:20
Sony pops cap on lippy-like music stick

But 'drip-proof response' feature absent, alas...

Someone at Sony - a man, probably - said the new Walkman NW-E013 looked like a lipstick dispenser, so now the compact MP3 player is being dispensed to women. It's other femme-friendly characteristics: a bright, glossy casing coming in an array of charming colours. Sony's Walkman NW-E013: lipstick like Actually, the NW-E013, …

Gadgets and Gizmos 27 Nov 2007, 11:58
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 compact camera

Review Sounds like a camera the Terminator would use

The first thing you see when you pull the T200 out of the box is a great big sticker proclaiming the camera delivers “Full HD 1080” still images. So you would've thought that Sony would make it easy to enjoy this feature. But no - it’s only when you read the instruction book that you discover that the HD connecting cable is an …

Cameras 27 Nov 2007, 12:17
Blu-ray discs outsell HD DVDs almost 3:1 in Europe

17 BD playback boxes bought for every one HD DVD unit

European consumers have bought more than 1m pre-recorded movie Blu-ray Discs, the next-gen optical disc format's backers said today. That's roughly 73 per cent of all HD discs sold in Europe in the past 12 months, they claimed. The figures were published by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) but produced by independent market …

HD 27 Nov 2007, 13:57
Mio re-routes its sat nav range

Pre-Christmas update

You can tell it’s nearly Christmas when a company that’s been relatively quiet since the summer suddenly launches a wave of products in one go. Unfortunately, Mio’s only updating and, in one case, downgrading the features of existing models. Mio's C520t The C520b and C520tb both incorporate SiRF's SiRFStar III GPS chipset, …

GPS and Satnav 27 Nov 2007, 14:02
Xbox 360 gets friendly

Make friends through gaming

Microsoft looks poised to add a Facebook/Friends Reunited social networking facility to the Xbox 360, when it updates the console’s dashboard later this year. Dubbed Friends of Friends (FoF), the service will allow gamers to find old chums or connect with new ones over Xbox Live!, Microsoft said. It will also allow users to …

Consoles 27 Nov 2007, 14:13
Tag Heuer clocks onto mobile phone branding

Watch out for this one... ahem

These days a clothing label isn’t fashionable unless it’s got a mobile phone to its name. But now Swiss watch-maker Tag Heuer has clocked onto the idea and has announced plans to launch a range of luxury handsets. The Prada phone The company's spokesman said it has licensed the Tag Heuer name to French phone maker Modelabs, …

Phones 27 Nov 2007, 14:45
Universal chief rues Apple's 'golden handcuffs'

We'd love to leave, but the money's too good

Universal Music Group boss Doug Morris, profiled in the current issue of WiReD, isn't the first person to regret a business arrangement with Steve Jobs. As the head of the world's biggest record label, Morris' blessing was instrumental to the success of iTunes Music Store. But his reasoning in 2007 sounds very strange. …

Mac 27 Nov 2007, 20:28