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The battle between Sony’s Blu-Ray and Toshiba’s HD-DVD has been a drawn out one, with nary a sniff of resolution in sight, and has seen likely to plunge consumers back into a situation similar to the VHS v BetaMax videotape battles of the 1980s. But a recent move by HP …

We try to find the interesting news and developments to report to people, but sometimes the industry just doesn’t help us much. Sometimes, it all just seems “ho-hum

Last week, Apple released a new iMac and a new iPod. I forgot to tell you about the third component released: iTunes 6. Apple has expanded the iTunes functionality to now include Music Videos and TV shows available for downloading. This new functionality supports the new iPod described last week. …

Various internet sources are reporting two Microsoft patch concerns -- a failed "real" patch released by Microsoft, and a third party assembling various hot-fixes, and calling them "Windows XP SP3 Preview Pack". There is no official "Windows XP SP3"... the third party preparing them clearly mentions that on their website, …

The United States Senate Commerce Committee is considering a motion to force the US Television industry to completely switch from analog to digital transmissions by April 7, 2009. This means that any legacy televisions that have not been upgraded -- especially handheld and portable units, will no longer receive meaningful …

Apple's new iPod is just simply awesome. Announced today (Oct 12, 2005), Apple's new iPod has new video capability, along with other featurs that turns the music box into a sophisticated piece of equipment. With all this functionality, my Palm PDA might be forced into retirement! We all know that …

Sleek. Powerful. Graphic. Capable. Stable. Portable. Clean-design. This new iMac G5 Rocks. At a special event today (Oct 12, 2005), Apple Computer released two new awesome pieces of hardware -- an iPod that can play video, and a new awesome iMac G5. Let's talk about this new G5 and why …

To the average consumer the ‘Digital home’ has little to do, really, with internet-connected intelligent refrigerators that do the grocery ordering for you, or robotic valets who ready the ‘pipe and slippers’ when you walk through the door. It simply means a way to manage the home entertainment and avoid …

Now that the ATi R520 cards – the X1xxx series – has been officially announced and released there are tests and reviews of them popping up all over the place. The picture emerging is quite a clear one, with performance matching the Nvidia counterparts in all respects except for high …

Last week, Griffin Technology announced a new product -- iFill -- that will capture audio from free radio stations on the internet, and fill your iPod with several hours worth of music from the internet. iFill allows you to select from several stations, and several musical styles. According to the …

At the US Association of National Advertiser's annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Google's Eric Schmidt said that "We did a math exercise and the answer was 300 years". "The answer is it's going to be a very long time". Google right now claims they have 170 terabytes indexed so far, …

A quality power supply unit is a ‘must’ in a modern, high performance PC system. Cheap, generic units don’t supply stable enough voltages for highly demanding components, and introduce greater risk of failure which can put expensive PC components at risk. Choosing the unit to use can be a nightmare, …

The [url=http://theinquirer.net/?article=26628]Inquirer[/url] has just published their recommendations for the ‘value points’ in processor purchasing. Their recommendations are quite similar to those promoted by a number of reviewers, but closer inspection leaves me quite unconvinced. The assumptions they make fall somewhat short of the mark in my eyes, and leaves their …

Akronix, a company that provides IM security and management tools, reports that Q3 2005 attacks on IM networks averaged more than one per day. The report mentions that IM borne viruses were "often mutations of other varients, however in September, we had seven new viruses." The report did not mention …

Launched September 5, 1977, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has crossed the Termination Shock* of our solar system, and has entered a new region of space at extreme distances from our sun. According to researchers at the University of Maryland, Voyager made this transition December 16, 2004, and it took researchers …

There will doubtless be a lot of disappointed gamers, but it seems the Nvidia 6800 Ultra and the ATi Radeon X850XT are the 'end of the road' for AGP gamers. Those who have been waiting for updated and improved cards to arrive have been waiting in vain, it appears. Although …

Microsoft's new Digital Locker system allows users of Windows computers to download computer software from a variety of vendors. A number of software vendors already provide this functionality -- Microsoft's system brings those vendors under "one roof", manages the financial transactions, and then stores the license information for later use …

Apple has upgraded the adorable Mac Mini. Reports on the internet reveal that the advertised 1.42 GHz computer was actually shipped at 1.5 GHz, and sported some other features. The new Mac Mini reportably has the following new features: * New 8x Dual-layer Super Drive, model UJ-845. This media device …

I have a love-hate relationship with Palm. First, the love: for starters, Palm-based PDAs do everything I want a PDA to do. Just give me the basics, such as a nice contact list, memo/notepad, a to-do list, etc. Palm has always done that, and that's all it really needed to …

Most people have had experience of, or currently use Microsoft Office, either at work or home, but I would think most people would find it hard to spot the differences between Office 2000, XP, and 2003. Apart from updated aesthetics on the latter, not much has changed through the generations, …

According to some online blogs, TiVo is employing a new scheme of digital rights management (DRM) which allows program sponsors (the people who provide the show, such as the network, or perhaps the syndication agency) to define when a show may be watched, and if it may be stored for …

According to Steve Jobs, Apple Computer is ontrack to ship Intel based Macintosh computers by June 2006. Jobs said at the recent Apple Expo (Paris) that "We said we'd be shipping by next June, and we are on track to have that be a true statement." Apple made announcements several …

It is tempting to think that, as technology improves and access because less expensive, the use of fast internet access will become more widespread. Research, however, shows that this is not happening, and that broadband uptake has slowed dramatically. John Horrigan, Director of Research with Pew Internet & American Life …

OpenOffice.Org, the creaters and maintainers of the open-sourced OpenOffice, have just released version 1.1.5 of their office software suite. The update addresses a security problem concerning a buffer overflow; there are other issues that are repaired since version 1.1.4, such as porting updates (OpenOffice was developed for Linux first, and …

Security researchers announced a new vulnerability for users of the Firefox 1.0.6 browsers on a Unix or Linux platform. The problem revolves around a security bug that could allow hackers to execute arbitrary shell commands if they can trick the user into accepting a malicious link on a website. The …

Last August, Business 2.0 magazine published an article that speculated Google was considering building a U.S. broadband network capable of targeting specific advertising to users, based on the location of their WiFi. The so-called "Google.net"" or "Google WiFi" caused much speculation, however, the company remained close-lipped. Tuesday, Google finally made …

A plague has swept the online universe of popular game World of Warcraft! Cities have been wiped out. Travel became a dangerous activity indeed. Online gamers returned from a nature call to find themselves amidst desolation! When Blizzard Software released the version 1.7 Patch for the online game they included …

Microsoft is currently reorganising itself into three main divisions, in an effort to streamline the processes of decision making and bringing products to market. The three divisions will be: [b]Microsoft Platform Products and Services Division[/b] Responsible for Windows products, corporate server products and MSN web services. [b]Microsoft Business Division[/b] Responsible …

Symantec released a report comparing Mozilla Firefox vs. Windows Explorer, and found that Firefox had more security flaws, but Explorer's were more severe. The report also disclosed statistics on a number of other concerns involving Internet Security. Using data collected between January and June 2005, Mozilla's browsers suffered 25 vendor-confirmed …

Along with the increased availability and use of fast internet, the popularity of onlline, browser based games has risen dramatically in recent times. [url=http://www.millionsofgames.com/]Millions of Games[/url] is a new website designed to make the task of finding games an easier one. 'Millions' may be an overstatement, but at the time …

Gateway currently holds about a 6% to 8% market share of PC sales in the US, and derives about 80% of its income from PC sales. After a lengthy period of unprofitability, the company has recently shown improvement, but is it enough to maintain its independence as a corporate entity? …

Are you running out of room on that notebook's hard drive? Hitachi Global Storage Technologies have released an 'upgrade kit' that just might be the answer you're looking for. It wouldn't surprise me to see other manufacturer's offer similar kits in future. [img]http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.ContentDeliveryServlet/hgst/products/Retail%2520Products/images/ts_uk_contents_230x160.jpg[/img] The [url=http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/en/menuitem.6e185ca3ee5b04d2fce80bd5eac4f0a0/]Notebook PC Upgrade Kit[/url] includes a …

Windows Workflow Foundation, Microsoft's framework for managing workflow, is reportedly ahead of schedule and could well be available for Windows Vista next year, rather than not ready until Longhorn Server is released in 2007 as previously believed. WWF will also be made available for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and …

Recently, the video games industry has been subject of more scrutiny than ever before. Pressure is mounting which threatens innovation within and surrounding the industry, yet 'rogue' games developer Rockstar Games, the catalyst for much of the negative opinion, continues to thumb it's nose at public opinion. The [url=http://www.rockstargames.com/libertycitystories/gta_lcs.html]website [/url]devoted …

Microsoft messed up Update Rollup 1, that caused compatability problems with several vendor applications such as Citrix, Sophos, and some parts of Microsoft Office. Programs were unable to access floppy disks, or even crashed more often, or simply didn't work. Microsoft earlier remarked that only a handful of applications failed …

Massachusetts has a new state policy that requires state agencies to use an "Open Document" format in their business applications. Not surprisingly, propriety software giant Microsoft has filed complaints with the state concerning the policy. Back in 2003, the Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance directed the state agencies to …

Early in September, NASA implemented new software controls on the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing it to shut down one of the three remaining gyroscopes, reserving the third gyroscope for later use. By doing this, scientists hope to extend the Hubble's mission through mid-2008. Gyroscopes are rotating mechanisms that remain fixated …

Web Developer. Webmaster. Web Designer. What do these terms mean? Which one are you? In fact, these terms have been used and misused so much that they are in danger of losing any distinct meaning. This article attempts to define and defend these labels and their meanings. "Webmaster" in particular …

Things don’t get easier, do they? Windows ‘prophet’ Paul Thurrot suggests that there are going to be no less than seven different versions of Windows Vista! Vista will be offered in ‘Home’ and ‘Business’ varieties, with three ‘Home’ versions and four ‘Business’ versions: [b][i]Windows Vista Home[/i][/b] [b]Starter Edition.[/b] This will …

Apple Computer, announced on Wednesday a new cell phone that serves as an iTunes player. The phone, available only through Cingular Wireless holds about 100 songs that are downloaded from a Windows PC or Macintosh, and the songs are managed just like an iPod. According to the FAQ, the phone …

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Association committed acts of browser discrimination by only allowing people with Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer 6.0 to file electronic claims in response to Hurricane Katrina. This means that if I was an affected citizen of the US, and had my Mac laptop with me …

WinFS is Microsoft's new Relational File System, and the company released a Beta 1 edition of the software to members of the Microsoft Developer Network. Originally planned for a Windows Vista release, the software runs on Windows XP. A forthcomming Beta 2 release should work on the beta releases of …

GAP, Inc. the owners of Gap.com and OldNavy.com closed down their websites last week to prepare them for the upcoming holiday season. Instead of developing a test-beta site, they opted to close the websites completely, and complete the overhaul before releasing it to the public. The company is collecting email …

McAfee, Inc., a leader in intrusion prevention, announced that its security services group, Foundstone Professional Services, will release a whitepaper on Microsoft ASP.NET Forms Authentication and "cookie replay" attacks. The whitepaper will be located at [url]http://www.foundstone.com/index.htm?subnav=resources/navigation.htm&subcontent=/resources/whitepapers.htm[/url]. In response, Microsoft authored an MSDN article: [url]http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;900111[/url]. What is a "cookie replay" attack? …

The case between Google and Microsoft over executive Kal-Fu Lee began this week in court. According to reports, the case already has both sides trowing mud at each other. Some of you may recall that Kal-Fu Lee, a former executive of Microsoft, recently left the company and joined Google in …

What is a Wiki? I have seen the word before when installing eGroupware, a web-based emailing and calendar program that could give Microsoft Exchange a real run for the money. But I haven't had the chance to really think about what a Wiki was until I used Wikipedia, and looked …

Last week, Intel announced a new chip design that promises less power use per unit time, along with embedded security and management functions. The goal is to provide a 3.5 times performance-per-watt improvement over today's single-core Xeon based server CPU. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini said that this new design goal …

A new virus has been found and it is targetting all you porn purveyors out there! The trojan named Yusufali-A seeks to help, not harm people by interrupting their depraved activity. On an infected system, window titles are scanned for keywords such as: sex teen xx Phallus jegger Priapus Phallic …

Maybe those white shiny little boxes aren’t so great after all. That’s the message I got after Apple Computer pulled its free 30 day trial offer of its Mac Mini personal computer. On Tuesday, the computer maker posted an offer that allowed its customers to try out a Mac Mini …

Nikon seems poised to be the first company to bring 'cordless' digital still cameras to consumers, it seems. The Coolpix P1 and Coolpix P2 cameras will use 802.11 Wi-Fi technology to transfer images to your PC or printer. The cameras are due to arrive in retail later in September. The …