The family Treo

Handspring has announced the Treo line of handheld terminals, which boasts an integrated GSM phone. The PDAs will let you make phone calls and send SMS messages, as well as browse the Web and send and receive POP3 account emails. All the usual mobile phone utilities are there too: you can conference call, there's a hands-free option, and you can even dial two numbers for a three-way call. ...more

Overture thinks local (almost) acts global

Pay-per-click search company Overture is testing a new geo-targetting feature that will enable visitors to find products for sale closest to them. Working like a cross between Streetmap and Yellow Pages, the idea is that by entering an address, Overture will produce a map of the nearest stores to you offering a particular product. Customers can zoom in right down to street level. ...more

Judge approves Sony's offer over rootkit suit

A US judge granted final approval for the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought against Sony by disgruntled consumers caught up in last year's DRM rootkit fiasco. The lawsuit, against Sony BMG Music Entertainment, alleged that the XCP technology (SunnComm's MediaMax and First4Internet's Extended Copy Protection, also known as XCP) was harmful to end-users' computers, not least because the cloaking of files in the operating system provided an easy and undetected entry for hackers. This is exactly what did happen, with the Stinx virus among others. ...more

Toshiba spins 100GB 1.8in hard disk drive

Toshiba has donned the laurels, proclaiming itself the first to bring out a 100GB 1.8in hard disk drive. Brandishing the snappy appellation MK1011GAH, the disk uses two platters and has seek times rated around 15ms. ...more

Microsoft joins race for world digital library

Microsoft is the latest company to venture into the online book search arena, claiming it will not endure the same legal troubles that rival Google has faced. The software giant has joined an alliance called the Open Content Alliance (OCA), along with Yahoo!, Hewlett-Packard and Adobe, which aims to digitise books, academic materials and other publications for online publication reports Reuters. Microsoft has said that it will avoid copyright issues for now by focusing on literature that is already in the public domain. ...more