Apple patent hints at new OS X 10.5 feature

Among the many patents that Apple files every month, one granted just this week hints at a potential new feature in next spring's release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. US Patent 7,120,785 describes a 'method and apparatus rendering user accounts portable', whereby a user account can be stored to an external storage device and moved to another computer. ...more

Intel launches powerful new chips for mobile devices

Intel has unveiled a new series of processors aimed at the next generation of mobile phones and PDAs. The new chips are said to support DVD-quality video playback including MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 for a broad range of wireless broadband standards such as WiFi and 3G at 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution. The PXA27x family of processors, formerly code-named `Bulverde` utilises a wide range of existing Intel technologies to bring them to the handheld marketplace. ...more

Nokia unveils new smartphone range

Nokia has unveiled a new range of mobile phones which major on the ability to capture and transmit pictures and video on the move. In addition, the new Nokia N93 (pictured, right), Nokia N73 (pictured, left) and Nokia N72 are the first Nokia N series devices to support direct connections to Yahoo!'s popular Flickr picture sharing service. According to Nokia, the new feature will allow the phone owners to transfer full size photos to Flickr directly from the image gallery application on the N series device. ...more

Wireless security blamed for TK Maxx data theft

The thieves who stole 45 million customer records from TK Maxx last year did so by hacking the clothes retailer's wireless network, according to an unconfirmed report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). WSJ says that investigators now believe the biggest known theft of credit-card numbers in history began two years ago outside a Marshall's clothing store in Minnesota. The hackers pointed a telescope-shaped antenna toward the store and used a laptop computer to decode data streaming through the air between handheld price-checking devices, cash registers and the store's computers. ...more

Creative shrinks Zen MP3 players

After the Micro, the Neon, the Touch, the NX, the Xtra and the USB 2, there's another Zen family of MP3 players from Creative - the Zen Nano Plus. The 'ultra portable' model, which works with MP3 or WMA files, comes in 3 capacities - 256MB, 512MB and 1GB - and a range of 10 colours. It is a reworking of the MuVo Micro N200 series and commemorates, according to Creative, the 10th anniversary of the MP3 format. ...more