Apple set for bumper Flash harvest with new Samsung deal

Apple is poised to sign a long-term deal with Samsung to secure several millions of dollars' worth of Flashmemory chips, according to Korea's edaily. The deal will secure Apple a lion's share of the supply of the NAND chips that it uses in the iPod nano. Flash memory is reported to be in short supply, not least because Apple is believed to have secured around 40 per cent of Samsung's total output for the second half of 2005. ...more

Apple founder backs 'revolutionary' PDA

One of Silicon Valley's 'legendary' figures is backing the new HipTop PDA to 'revolutionise the world' when it debuts this spring. Steve Wozniak, who with Steve Jobs built the first Apple computers, has given his much-sought-after endorsement to the wireless PDA and phone that provides Internet access, instant messaging, email with attachments, personal information management (PIM), such as a calendar and address book, and an optional digital camera add-on. The device measures 116 x 65 x 28mm - 'about the size of a small pager' - and weighs a mere 150g, in which you get a 240 x 160 pixel screen. ...more

BBC closes local history website

The BBC is to close a section of its website dedicated to local history as part of a programme to save in the corporation's new media division. The cuts follow recommendations by the government-sponsored Graf Report, which called for a 10 per cent reduction in spending on online services. As a result, the Legacies | UK local history to you site and the US section of www. ...more

Researchers create 500GHz from silicon mix

IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated the first silicon-based computer chip capable of operating at frequencies above 500GHz. And that is just a start. Computer simulations suggest that the silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology used in the chip could ultimately support even higher operational frequencies close to 1,000GHz. ...more

Weekend release for OS X 10.1

Apple is expected to announce later today that OS X 10.1 will be available this weekend, just in time to meet the company's self-imposed September deadline, according to sources in the US. Though 10. ...more