Sony and Dell compete with new notebooks

A couple of new lightweight notebooks are competing for your attention: the Sony Vaio Z1XSP (pictured) and the Dell Inspiron 510m. The new Z1XSP - part of the Vaio Z1X-Series - sees Sony upping the functional ante for ultra-portables. The 1. ...more

Iomega wirelessly networks shared storage

Iomega has unveiled a network attached storage (NAS) system designed for small business and SOHO environments, which has an integrated wireless base station hub. The NAS 100d series provides either 160GB or 250GB of shared storage that can be accessed via 100/10 wired Ethernet or 54Mbps Wi-Fi (802.11g). ...more

Freescale unveils revamped Power PC chip

Freescale Semiconductor has unveiled the new MPC7448 Power PC processor, a low-power successor to the MPC7447A currently employed in Apple's PowerBook range. The new chip is the first that Freescale has produced using its new 90nm silicon-on-insulator CMOS process which increases clock and bus speeds while giving 'substantial' power reductions. It is, says Freescale, ideal for systems that need to operate without cooling fans since it uses less than 10W of power, the threshold above which external cooling is generally required. ...more

.xxx approval delayed by ICANN

The introduction of the controversial .xxx domain has been delayed again. The new top-level domain (tld) name that is supposed to be a home for 'adult' content on the Internet was finally expected to be approved at the latest meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ...more

UN body promises greater recognition for open source licencing

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is promising greater recognition of Free and Open Source software licensing in a bid to balance the needs of copyright owners and the public. A group of Non-Governmental Organisations led by the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech) successfully lobbied WIPO in its 'Geneva Declaration', resulting in a 'development agenda' that includes alternatives such as the GPL. CPTech's director, James Love, said: 'For years, WIPO has pushed to expand the scope and level of intellectual property rights and told developing countries that this would help their development. ...more