Hardware Forum

Do you remember the MPMan F10 which was launched way back in March 1998? Probably not, which is a shame as it was a hugely important, and rather huge, device in the overall scheme of things. The first MP3 player, 10 years old this month, is fondly remembered in detail …

In an effort to compete with the Blackberry, and gain momentum in the business world, the iPhone now has full support for Microsoft Exchange, one of the major factors holding the professional back from splurging on an iPhone. While Apple is now going full force trying to make the iPhone …

The [URL="https://www.blackhat.com/"]Black Hat[/URL] security conferences are always good for a crowd pleasing demonstration or two, and security researcher Adam Laurie was happy to oblige at the latest DC based event. In a 'look no hands' fashion, he was able to pull up account data including name, account number and expiration …

As I said before, I'm a huge gadget girl. I had the opportunity earlier this month to test out the very cool [URL="http://www.jawbone.com"]Jawbone[/URL] bluetooth headset for my Treo 755p. I have to say that I'm very picky about my headsets and like making the right investment for something that may …

The most recent quarterly returns are in on U.S. cell phone sales, and Apple seems to have taken a big bite out of Windows' market share. And it has Research in Motion in its gun sights. For years, Windows Mobile and Research and Motion phones dominated the cellular marketplace. But …

My infatuation about the new [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1968.html"]Macbook Air[/URL] is not ending just yet. In fact, the [URL="http://blogs.computerworld.com/the_new_macbook_pros_are_coming"]ComputerWorld blog[/URL] has news -- hopefully insider scoop -- about what I'm dreaming about. Author Seth Weintraub says that the reason for the Macbook Pro delay (that is, why they weren't announced last week at …

While I'm not yet a [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1968.html"]Mac convert[/URL], I've always been an iPod convert. I bought my first iPod in September of 2003 and can't say I complained. Reminiscing, it was a 40GB 3rd generation that I paid $475 for on eBay. It wasn't cheap, and I was fresh out of …

So, MacWorld finally came and went. For months, I've anticipated this event. After Apple released [URL="http://www.apple.com/macosx/"]Leopard[/URL] in November, I had my eyes set on moving over to the Mac world. But without any guarantees that Apple would preinstall Leopard on existing laptops in their inventory and after hearing about numerous …

Interesting news from a new study of 112 homes in the Seattle area that shows a 10% reduction in home energy bills through the use of "smart grid" technology. The study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and reported on CNet News this morning, says its GridWise Project not …

There's an old saying in marketing that the consumer always gets what he or she wants. That's likely never been more true than with today's cell phones, where users are clamoring for more than just songs downloads, video, GPS, systems, and, increasingly, voice mail technologies. Voice mail? Did he just …

It should be a slow week for technology stocks, what with the holidays fast approaching and a dearth of any meaningful quarterly earnings surprises. The former you know about, with Christmas only a week away. Late December is notoriously dull for the stock market as traders think more about fun …

How often is it that we hear stories from people who work as tech support about the stupid people they have to deal with? Indeed, it seems as though working as tech support could potentially be an extremely entertaining profession, provided that you have a good sense of humor. Of …

So the [URL="http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=26613EC7&node=home/shop_iphone/family/iphone"]Apple iPhone [/URL]has finally gone on sale in the UK, with hundreds of fans queuing at the Apple store in London's Regent Street to be one of the first customers for what has become known here as God's Own Phone as it does everything, according to the fanboys …

Rob Siemborski, Gmail Engineer, wrote in the [URL="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-gmail-storage-coming-for-all.html"]official Gmail blog[/URL] on Friday that "a few of you are using Gmail so much that you're running out of space, so to make good on our promise, today we're announcing we are speeding up our counter and giving out more free storage." …

[URL="http://www.kva.se/KVA_Root/index_eng.asp?br=ie"]The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences[/URL] has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2007 to Albert Fert from France and Peter Grünberg from Germany for their discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance. Working independently, the two discovered the Giant Magnetoresistance effect in 1988, although it wasn't until 1997 that the first …

According to a report at [URL="http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/08/ipod-burns-geezer-trousers"]The Inquirer[/URL] an Atlanta airport worker was a little surprised to discover, upon looking down to see where the smell of burning was coming from, that it was him. Well, it was his trousers to be precise. Apparently the chap, one Danny Williams, had an …

Yesterday I made my case for the handheld mobil device marketplace, and why strong growth there could well point to some profitable stock plays within that sector in 2008. Today, I'll focus on another potential success story -- removable memory cards. Full disclosure: About all I know about removable memory …

Everyone was excited about the launch of a new range of iPods, everyone apart from Linux users of course. In its wisdom, [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Apple[/URL] decided to prevent media players other than iTunes from syncing with the MP3 devices, and in so doing locked out Linux users for whom there is no …

Apple to iPhone Customers: “Mea Culpa” With Apple in the headlines all week from its iPhone pricing debacle, I’ve kept a close eye on the company’s stock price. One rule of thumb on Wall Street is that if your company find itself in the news for negative reasons, take control …

The dust has settled. The rumor mill is quiet. The masses are sated. If you've been under a rock today you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but I'll assume for the majority you've at least vaguely kept up on the slew of iPod announcements put forth by Steve …

Yesterday I wrote that Apple was having some legal woes attached to its i-Phone. It seems users who travel overseas may be hit with whopping long distance charges. If the day's bad press bothered Apple CEO Steve Jobs, he's certainly not showing it. In fact, he followed up on the …

I'm a big fan of Apple - - I own three G-5's and an old G-4 laptop, and my two of my three kids own iPods (Nano's). The sleek design, seamless workability, and rock-like defense against viruses and other threats that always seem to befall those unfortunate souls in the …

Remember [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonelygirl15"]Lonelygirl15[/URL]? If you have ever been anywhere near YouTube then the chances are the answer is oh yes, or more likely oh no. This was the supposed [URL="http://www.youtube.com/user/lonelygirl15"]video diary[/URL] of a teenager on the run that resonated with intrigued, and often concerned, viewers around the globe. A total of …

The suspense is suspended and the mystery solved, Apple has revealed that the hugely hyped iPhone will go on sale in the US on June 29th. As for the cost that will depend upon the exact configuration, but the cheapest version will be $499. As for networks you have a …

According to new research from [URL="http://www.centennial-software.com"]Centennial Software[/URL] removable devices are the single biggest threat to company data so far in 2007, yet four out of five businesses are failing to defend themselves. The research resulted from a survey undertaken at this year's Infosecurity Europe, and discovered that just 16 percent …

The software giant Adobe has made another move to expand its reaches by unveiling a new media player program called "Adobe Media Player". And no, Adobe hasn't just created *another* video format for streaming, they're using an existing technology that they already own to handle the video: Macromedia Flash. The …

Today, [URL="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/09ipod.html"]Apple announced that they have now sold over 100 million iPods[/URL], which comes after they had released the first iPod 5-and-a-half years ago. Grammy award winner John Mayer said about the iPod: "Without the iPod, the digital music age would have been defined by files and folders instead of …

What better use of an iPod than to save a soldier's life by stopping a bullet? [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiki/445618364/in/pool-appleusers/"]This photo[/URL] appears to prove it, although the actual story was that the iPod [I]alerted[/I] the soldier to the fact that he had been shot, but it was his armor that actually stopped the …

Leading security vendor [URL="http://www.kaspersky.com"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] has uncovered the first ever proof of concept virus designed with the sole intention of infecting the iPod media player. Like all proof of concept viruses though, Podloso poses no real world threat to users. For a start it requires a Linux installation, not on …

[URL="http://www.apple.com/macpro/"]Without further ado[/URL], Apple has added a new build-to-order option to their Mac Pro that allows 2 Quad Xeon processors instead of the previous 1, promised to run at 3 Ghz, and making the Mac Pro the first 8-core Mac. The upgrade doesn't seem like a huge one, as all …

It seems like Apple is nearing a day we'd never think would come. [URL="http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKN0137689420070402"]This time it seems official.[/URL] According to the reports, Apple and EMI have formed a deal that would not only allow Apple to sell EMI's music on their store (quite possibly The Beatles), but "large portions of …

Apple's digital hub, known as the Apple TV, has finally started shipping. It's aiming to bridge the link between your media and your TV, providing a wireless digital hub through which you can transfer your content to watch, namely the content purchased through the iTunes store. How much does it …

YouTube (now owned by Google) and BBC struck a deal that would soon allow the former to provide clips from the latter. Special channels will be created on YouTube that you can watch the content through, providing many popular BBC shows such as Top Gear and Doctor Who. But this …

$500 is a lot of money for a cell phone. True, the iPhone is a lot more than just a cell phone, but the price is steep nevertheless. And the results seem to prove it when you read articles like [URL="http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/89B5D6ED1CD4A132CC25728E0013778A"]this[/URL] one, which showed that people are simply not willing …

You've likely heard of the whole commotion that was caused over Apple's usage of the iPhone name, which was a trademark of Cisco. Well, the funny thing is that the whole deal is over, and Cisco has really lost. Well, not officially, as a statement from the 2 companies was …

Cory Doctorow, he of [URL="http://www.boingboing.net/"]Boing Boing[/URL] fame and one of the most well known proponents of the [URL="http://creativecommons.org/"]Creative Commons[/URL] scheme, has rather surprisingly attacked Steve Jobs and Apple over DRM. Whoa, hold on a minute there, surprising that someone who speaks out in favor of Creative Commons should be arguing …

With the release of the Apple iPhone, threatening to shake up the cell phone industry, it's inevitable that companies will try to use ideas similar to Apple's. The latest "cause of concern" is [URL="http://www.smh.com.au/news/mobiles--handhelds/lgs-iphone-copycat/2007/01/19/1169095944823.html"]LG's Prada KE850[/URL] cell phone, which uses a touchscreen interface, and similar features such as web browser, …

They say it is a ‘man thing’ this fantasy about swapping their wife or partner for someone new. Unfunny jokes about trading up to a newer model abound, some even indulge in a swinging lifestyle. But now it seems that some 13% of men in the UK, according to new …

Some people have been writing about the iPhone, and there are complaints as expected with any new device (or old for that matter). So I decided to write about them, and show what's really behind all this. Price is the thing that hits you first when getting a new tech …

When Steve Jobs heralded the iPhone as being as revolutionary as the iPod during his MacWorld keynote in San Francisco on Tuesday, he must have known that it was going to be a bloody revolution. Sure enough, Cisco has now fired the first shots with a lawsuit in the US …

With the Macworld Keynote, it was inevitable that Apple would release some fancy new product. Among other things, the iPhone turned out the be the most significant, turning the iPod into a device which can make phone calls, and much, much more. All for only $499. The idea of merging …

In response to [URL="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,241557,00.html"]this article[/URL], claiming that the DVD format war may soon be over, I highly doubt it. In the article: [quote]The high-definition DVD format war, which has slowed consumer acceptance of the new players, may soon be over.[/quote] They go on further to state that hybrid players coming …

While Apple has displayed a [COLOR=Black][URL="http://www.apple.com/"]new banner[/URL][/COLOR] on its website declaring Happy New Years, "The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007," the [URL="http://projects.info-pull.com/moab/"]Month of Apple Bugs[/URL] has been launched, as if to scorn Apple's website banner. The Month of Apple bugs aims to reveal a new …

If you always thought that OpenStep, Cocoa's base, was limited to Mac OS X, you're wrong. A project called [URL="http://www.gnustep.org"]GNUstep[/URL] is dedicated to creating an open-source implementation of the reusable objects that Cocoa uses. Cocoa, which is the framework that the vast majority of Mac OS X software developers use …

Microsoft just released their iPod killer -- except that it isn't killing the iPod. Although it looks promising, it has had a number of [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/13/installing-the-zune-sucked/"]negative Zune reviews[/URL]. It may seem like the Zune is a total flop, after all, "it's from MS". But no, I don't think that is the …

A number of owners of new iPods could be getting more than they bargained for, as Apple has [URL="http://www.apple.com/support/windowsvirus/"]admitted[/URL] that a ‘small number’ of iPod video products sold after 12th September are infected with the RavMonE.exe virus. Mistakes happen, and while Apple has been forthright about owning up to the …

The founders of Skype, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, have already pretty successfully shaken up the telephony marketplace, and their next target could be YouTube. According to their [URL="http://www.theveniceproject.com"]posting [/URL]the duo are “working on a project that combines the best things about television with the social power of the internet …

[I]I’m the trouble starter, notebook instigator. I’m the Dell addicted, Sony illustrated. I’m a fire-starter, notebook fire-starter. You’re the fire-starter, notebook fire-starter.[/I] With apologies to The Prodigy for ruining a perfectly good lyric, but it does serve to highlight the problem de jour: that of flaming laptops. If you thought …

The much vaunted, overly hyped and hugely anticipated Apple iPhone, a handset merging mobile phone and iPod into one unit, looked like being a step closer to reality when a French magazine featured a ‘leaked’ image of the thing on its front cover. Unsurprisingly, this was picked up by [URL="http://www.pdafrance.com/news/2006-09-12/id7496/iPhone-ou-Macphone-sur-20minutes-ce-matin/"]PDA …

Some press releases grab your attention for all the wrong reasons, although from the PR perspective if it has grabbed my attention it has obviously worked. One such scurried across my desktop the other day: [URL="http://www.logitech.com"]Logitech [/URL]rolls out its coolest mouse ever, the headline proclaimed. Oh crikey, thought I, here …