8th January 2009 Archive

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Advent unveils stylish 18.4in-screen Atom desktop

Sexier than an Eee Box?

DSGi's Advent offshoot has followed up its various netbooks with a desktop machine based on Intel's Atom processor. Advent's AIO 100: 18in screen The Advent AIO 100 packs in a Eee Box-style spec: 1GB of memory, 160GB hard drive, on-board 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Ethernet, four-in-one memory card reader and a stack of USB ports - …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 00:02
Samsung taps touchscreen phone UI for PMP

CES Fun with haptics

Introduced today, the Samsung P3 is the PMP based on the same widget-based UI found on Samsung's touchscreen phones - complete with buzzy haptic feedback. Samsung's P3: bright display The P3 sports a 3in, 480 x 270 LCD for a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. It also has built-in speakers for out-loud video and music playback. …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 00:17
Toshiba touts 'deep lagoon' top-end telly design

CES Edges that fade away

Toshiba today tried to life its Regza HD TV line to the top of the telly totem pole, pitching a new design and a revamped picture engine. The line-up's new look centres on a style Toshiba calls Deep Lagoon - marketing speak for a curved, dot-stippled bezel that, the company claimed, gives a sense of fading out at the edge. …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 00:36
Samsung shows off wall-mountable slotload Blu-ray box

CES Look at me. Look at me. Look at me

Samsung has unveiled what it claims is the world's thinnest Blu-ray Disc player: the BD-P4600, with a vital statistic of 38mm (1.5in) top to bottom. Samsung's BD-P4600: the player for posers? Heck, Samsung's so pleased with the player, it's made it possible to wall-mount the thing, allowing HD posers even more opportunity …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 00:56
Meltdown turns Time Warner red

AOL owner/Lehman landlord admits $25bn write-down

Time Warner expects to report a red 2008, thanks to a whopping $25bn impairment charge for its cable, magazine publishing, and, yes, AOL businesses. This would be the media giant's first annual loss in six years. Naturally, it blames the Meltdown. "The economic environment has proved somewhat more challenging than the company …

Financial News 8 Jan 2009, 01:26
Sony intros 8in notebook-not-netbook

CES Vaio P dubbed an... ahem... 'lifestyle PC'.

Yes, Sony did it: today, it unveiled an 8in netbook - or "ultra-portable PC", as the consumer electronics giant would rather you called it. It also used the term "lifestyle PC". Sony's Vaip P: 'lifestyle PC' not netbook Say hello to the Vaio P, a 640g mini laptop with a surprisingly better-than-netbook spec. Said 8in LED- …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 01:30
Panasonic demands 1080p 3D TV 'standard'

CES But will bring one to market, no matter what

Panasonic wants the consumer electronics industry to come together and join it in the development of a standard for full HD 3D TV. Even if its call falls of deaf ears, the Japanese giant will start selling tellies capable of displaying a 3D image at 1080p resolution in 2010, it said today, along with a Blu-ray Disc player …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 01:57
Ballmer talks 'post-PC' Microsoft with Windows 7 beta

Zune-phone free future

Steve Ballmer has stressed the relevance of both Windows and the PC in an increasingly fragmented world of computing devices and web access, while introducing the next version of Windows. Opening the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Microsoft's chief executive announced the Windows 7 beta's availability in …

Operating Systems 8 Jan 2009, 06:21
First Windows 7 beta puts fresh face on Vista

Review More polish so you don't spit

Microsoft has officially released the first Windows 7 beta. While it's been one of the web's worst kept secrets, Microsoft was still keeping quiet about the details and timing of the final release at the time of writing. Everyone expects release later this year. A leaked briefing paper for OEM vendors suggests that the date …

Operating Systems 8 Jan 2009, 06:26
Microvision protoypes iPhone-sized projector

Macworld Expo Can you wait a year?

Microvision, the Redmond-based creator of mobile display systems, chose Macworld Expo to unveil a prototype of its latest - and smallest - laser-based projector. How small is small? In this case, quite small, indeed. This 25 per cent slimmer version of Microvision’s earlier Show prototype, now code named Show WX (for, argh, " …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 07:27
SanDisk's Netbook flash uncovered

Not great, not bad

SanDisk has revealed missing details about its pSSD gen 2 netbook flash product, showing it's not as leading edge as it seemed, but could be ideal for netbook use. The company's main aim was not performance alone but cost. A spokesperson said it "wanted to bring as much capacity and performance as possible under or near the …

Storage 8 Jan 2009, 08:02
LIVE 2pm GMT today: Take control of desktop TCO

Regcast How to reduce your desktop management costs by 40 per cent

Tune in at 2PM GMT today for our first Regcast of 2009. The Register's expert panel aims to help to cut your PC desktop costs, with this live, free, webcastic extravaganza. We kick off with an overview of the desktop management and cost of ownership issues that surround the PC lifecycle. The webcast then delves into Reg reader …

Site News 8 Jan 2009, 09:02
Rolls-Royce to work on electric cyber raygun aero-tech

USAF to jazz up jet juice use

An American high-tech jet engine design bureau, owned by UK-centred firm Rolls-Royce, will design key power systems necessary for the electricity-heavy combat aircraft of tomorrow. Future fighters and bombers are expected to use huge amounts of electricity to power such things as directed-energy rayguns and/or cyberwarfare …

Science 8 Jan 2009, 09:02
Droid sub goes under Antarctic ice on 5000 D-cells

Ultimate Xmas dad challenge

An autonomous British robot submarine has just set out on a mission which will see it plunge deep beneath Antarctic ice shelves. Interestingly, the "Autosub" has no truck whatsoever with li-ion, fuel cells, stirling engines, hydrogen peroxide or any other trendy undersea power system: it runs on ordinary torch batteries, 5,000 …

Science 8 Jan 2009, 10:04
Tech industry still leaving dirty great footprints, says Greenpeace

Improving but must try harder

Consumer electronic goods are a little bit greener than those sold a year ago, according to a new report from Greenpeace. However, the eco-hardliner pressure group has warned that the industry could still do a whole lot more to improve its environmental footprint. Greenpeace found that fewer electronic products on the market …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 10:10
OLPC lays off half staff

Laptops for developing world credit crunched

One Laptop Per Child - the non-profit organisation aiming to give kids in the developing world their own laptops - is laying off half its staff and cutting salaries for those who are keeping their jobs. Blaming the credit crisis, chairman and founder Nicholas Negroponte thanked those leaving for their contribution to "a noble …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 10:14
US smutmongers want big bucks bailout

We're losing wood, give us $5bn

Stateside pornographers have asked Congress to stump $5bn "to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America" amid the increasing economic gloom which is apparently sapping Yanks' will to get their end away. According to the Telegraph, the porn tin rattling is led by Hustler big swinging dick Larry Flynt, who's aligned himself with …

Financial News 8 Jan 2009, 10:23
MI5 head calls for comms data access

It's the national security, stupid

Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, has said it needs access to communications data to strengthen national security. In the first newspaper interviews given by a serving MI5 director general, Evans robustly defended the government's plans to allow MI5 and the other security and intelligence agencies to intercept …

Government 8 Jan 2009, 10:25
UK's listed firms must tell markets of serious executive problems

Shareholders need to know about sickness

Stock market-listed companies have a duty to inform shareholders if an executive's illness threatens to affect the firm's performance, a company law expert has said. That duty does not bind unlisted UK firms, he said. In the wake of Apple's revelations about chief executive Steve Jobs's illness one expert has said that UK …

Small Biz 8 Jan 2009, 10:29
Samsung camera recognises faces, names, shoe sizes...

I know you from Adam

Facial recognition is fast becoming a standard feature on compact cameras. But Samsung’s latest camera purports to take the technology to new heights. The nine-megapixel ST10 can recognise individual people by analysing faces as the shutter button is pressed, Samsung says. The feature requires a little setting up. For example …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 10:30
Dell shuts Limerick factory and scraps 1,900 jobs

Update Your Shannon Water, tears ~~of joy~~ that flow

Dell is closing its Limerick manufacturing facility, with the assembly plant's functions due to be transferred to a Polish plant in Lodz. The Limerick plant assembles notebooks, desktops and servers for all of Dell's Europe, Middle East and Africa customers. About 1,900 jobs will be cut, starting in April and completed by …

The Channel 8 Jan 2009, 11:04
Branson rocket piggyback plane has control 'issue' - report

Virgin: 'What did you say about my mothership?'

The "mothership" intended to carry beardy biz kingpin Richard Branson's planned space tourism rocketplanes to launch altitude has hit technical problems, according to reports. Prone to fishtailing? The WhiteKnightTwo high altitude jetplane, which has already carried out its first flight test, is said to suffer from rudder …

Science 8 Jan 2009, 11:43
Take a hammer to your hard drive, shrieks Which?

Wiping-tech confidence collapse insanity

Which? Computing has lost faith in wiping technology and advised punters to take a hammer to hard discs they intend to get rid of. Reg readers and experts have slammed the advice as misguided and irresponsible. The possibility that dodgy sorts might be able to recover deleted data with the help of specialist software from PCs …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 11:48
Lenovo ditches 2,500 employees

Execs can stay, but get pay cut

Computer giant Lenovo has confirmed that it will slash 2,500 jobs, or 11 per cent of the workforce, as part of a restructuring plan to cut costs after the firm’s sales were hit by weakening global demand. The Beijing-based company, which is the world’s fourth biggest PC vendor, has also forecast a quarterly loss for this …

The Channel 8 Jan 2009, 11:53
Sapphire HD4870 X2 Atomic water-cooled graphics card

Review Liquid engineering and the world's most expensive graphics board

AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 is a formidable beast of a graphics card but it has a number of obvious flaws. For starters, it's expensive, with prices starting at £399. It's also very long, measuring 267mm nose to tail, although in fairness that's the same length as an Nvidia GeForce GTX 280. The third snag is that the double- …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 12:02
Apple wrongfoots iPhoneys

Forgers fuddled by non-Nano

Apple's failure to launch a dinky "iPhone Nano" has caught forgers off guard, leaving Far Eastern manufacturers with forged versions of a product that doesn't exist. The Beeb reports that the first forged versions of the reduced size iPhone started appearing just after Christmas in Thailand, complete with Apple branding and …

Mobile 8 Jan 2009, 12:09
Sony gets touchy feely with Walkman X1000

CES Built-in Wi-Fi too

Sony has strengthened the Walkman Portable Media Player (PMP) range with a wireless model that sports an OLED display. Sony's X-series Walkman sports a 3in OLED The X 1000 series Walkman’s shape differs little from previous Walkman models. But its 432 x 240 resolution screen ensure that still images and videos display “ …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 12:21
Astronomers view heavens through Galileo's eyes

Replica 'scope celebrates four centuries of heliocentrism

Astronomers are celebrating 400 years since Galileo made his famous observations, which were fundamental in proving the heliocentric hypothesis, by pointing a replica of one of his original telescopes at the heavens to recreate his original stargaze. In 1609, Galileo critically discovered four satellites orbiting Jupiter, …

Science 8 Jan 2009, 12:23
LG confirms 2009 launch for 3G wristphone

Time to dump that Rolex?

Watches that let you make voice and video calls sound like something from a James Bond movie. Or an LG catalogue. The Korean electronics giant has a wristwatch phone in the works and yesterday confirmed it is launching the high-tech timepiece at some unspecified time this year. LG's GD910 phone/video watch Woo Paik, LG's …

Phones 8 Jan 2009, 12:36
BT cuts 0870 charges

'Rip-off' numbers go free

BT has today cut the cost of calling 0845 and 0870 to zero for many of its customers, following a consumer campaign against companies profiting from premium rate lines. Subscribers to BT's Anytime package will get free 0845 and 0870 calls at all times, while Evening and Weekend customers' calls will be free after 6pm Monday- …

Broadband 8 Jan 2009, 13:07
MobileMe wreaks wipey revenge on freetards

Updated Cancelling the trial? Better check yourself

Those who've been enjoying Apple's much-extended MobileMe trial should take care when cancelling accounts, to prevent the cloudy ghost coming back to haunt them and swiping all their contacts and appointments. MobileMe maintains a copy of all users' data in the cloud, which is then synchronised with the various devices the …

Phones 8 Jan 2009, 13:11
ASA indignates prematurely over billboard sex ads

Prescription-only recipe for widespread offence

The Advanced Medical Institute has refused to withdraw billboard ads for a nasal spray for "male sexual problems", despite an Advertising Standards Authority edict they must come down since they're punting prescription-only drugs. According to the BBC, the ASA is currently probing over 450 complaints about the ads, which …

Bootnotes 8 Jan 2009, 13:18
Google quietly ices contractors

Keeps hush-hush SEC filing off the interwebs

Internet giant Google quietly got rid of an unspecified number of contract workers late last year. Mountain View’s spending plans were outlined in a 15 December Securities and Exchange Commission filing that was submitted only in paper form and therefore flew under the radar of the various web services that track SEC filings …

Financial News 8 Jan 2009, 13:29
Banks told to spend £1bn on new IT to prepare for failure

How to ensure an orderly collapse of the banking system

The Financial Services Authority is consulting with UK High Street banks about the need to improve their IT systems so that consumers will get their money back more quickly if a bank should fail. The FSA estimates that British banks would have to spend just under £1bn to upgrade systems so they could provide a comprehensive …

Management 8 Jan 2009, 13:34
UFO damages Lincolnshire wind turbine

Teams comb countryside for extraterrestrial evidence

Lincolnshire ufologists are combing the area around the Conisholme wind farm for evidence to back their theory that one of the turbines was on Sunday seriously damaged by a "mystery aircraft", as the BBC euphemistically puts it. The turbine - one of 20 operated at the site by Ecotricity - lost one 66ft (20m) blade and suffered …

Science 8 Jan 2009, 13:38
HMRC warns over tax email scams

Death and taxes and crime

The Treasury has taken the unusual step of warning UK taxpayers of a phishing scam doing the rounds, which looks to ensnare frantic last-minute tax return filers. Bogus email warnings designed to trick citizens into handing over sensitive personal details are circulating in the run-up to the 31 January Self Assessment tax …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 14:30
Where will EMC's restructuring axe fall?

Comment Content Management and Archiving is sick

The years of unrelenting double digit quarterly growth are over - VMware's growth is falling back, and EMC's mighty revenue train is slowing as it hits the steep recession grade. CEO Joe Tucci is starting to throw excess weight off the Hopkinton express. The company is going to restructure to cut its costs, although VMware is …

Storage 8 Jan 2009, 14:37
Deception of 'up to' broadband speeds exposed

Ofcom reveals true download speeds

The average downstream broadband speed received by consumers is just 3.6Mbit/s, according to data released today from the most accurate UK internet access survey ever published. Ofcom's new hardware-based broadband monitoring system found that despite the fact more than 60 per cent are subscribed to "up to" 8Mbit/s packages, …

Data Networking 8 Jan 2009, 14:45
US doc demands $1.5m for donated organ

Missus runs off with kids, kidney

A US doctor is demanding his ex-missus stump $1.5m after she ran off with their three kids and one of his kidneys, the New York Daily News reports. Richard Batista, 49, donated the organ to his wife Dawnell eight years ago in an attempt to salvage their foundering marriage. She'd already suffered two failed transplants when …

Bootnotes 8 Jan 2009, 15:00
Sony sticks it to Xbox 360 and Wii

If you can't beat 'em, criticise 'em

In a move likely to enrage Xbox 360 and Wii owners alike, Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) has released a cost versus benefits assessment of all three consoles. And guess which machine won? On top of Blu-ray support, integrated Wi-Fi and “huge hard drives,” Sony claimed the PS3 offers “ten years of value with a …

Games 8 Jan 2009, 15:12
Virus peddlers set up shop on Google code project

Skin-flick codec scams follow MSN Spaces abuse

Internet scoundrels have begun abusing Google code hosting projects to distribute malware and promote smut. The assault follows a bout of the same kind of abuse against Microsoft's comparable MSN Spaces beta site dating back a year, net security firm McAfee reports. Misuse of Google code is much more recent and something that …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 15:13
Powermat cuts ties with cabled power

CES Wireless charging for phones and laptops

Power sockets clogged with gadget chargers and swamped by a cable spaghetti will soon be just a memory, if Powermat has its way. Powermats charge gadgets wirelessly The US company has unveiled five wireless charging mats - all called Powermats - for phones and laptops. According to the company, these provide consumer …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 15:17
The incredible vanishing Satyam boss

Profits evaporate, chairman disappears

Satyam's founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju has disappeared, a day after he admitted to years of false accounting at the outsourcing giant. Raju's lawyer insisted his client remained in Hyderabad despite conflicting reports that he had fled to Dubai or Texas. He has not been seen in public since yesterday's extraordinary …

The Channel 8 Jan 2009, 15:52
Wrath of Spielberg smites Welsh uni leaflet

Unauthorised use of image, lawyers thunder

The "little-known" Lampeter campus of the University of Wales is certainly now familiar to Steven Spielberg's lawyers after they fired off a letter to the seat of learning accusing it of using the director's image without his permission. The offending snap appeared as part of a "collation of pictures" of course students, the …

Bootnotes 8 Jan 2009, 16:18
Asus demos touchscreen Eee

CES Swivelling screen for tablet use

Asus has treated CES attendees to a preview of its upcoming touchscreen Eee PC. Asus' touchscreen Eee T91 The T91’s screen measures 8.9in and can swivel to turn the machine into a tablet PC. It weighs in at roughly 2lbs, but is only 1in thick. Many of the machine’s specifications have been kept secret for the time being. …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 16:23
Carder linked to TJX hack jailed for 30 years by Turkish court

Ukrainian boards Midnight Express

A Ukrainian fraudster linked to the infamous TJX hack was sentenced to a 30 year prison sentence in Turkey on unrelated charges this week. Maksym Yastremskiy (AKA Maksik) was found guilty of hacking into the computer systems of 12 Turkish banks, as well as committing computer fraud against them, according to local reports. The …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 16:28
World's first portable Blu-ray player launches

CES HD format gains wheels, sort of

The world’s first portable Blu-ray disc player will soon be with us, thanks to Panasonic. Panasonic's DMP-B15: Blu-ray on the go Its DMP-B15 machine has an 8.9in LCD screen with a battery that will last for up to three hours, the company claimed. The machine runs on PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus – an imaging …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 16:42
SanDisk flashes notebook flash

Third generation with the secret sauce

SanDisk has unveiled faster notebook flash SSDs using its ExtremeFFS technology and with a new controller, a day after attacking the netbook market. This is what SanDisk hope will start making inroads into notebook hard drive displacement. The SATA 7000 family consists of C25-G3 (third generation 2.5-inch form factor) and C18 …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 16:50
Apple should start taking enterprise servers seriously

Comment Not as cool as iPods, but profitable

Aside from Steve Jobs' hormone imbalance iTunes minus DRM, there wasn't a whole lot happening at MacWorld 2009. And if you were looking for Apple to do something interesting in the enterprise server space, Macworld was definitely not worth the trip. It's always been something of a mystery that Apple hasn't been more of a force …

Servers 8 Jan 2009, 17:55
OQO Atomises Vista UMPC

CES VIA out; Intel, 3G, OLED screen in

Handheld PC maker OQO has re-released its mobile computer - called the OQO 2 - this time with Intel's 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor. It's also the first handheld PC with an OLED display, the company claimed. The Intel part ousts the VIA C7-M found in the previous OQO 2 - the new model's dubbed the 2+ to highlight the difference …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 18:27
Seagate gadget links tellies to external HDDs

CES Play your media files on your TV

Seagate has followed rival hard drive maker Western Digital and come up with a gadget to hook up media-packed external HDDs to HD TVs. The FreeAgent Theater has been designed with Seagate's slimline FreeAgent Go drives in mind, providing a bay into which the HDD docks up to a mini USB connector. Seagate's FreeAgent Theater: …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 18:32
WowWee demos latest spycam 'droid'

CES on Video Roll Spy Ball into a corner, take secret snaps

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes In action: the Powermat …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 18:48
Major League Baseball pitches visitors foul ads

Website admins go AWOL

Once again, Major League Baseball's website has been caught serving ads designed to infect its considerable base of visitors with malware that trashes their machines. Image credit: Sunbelt Software ScanSafe, a company that provides malware scanning for large companies, tracked banner ads served from the popular website for …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 19:16
AKG headphones sound out US market

Macworld Expo From cheapo buds to premium cans

At this week's Macworld Expo, audio giant Harman International announced that it would begin selling its premium-quality headphone brand, AKG, in the US consumer market. While select products in the AKG line have been available to US-based audio professionals, the company's consumer-level 'phones have until now been …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 19:17
Palm to take on iPhone with web 2.0 banana phone

CES Pray, pray, Pré for success

Troubled Palm today launched its (hopefully) turnaround product, the Palm Pré, running its new Palm Web OS operating system. There's a heck of a lot of Mac OS X and the Apple phone about the Pré - pronounced 'Pree' - with an animated application dock on the main view, Exposé-style app switcher, JavaScript widgets as applets, …

Mobile 8 Jan 2009, 20:24
In action: the Powermat wireless gadget charger

CES on Video Put down your iPod, charge it up

Click here to view a more bandwidth-friendly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes WowWee demos latest spycam ' …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 20:29
Lenovo dual-display laptop shows its stripes

CES on Video 17in screen not big enough? Just slide out an extra one

Click here to view a more bandwidth-frienly version of the video Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com More CES Video Reports... Samsung boffins demo transparent OLED screen Flying duck toy challenges armchair hunters In action: the Powermat wireless gadget charger WowWee demos latest spycam ' …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 20:52
LaCie showcases hella-expensive display

Macworld Expo $4,240 gets you 30 inches

Storage and display vendor LaCie showcased its recently released 730 LCD Monitor at this week's Macworld Expo, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous 30in display with an equally jaw-dropping price of $4240 (about £2785). Who on God's green earth would pay well over four-thousand bucks for an LCD display, even one as lovely as this one? …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 21:06
CES 2009 Complete Coverage

All the stories

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas saw the introduction of a bumper array of gadgets and goodies. Here are all of Register Hardware's ongoing CES 2009 stories, brought together for your reading and viewing pleasure... Media Players Hands on with Samsung's touch-controlled P3 media player Video Czech team demos …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 21:08
Sun downgraded to Goldman Sachs sell list

No discounts on your next iron deal, buddy

The stock and probably the collective psyche of server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems is taking some hits today as an IT watcher at Goldman Sachs put the company on its sell list. Sun has been on a lot of sell lists in recent years, of course, as it has struggled to even maintain sales, much less get profits, in …

Financial News 8 Jan 2009, 21:17
Hackers, insiders blamed for US data breach growth

Taking a leak

US organisations lost even more sensitive data in a greater number of information security screw-ups last year, according to a new survey. A study by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) calculated that 35 million data records were exposed last year in 656 admitted incidents, up 47 per cent compared to the 446 data loss …

Security 8 Jan 2009, 21:23
Ballmer reacquaints Microsoft with its PC past

Comment Windows without risk

Steve Ballmer's inaugural Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opener - taking over from Bill Gates - was important for its emphasis and what was missing. Ballmer opened with the proposition that the PC revolution has been good, but should have been better. There remain billions of people out there still untouched by either the PC …

Operating Systems 8 Jan 2009, 21:32
Yelpian astroturfers invade Blighty

Sketchy sales pitch to follow

Web 2.0 poster child Yelp has transported its new-age city guide - and its sketchy online advertising model - across the Atlantic. Early this morning, the San Francisco-based startup launched the UK incarnation of its self-consciously hip site, billed as a place where "real people" write "real reviews" of local businesses, …

Applications 8 Jan 2009, 22:14
Firm pitches 'HD audio' wireless streamer

CES Uncompressed tunes on the 2.4GHz band

Getting music from A to B wirelessly has just become a little easier, thanks to the i2i Stream. Connect one Stream to any audio device with a 3.5mm output jack, connect another your headphones, speakers or stereo, and your music just flows from one to the other. Makers Aerielle reckons the 2.4GHz link warrants the label "HD …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 23:36
AMD's 45nm Phenoms ride 'Dragon'

HP, Dell breathe fire

AMD has unveiled a new gaming PC platform designed to provide "elite-level computing performance for under $900." Dubbed "Dragon," AMD's chip-chipset-graphics combo is anchored by the struggling outfit's first 45nm desktop processor: the quad-core Phenom II X4. Both the chip and the Dragon made their official debut this …

Hardware 8 Jan 2009, 23:37