Multimedia massaging

Reuters reports from Comdex Nordic 2002 that Nokia is busy talking up its Multimedia Messaging service (MMS) with wild boasts that handsets with cameras will outsell digital cameras within 'a few years'. Matti Alahuhta described the service: 'I and my colleagues at Nokia have not been so excited about a new technology since the transition from analogue to digital.' Alahuhta quoted estimates of 250 billion SMS text messages sent last year to support his argument of the potential success of such a service. ...more

IBM, AMD announce improved performance for 65nm processes

IBM and AMD claim that they have made large improvements in 65nm processes that are emerging as the foundation of the new generation of microprocessors. The companies have combined a number of optimisation techniques to provide a manufacturing process that can both increase the performance of devices built on 65nm processes as well as cutting power consumption. The development will come as a particular relief to AMD as it is currently well behind archrival Intel in migrating its product line to 65nm technology. ...more

TippingPoint to pay bug-hunting bounty

A security company is to pay for tip-offs of security holes in software. 3Com-owned TippingPoint says its Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) will reward security researchers for telling it of security gaffes they come across, rather than making them public. Publicising flaws in software before the software vendor has time to research and fix the holes can mean that exploit code is assembled before users are protected - a zero-day attack. ...more

Acer launches lockdown desktops from ?350 ex VAT

Acer, which already claims the top slot in Western Europe for the number of notebook computers sold is now taking aim at the desktop market. It is launching a new range of desktop PCs based around the new "Prescott" Pentium or Celeron range from Intel and is looking to consolidate its notebook market share with a new model based on the new AMD Athlon 64 mobile chip. Available in either tower or desktop versions, the new Veriton PCs are based on an Acer-branded MSI motherboard featuring the Intel 865G graphics chipset, up to 4Gbytes of DDR400 memory with dual channel support and ATA-100 hard disks drives. ...more

Zen widens the path upstream

Zen Internet has announced that it is increasing the upstream bandwidth for its LLU broadband customers. Speeds will be increased from 256Kbps to 768Kbps for customers with 1Mbps or higher connections. For users stuck at 512Kbps, the upstream speed will increase to 448Kbps. ...more