8th February 2008 Archive

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Designer dials in Chanel phone

Does it have a big number five?

Designer handsets and phones with the backing of a prominent fashion label are ten-a-penny nowadays. However, a concept model designed on behalf of Chanel really stands out from the crowd. Chanel's concept hanset To start with, it’s a slider handset, but not your run of the mill Samsung G600-type slider. The concept allows …

Phones 8 Feb 01:02
Does the UK have an equivant of US service iFixit.com?

Q&A

Just wondered if anyone of you or my fellow readers knew if there was a good alternative to ifixit.com that's based in the UK, so doesn't incur huge shipping costs? I'm after a replacement screen for my iPod 5G.

Q&A 8 Feb 06:02
Big Blue talks up 45nm PlayStation 3 processor possibilities

Higher clock speeds or a smaller power drain, Sony?

It's no great surprise, perhaps, but Cell Broadband Engine chip co-developer IBM will produce a 45nm version of the processor, paving the way for smaller, cooler-running PlayStation 3 consoles. Originally produced using a 90nm process, Cell is currently being punched out at 65nm. That version debuted with the 40GB PS3. The …

Consoles 8 Feb 10:33
Samsung bares its Soul

Flagship handset to feature novel contextual menu control

Samsung has added some funk - not to mention a novel contextual visual nav panel - to its handset line-up and unveiled the Soul as its flagship handset for 2008. Samsung's Soul: sleek slider Soul, which builds on existing phones like Samsung’s D900 and U600 handsets, incorporates a feature called Magic Touch which allows …

Phones 8 Feb 10:50
Thigh-drive phone charger put through its paces

Let your legs help your fingers do the walking

North American boffins have produced a knee brace which can generate several watts of power as the wearer's leg flexes while walking. The inventors believe the device could be useful for powering medical equipment - and even mobile phones. In a paper for the boffinry journal Science, the researchers reveal their device's test …

Gadgets and Gizmos 8 Feb 10:55
Scientists sue Intel in Core 2 Duo clash

Patented tech used without permission, boffins claim

A band of boffins is suing Intel, claiming the chip giant pinched their patented technology and used it in the Core 2 Duo processor design without their say-so. The patent application was filed way back in 1996 and granted in 1998, long before the advent of the Core 2 Duo design. It details a "table-based data speculation …

Bits 'n' Chips 8 Feb 11:12
Japanese gamers no longer delighted by DS Lite?

Smash Bros release lifts Wii

Has Nintendo's hugely popular DS Lite had its day? Maybe in Japan, at least, where last week sales of the handheld games console fell below those notched up by its nearest rivals, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PSP. For the week to 2 February, DS sales totalled 67,472 units - a new low in the post-Christmas slump that's hit all the …

Consoles 8 Feb 11:50
Tiny, take-apart handset enters the record books

Not so much a phone, more a USB key?

Israeli manufacturer Modu Mobile has officially created the world’s lightest handset, with recognition from Guinness World Records. Its eponymous handset also comes apart to allow complete customisation. Modu's Modu: on the small side Dubbed Modu, the 40.1g handset measures just 72 x 37 x 7.8mm. Despite its diminutive …

Phones 8 Feb 12:00
Wireless signal shirt detected in UK

Remember the Wi-Fi detector T-shirt that turned up the States back in October 2007? Well, signal-strength specifying garment has arrived in the UK sporting an alternative antenna design. The Wi-Fi T-shirt In place of the base-station icon of old, the new version sports a stylised laptop - white MacBook, do you reckon? - …

Gadgets and Gizmos 8 Feb 13:02
Archos advances PMP's storage capacity

More inside, but the same outside

Archos has beefed up the storage of its 405 portable media player (PMP), upping the model’s capacity from 2GB to a whopping 30GB. The 405, which was originally launched as a 2GB PMP last autumn, still has a 3.5in LCD display. There’s no external memory card slot, so 30GB is your maximum, but a USB 2.0 port does mean data …

Media players 8 Feb 13:24
Nokia's N95 successor slips out on web

'N96' makes fleeting appearance as spec list

Nokia is rumoured to be on the verge of announcing the successor to the popular N95, following the discovery of tech specs on the mobile giant’s German website. The Finnish phone giant has since closed the page, but not before a selection of sites managed to scrawl down the handset’s tech specs, which have caused many to dub …

Phones 8 Feb 13:34
Holocube introduces '3D' display gizmo

Smoke and mirrors?

While some people think 3D displays are the Holy Grail of TV technology, European manufacturer Holocube has created a stylish box capable of displaying single objects in 3D. Holocube's 3D Holocube: sleek and sexy? But it might not be quite what you think. The manufacturer told Register Hardware that the source images used …

Gadgets and Gizmos 8 Feb 14:35
Baylis Eco EP-MX71 hand-cranked media player

Review It's green and groovy - and that's no wind-up

Trevor Baylis, he of wind-up radio fame, now has a range of hand-cranked products, including this, the world's first wind-up multimedia player. It comes down to whether you're concerned by green issues - and you should be, unless you plan to move to another planet any time soon. First seen in August last year, the Baylis Eco …

Media players 8 Feb 14:57
Dell 'committed' to AMD despite consumer kit shift to retail

Intel-only Inspirons online for now, almost

With almost mud-like clarity, Dell has explained the way it's balancing the availability of AMD-based computers between its online, phone and retail sales channels. But one thing it wants us to be certain about is that it remains committed to AMD product lines. A number of stories popped up on the web this morning claiming …

PCs 8 Feb 17:19
Rebit: This is your grandmother's data backup

Simplicity has a price

Time Machine for OSX has got the Apple platform's fuss-less data backup covered quite nicely. But where can a technical nincompoop turn for brainless Windows backup? There's still room for third party companies to jump into the backup droolbucket here. And that's where Rebit backup shows up. Rebit is certainly not the …

The Register 8 Feb 21:58