Mozilla betas Firefox 1.5

Mozilla has released a first beta of Firefox 1.5. New features include an improved software update system, faster Back and Forward navigation, the clearing of private browsing data, drag-and-drop reordering of browser tabs, a redesigned Options/Preferences window and better popup blocking. ...more

Apple makes an appointment with CalConnect

Apple has joined The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium, CalConnect, an organisation that promotes the exchange of calendaring and scheduling information between programs, platforms, and technologies. The announcement follows Apple's release of the source code for its iCal Server software that will be included in the next version of OS X Server. 'Apple has been a significant contributor to the development of CalDAV and other calendaring standards, and to the work of the Consortium,' said Dave Thewlis, executive director of CalConnect. ...more

Next-gen PDA chip

Motorola's DragonBall MX1 processor, developed under the ARM architecture required by the fifth incarnation of the Palm OS, is the first mobile chip to be certified for the software. While Palm-based handhelds pre-PalmOS generally ran DragonBalls at 66Mhz, the MX1 will rocket along at 200Mhz and is optimised for integrating peripherals, multimedia and power-management. It also boasts efficient MP3 and MPEG4 processing as well as support for wireless technologies and so is also aiming at other mobile products including tablets and phones with 2. ...more

PC Pro specification change: Mesh Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate

Due to a shortage of high-end ATi chips, Mesh has been forced to change the specification of its Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate, which won PC Pro's Ultimate PCs group test in issue 121. Although assured by ATi that 'Mesh is a priority', Mesh has no concrete allocation of the original graphics card, based on ATi's Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, and therefore can't guarantee supply to its customers. The replacement card is based on nVidia's GeForce 6800 GT chipset (the GeForce 6800 Ultra is proving just as difficult to obtain in any volume). ...more

Hawking and Bono look for Yahoo! Answers

Yahoo! Answers has seen a surge of traffic following questions posted by two of the world's most famous people. Questions posed by Stephen Hawking and Bono have elicited tens of thousands of responses each. The question posed by Stephen Hawking, 'How can the human race survive the next 100 years?', which was posted six days ago, has elicited a huge response from the visitors to Yahoo! Answers. ...more