Samsung has announced that it has developed the industry’s first one gigabit Mobile DRAM (dynamic random access memory) for mobile products, using 80nm process technology.The new chip, also known as low-power DDR (double data rate) or synchronous DRAM , will be more cost effective than other high density mobile solutions and used for a wide range of advanced handset applications as well as for digital still cameras, portable media players and portable gaming products.
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December 28th, 2006
Pre-Christmas figures suggest that Wii has trumped the PS3 in the holiday shopping stakes, outselling its rival at the rate of 2 to 1.
However, both consoles sold less units that the Xbox 360, meaning that Microsoft must be starting to feel just a little bit confident that it might be the ultimate winner.
The reasons behind Wii’s outselling of the Nintendo console are clear. Despite being lower spec, having a daft name and not even playing DVDs, it is more fun. The buzz around Wii easily eclipses that of the PS3 and a straw poll of TechSmec Towers confirms that the latest iteration of the PlayStation is perceived as just that - a small step forward, whereas the Nintendo console is a paradigm shift in gaming with its revolutionary control method and a games line up that is created with gaming in mind rather than the latest visuals.
December 28th, 2006
With the strong rise of LCD and Plasma TV’s the necessity to place the TV-set on or in a large cabinet no longer exists. It is often done anyway, because the DVD-player (or other A/V-device) needs to be placed close to the TV-set. Marmitek takes advantage of this trend with the introduction of the Invisible Scart. Now you can place your AV–device in another corner of the room and still control it and watch the images.How does the Invisible Scart work? - The Marmitek Invisible Scart sends a wireless signal from your VCR, DVD-players DVD-recorder, satellite dish, set top box etc. to your (second) TV-screen… (more…)
December 14th, 2006
WikiPedia, the collaborative encyclopaedia has been attacked by spammers attempting to spread malware.
A page was created on the German version of WikiPedia linking to a fake fix for a new version of the Blaster worm, which affected over 50,000 Windows computers in the summer of 2003.
Fortunately action was taken by WikiPedia and its less nefarious editors to remove the page, but not before the spammers had sent out an email, claiming to be from WikiPedia, suggesting readers should go and download the fix.
“The good news is that the authorities at Wikipedia quickly identitifed and edited the article on their site,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. “Unfortunately, however, the previous version of the page was still present in the archive and was continuing to point to malicious code. The hackers were thus able to send out spam pointing people to the page on Wikipedia, and try and lead them into infection.”
That archived page has now also been killed, meaning that the incident is hopefully over. However, this has yet again illustrated the vulnerability of user-edited content on the web. WikiPedia content has in the past been rewritten by users attempting to massage the truth by covering up a dodgy past history, or trying to create one for a rival.
November 6th, 2006
Panasonic has announced the availability of its new line-up of 1080 progressive scan full HD pro plasmas. The 65″ TH-65PF9UK is available now and will be followed by the 103″ TH-103PF9UK (the world’s largest plasma) and the 50″ TH-50PF9UK.With 2.07 million pixels (1,920 x 1,080) of resolution, these 1080p HD pro plasmas offer about twice the resolution as standard high-definition models, and produce the entire color range specified in the HDTV standard (ITU-R, BT709), for ultraaccurate, natural-looking images that remain truly faithful to the original HD source. The 1080p HD models feature a high contrast ratio of 5,000:1 and 16-bit processing to reproduce super-crisp motion pictures with an astounding 4,096 steps of gradation. For the full 1080p models, Panasonic has developed a Super Cinema mode, whereby the Digital Color Reality feature accurately reproduces the warmth of light and delicate shading in each scene by continuously adjusting the white balance and performing gamma correction as the image changes. Digital Color Reality is four times more precise in the digital control of color and brightness compared with standard HD plasmas. (more…)
November 4th, 2006
Pinnacle Systems has announced three new solutions to provide consumers with a better TV-viewing experience. These new Pinnacle PCTV products – Pinnacle PCTV DVB-T PCI, PCTV Hybrid Pro Stick and PCTV Dual Hybrid Pro PCIe – are designed for users who enjoy TV on-the-go, those who want to watch two channels at the same time, or those who enjoy both Analogue and Digital Terrestrial TV (DVB-T) on a PC.
“Think of it as no more fights to have control over the TV and bringing back the peace at home; think of it as the easy and affordable way of recording two TV or radio programmes simultaneously; think of it as the better way of enjoying your favourite TV series anywhere with a portable device, or as having two additional TVs at home for the price of a single TV tuner,” explained David Barnby, vice president sales and marketing for EMEA “These new Pinnacle PCTV products not only address these needs, but also offer even more features than users could probably think of.” (more…)
October 25th, 2006
Five years ago, on October 23, 2001, Apple released the iPod and the world of portable music was never the same again.
Actually, for those of us who can think back as far as 2001, the world of portable music didn’t exactly undergo a seismic shift on that day. In fact, even working in the tech industry at the time, I was not particularly interested in what a failing PC manufacturer was doing.
It’s easy to forget how low Apple’s stock has sunk (metaphorically) in 2001. The Mac was the butt of jokes, a niche computer for the publishing and graphic design industry, as well as those who had fallen for it’s ‘easy to use’ marketing.
As a result, the launch of the iPod arrived largely under the radar.
Things changed with the launch of the iTunes website two years later and sales started to skyrocket as the brand crossed over from the IT world, to that of high fashion.
60 million iPods have been sold and of those, 40 million were sold in the last year. Competitors such as Creative and Samsung are just clinging onto ths shirt tails of Apple and their sales don’t even make a small dent in Apple’s profit.
But is the bubble going to burst? Just like mobile phones before them, there must be a sales ceiling. At some point everyone who wants an mp3 player will own an mp3 player and then sales will drop off. Apple will have a strategy up their sleeve to cope with this. The much vaunted iPod phone may be one option.
And what of the iPod brand name? It is almost, but not quite, in the league of Hoover and Portakabin as a brand name which is used more than the generic term. However, unless it makes that leap, there will come a point at which the iPod brand will start to seem boring. The public are always after new ideas, not old ones repackaged.
Happy birthday iPod! There may not be a similar article written on your tenth birthday, so make the most of it.
October 22nd, 2006
Streaming Networks today announced the availability of its new iRecord Personal Media Recorder. iRecord allows users to record video and audio directly onto Apple iPod, Sony PSP or any other USB storage devices with the touch of a button.”Until iRecord there was no simple and easy way for portable media player owners to put their personal video and audio contents onto their players. Now, in one touch, consumers can move their favorite movies, TV shows, home videos and audio tracks to their iPod or PSP portable players using iRecord . It’s just that simple!” said Ayub Khan, CEO and President of Streaming Networks.
Prior to iRecord, consumers would have to go through several tedious steps in order to transfer their favorite movie or TV show to their iPod, including determining which video format to use, hooking up computer equipment to their home entertainment system, and waiting as content was slowly moved. iRecord eliminates this multi-step process and makes recording as simple as pushing a button. A consumer simply plugs the iRecord into his TV or DVD player and hits iRecord’s record button. The iRecord then records what is being played on the TV directly onto the iPod in real-time. After the program is over, simply unplug your iPod and the movie or TV show can immediately be enjoyed on your portable device. Consumers use the same process to record movies or TV shows to Sony PSP player Memory Stick, or any other USB storage device such as Flash Drives or Hard Drives. (more…)
October 21st, 2006
The SoundWorks Radio CD from Creative brought to you by Evesham, is a hi-fi breakthrough in tabletop audio for the home. Built with the expertise of the designers at Cambridge SoundWorks, the specialist audio division of Creative Labs, this innovative system delivers sound that fills a room so effectively that listeners often look around for separate external speakers!
But to say that the SoundWorks Radio CD is just a table radio doesn’t do it justice; it’s much more. Think of it as a home stereo wrapped inside a little box. It can play 10 hours of music on a single MP3-encoded CD-ROM, features a superb AM/FM radio with a total of 24 presets, has two alarms and, most importantly, offers great sound. (more…)
October 19th, 2006
If you needed a sign that the Nintendo Wii is going to belie its ridiculed name and challenge both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, then take a look at the news from the States where games retailer Gamestop has already sold out its preallocated supply. It did so on the very first day that preordering opened.
Preorders for the PS3 are still open, several days after they commenced.
So, at a glance the news looks extremely good for Wii. Anecdotal reports from across the pond suggest queues for Wii were longer than for the PS3 and more diverse as well. However, the headline stat does not provide the complete picture. Because of production delays with the PS3, Sony has reduced the number of PS3s available for preorder by a fourth. Each Gamestop store may only be getting a number of units in the low teens. At least Sony is being open about the figures.
Wii is suffering no reported production problems, but even so, Nintendo has not yet confirmed store by store availability. So each Gamestop manager has to guess, and with the prospect of sobbing children and angry parents on their threshold if they get it wrong, most will be guessing on the conservative side.
So Wii’s selling out its preorder allocation is not too surprising, as no one is entirely sure what that allocation is.
Most analysts expect Wii to be a plucky loser to the PS3 and today’s news only goes a little way to challenging that expectation.
October 17th, 2006
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