BT abolishes 6km limit on 512K broadband

BT Wholesale is to remove the distance limit on 512Kbps ADSL connections and extend the range of 1Mbps services. From 6 September, anyone connected to an ADSL-enabled exchange will be able to get broadband. Previously connections were limited to properties within 6km of the exchange when measured along the phone line. ...more

Fujitsu unveils 'world's smallest' convertible UMPC

Fujitsu has unveiled what it claims is the 'world's smallest' tablet-convertible UMPC. The 580g 'business' device looks like a normal laptop with a full keyboard, but also swivels into the tablet configuration. The device is only 26. ...more

Philips ditches Aptura backlight tech for LED

Philips has canned the stroboscopic backlight in its flat televisions in favour of LED technology This puts an end to the technology designed to dramatically reduce motion blur and smear on flat LCD televisions, a notorious problem with those types of TV sets. Instead of emitting constant light, like in current LCD TVs, Philips' scanning backlight emitted bursts of light, which tricked the human eye into seeing sharper images. Philips had touted the technology called Aptura as a major innovation and a potential cash cow for the lighting division which has been repositioned as one of Philips' growth engines. ...more

Taiwan TFT LCD colour filter makers saw shipments decline in August

Sintek Photronic and Allied Material Technology Corporation (AMTC), two Taiwan-based color filter (CF) makers, saw their August shipments fall, on production stoppages and delayed orders. Sintek said the main reason its shipments fell was its annual facility maintenance program. Sintek ceased production for five days in order to carry inspect its color filter and power supply equipment. ...more

Yahoo! to show cable news clips

Internet portal, Yahoo! has signed a deal to offer video clips from two of the US's biggest cable news network CNN and ABC News according to Reuters. The news clips service will go live on Yahoo in September. It will be freely available and be supported by advertising and be integrated with Yahoo! News. ...more