DirectX 8.0 is out tomorrow

The latest version of Microsoft's DirectX 8.0 is complete and will be available for download from tomorrow (11 November). The latest version will be freely available from the DirectX Web site here and the Software Development Kit will be available from here. ...more

A new Flash

Macromedia has released Flash MX the latest version of the animated Web content application that has proved very popular both for the presentation of Web content - the homepage of this site included - and for the creation of standalone animations within more traditional HTML-based sites. With this upgrade Macromedia has made significant changes to the way Flash works. These include a new interface that conforms to those used by Macromedia's other mainstream Web applications, Fireworks and Dreamweaver. ...more

Punters gagging for wireless versions of consumer electronics

Consumers are gagging for wireless versions of DVD players, plasma screens and other consumer electronic products, and would be prepared to pay extra for this feature, according to Netgear. The company, which unsurprisingly makes wireless products, polled 1,000 punters coming out of Habitat and found 51 per cent would pay at least 10 per cent more to be rid of the spaghetti of cables between various electronic boxes. 20 per cent felt that the more complex a product, the more likely things would go wrong. ...more

Price check: Keyfob Flash drives

They are the modern day floppy and a boon for those on the move. Keyfob Flash drives are the best way around for swapping data across several computers. And with prices always falling, we thought it was time for a price check. ...more

Intel tools up programmers to speed 64-bit ports

Intel is helping to bring 64-bit software to the Xeon and Pentium 4 platforms with the release of new compilers and development tools. The company's oft-repeated mantra - in the face of AMD's introduction of its AMD64 platform with server and desktop chips - was that 64-bit processors for the desktop would appear when there was demand for applications requiring such support. What this means, in practice, is 64-bit Windows. ...more