European Commission lays down the law for landline pricing

The European Commission has recommended that price ceilings should be imposed on leased lines across the EU. It has found that the market for electronic communication services is 'distorted by substantial variations in leased line prices which are impossible to explain in terms of costs'. In one instance the price of a 2Mbps line 5km long was seven times higher in the most expensive country than in the cheapest. ...more

German companies create the wall of sound

A group of German companies claim to have built the first commercial wall of sound. They say they have produced a material which at just 7mm thick can become a wall mounted speaker. Bayer MaterialScience, Siemens and polyurethane specialist Puren say that the new 'pursonic' material can be fitted to walls, carpets and ceilings. ...more

Hackers claim to have cracked new "secure" Xbox

Two competing teams of hackers claim to have cracked the new 'secure' Version 2 of the Xbox in under a week. The teams claim that their modifications opens the door to allow the Xbox to perform a number of tricks that Microsoft and graphics chip designer Nvidia would prefer it didn't. Team Xecuter say that their device, which they expect to be selling shortly at around $45 will enable modifiers to run alternate operating systems like Linux and play 'homebrew' code as well as imports and code from all regions. ...more

Wireless speeds doubled with Super G technology

A manufacturer of wireless communications chipsets has developed a new technology that purports to double the speed of 802.11g-based networks. Super G and Super A/G from Atheros Communications provide a raw date rate of 108Mbit/sec, although this drops to 90Mbps for TCP/IP throughput. ...more

iMac RIP

After five years, the iMac - the original one, and in many eyes the best one - is dead. There's no doubt in my mind that without the iMac, Apple would now be either dead or sold off, a division of some mega-corporation like Sony. During its five years of existence, it sold millions of units to consumers, offices and schools that might otherwise have gone the Windows route. ...more