Motorola plays iTunes

Motorola has unveiled its highly anticipated iTunes-playing 3G phone, the E1060, at the 3GSM Congress in Cannes, France With up to 512MB of additional storage via a removable card, the phone will have the same capacity as the smaller of the iPod shuffle models, though whether it will match Apple's device for sound quality remains to be seen. Although iTunes will be the default media player, it will not be the only one. 'We're committed to have iTunes as the default music client, but we'll also continue to support other music players such as RealPlayer,' said Amer Husaini, vice president for Motorola's mobile devices group in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. ...more

Monkey think, monkey do

Directing a computer by thought alone is the stuff of sci-fi, but American academics are researching with monkeys for just such an end. The BBC reports that researchers at Brown University in the States are harnessing brain power for computing purposes. Effectively, the monkeys can control a video game by the power of their thoughts alone. ...more

Evesham lifts Via's carbon-free chip for green PC

Via launched its 'carbon free' C7-D processor last month and now a similarly green PC is being launched by Evesham based on the VIA chip. There's also support for the concept of an eco-friendly machine from Tranquil PC. Suitably unveiled in the green environs of Kew Gardens, the Evesham Crusader Carbon3 system emphasises its green credentials. ...more

Broadband growth fuels BT profits jump

BT has announced a 21 per cent rise in profits for the last financial quarter, January to March 2005. The company's Wholesale division connected a record 825,000 broadband users during the three month period, breaking the five million total a year ahead of schedule. Adding revenues from it Retail division and BT Yahoo! consumer broadband package, total broadband turnover increased by 77 per cent to ?292 million. ...more

Sony apologises for global battery recall

Sony has apologised for the inconvenience caused by its global recall of almost 10 million lithium-ion laptop batteries. In a statement the company said that the extent of its recall, which affected almost every major laptop maker, demonstrates its commitment to customer satisfaction. 'For those customers and PC users who may have been affected by the recent issues involving Sony-manufactured batteries, we regret any inconvenience or concern this may have caused,' said Yutaka Nakagawa, executive deputy president of Sony Corporation. ...more