Philips announces variable lens technology

Philips has announced a new display technology developed in its Research division: a variable-focus lens system that has no mechanical moving parts. Furthermore, the company claims that the technology lends itself to high volume manufacturing, which puts lower-cost imaging systems within sight. Dubbed 'FluidFocus', the system mimics the action of the human eye in that a fluid lens alters its focal length by changing its shape. ...more

US DVD seller claims online prices are unfair

A second US retail chain has told Hollywood movie studios that it wants a fairer deal over DVD pricing in order to compete with the nascent digital services such as iTunes and Amazon Unbox. According to the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], Target president Gregg Steinhafel has written to the studios asking for the same prices that the online providers pay. The Wall Street Journal said that Steinhafel's letter warned that Target may reduce the amount of shelf space for DVDs, citing an anonymous studio executive. ...more

Toshiba displays thinner, lighter screens

Ultra-thin but bright PDAs, phones and notebooks will be possible using a new organic LED from Toshiba, the company says. Organic light-emitting displays, or OLEDs, are a breakthrough because they don't need a backlight, therefore consume less power and can be put into thinner form factors. Previously only mono OLEDs have been developed, but Toshiba has the first prototype of an OLED with 260,000 colours. ...more

BT gets unmetered

BT has officially announced its unmetered Internet access package - it's called "BTinternet Anytime" and will cost you a monthly fixed fee of ?14.99. Available from January 2001, the package includes 10Mb of Webspace for building Web sites and one year's use of the Web filtering software CyberPatrol. ...more

Yahoo! rejects Google approach for digital book info - report

Yahoo! has rejected Google's attempt to learn more about its efforts to create digital copies of books. It deals Google another setback as it prepares to fight a copyright infringement suit, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. A group of publishers and the Authors Guild sued Google in a New York federal court last year, claiming that the company did not get proper approval to make copies of books available to anyone with an Internet connection, AP reported. ...more