Apple Computer has promised to would replace defective iPod nano screens that have cracked after a flurry of complaints.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, a "vendor quality problem" caused cracking on a small number of iPod nano screens, said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. The problem affected "less than one-tenth of 1%" of the nanos shipped, Schiller said.

Affected customers simply need to contact Apple to arrange a free replacement unit.

I am personally waiting for the Motorola Q, but just in case you don't see things my way, here are the specifications for the Blackberry 8700

Panasonic, Japan has announced the availability of the P701iD mobile phone for the NTT broadband mobile phone network FOMA.

The P701iD measures 100x49x19. 7mm and features a 2.2 inch TFT screen and a very retro 0.6 inch monochrome STN display.

via

Japan's Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday it had developed the world's first PC able to read HD DVD discs, a next-generation disc format it is promoting over a rival standard pushed by Sony Corp..

Toshiba and Sony, leading rival camps, have waged a three-year battle to have their different standards adopted for the next-generation of DVDs, which promise much greater capacity for high-definition movies reports Reuters.

Toshiba, along with NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co., has been promoting HD DVD, while Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the maker of Panasonic brand products, have been developing a technology known as Blu-ray.

September 26, Intel and Microsoft announced their support for HD-DVD. The need for a new standard is apparent. People are buying High-Definition television sets, and as should be immediately obvious to anyone who has seen the same video displayed side by side in standard-definition and high-definition format reports ZDNET.

Toshiba, said the PC would be introduced in Japan in early 2006. It is still considering the timing for an overseas launch.

The PC will be equipped with a slim, read-only HD DVD drive produced by Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology, a joint venture between Japan's second-largest electronics conglomerate and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor maker, won its first order for a new mobile-phone processor in a contract to sell chips for Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry devices reports Bloomberg

The next version of the BlackBerry, a combination mobile phone and e-mail pager, will use the processor, codenamed Hermon, Intel said in a statement today. Hermon is a baseband processor, the key chip that runs the basic functions of phones.

At first blush, the camera looks like any other midlevel prosumer camera with lots of switches, dials and places to plug in microphones, drives and so on. It operates in most ways like a regular old video camera. You don’t have to do anything magic to make a high definition recording, just press the button. But there are differences.

E Ink Corporation, today announced that it will offer samples of electronic paper displays through the AM-100 EPD Prototype Kit, enabling prototyping across a wide range of display applications. The high-resolution display in this kit is bright, high-contrast, thin, lightweight, viewable from all angles and able to operate with dramatically less energy than liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

This is the first high-resolution developer kit that contains a graphical electronic paper display. E Ink's EPD technology offers the bright, bold look of ink-on-paper and is ideal for mobile devices because it can be read in any lighting condition, including direct sunlight, and at any viewing angle - just like paper. A resolution of 170 pixels per inch (PPI) and the capability of displaying four gray levels give this 6" diagonal display text quality with the clarity of newsprint. Once updated, the display image remains visible without energy, so the power draw of the display is reduced by up to 99% compared to traditional LCDs.

Cingular Wireless, has announced plans to use RealNetworks Inc.'s video streaming technology to deliver video to mobile phones, the companies said late on Tuesday reports Yahoo News.

"If Microsoft had won this contract the battle for the mobile media player market would have been close to being over," said Ovum analyst Roger Entner, who noted that Microsoft is ahead of RealNetworks in the desktop media player market.

"This is version 2.0 of the media player battle. It shows that somebody is fighting back," Entner said.

Cingular's biggest rival, Verizon Wireless, uses Microsoft's media player for a mobile video service that delivers news and entertainment video clips to customers using its high-speed wireless data network.

OQO has announced an updated version of their OQO Windows XP PDA called the OQO 01+.

The OQO 01+ features upgraded memory, larger hard drive and faster USB writes i4u.

OQO 01+ Specifications:

* 1GHz processor
* 30GB hard drive (shock-mounted)
* 512MB RAM
* 4.9" x 3.4" x .9"
* 14 ounces
* 800 x 480 W-VGA 5" display (indoor/outdoor readable)
* 3D accelerated graphics with 8MB video RAM
* QWERTY thumb keyboard with mouse buttons and TrackStik®
* WiFi®
* Bluetooth®
* USB 2.0
* FireWire® (1394)
* 3.5mm stereo headphone jack
* Microphone
* Pen-based digitizer
* NEW support for screen rotation
* NEW support for network boot (PXE)
* Removable lithium polymer battery
* Battery life up to three hours, depending on usage

Treonauts has some images of Altec Lansing's forthcoming InMotion portable multimedia docking station for the Palm Treo. I am going out on a limb to say the InMotion cradle probably hopes to be to the treo what the bose sound dock is to the iPod.

Motorola today revealed new details of the new Motorola RAZR V3x, a new sleek RAZR styled flip phone with 2-way video calling. The V3x features SCREEN3 technology, this gives you instant access to news, sports, entertainment and other content subscribed to, directly from your mobile devices home screen writes Mobile Mag.

Motorola RAZR V3x Specifications
Mode UMTS / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Dimensions 99 x 53 x 19.6 mm
Battery Type Lithium-Ion
Battery Life up to 300 mins talktime, 250 hours standby time
Weight 125 grams
Display 2,62,000 colors, TFT
External Display (96 x 80 pixels) 4,096 colors CSTN
Expansion Slot TransFlash
Built-in Memory 5MB
Camera 2.0 Megapixel
Connectivity UTMS, Bluetooth, Infrared, Java, MMS, SMS, USB, WAP
Others
Video Recording, Video Calls, MPEG/MP3 Player, 24 Polyphonic

More

Motorola RAZR V3x Photos at Slash Phone

Speaking in an interview with GameInformer at the recent Tokyo Game Show Dead or Alive 4 creator Tomonobu Itagaki said the Microsoft Xbox 360 was better than the PlayStation 3.

"I think Xbox 360 is the best game console on the earth. It's better than PlayStation 3." He went on to add that the "PS3 has too complicated architecture."

A number of iPod nano owners are complaining about the device’s screen getting scratched too easily reports iLounge. Apple's support forum contains several hundred postings discussing the flaw, with some claiming that their nano's screen is unreadable because of the scratches. The majority of nano owners made it clear that the device was not treated badly and said pockets, fingernails and soft cloths all caused extreme scuffing.

Olympus today announced, the E-500 AKA the 'Olympus EVOLT E-500,' a new Four-Thirds System digital SLR. The E-500 features an eight Megapixel 4/3 size CCD and a 2.5" LCD monitor. The E-500 + 14-45 mm lens kit has an estimated street price of just US$ 799.

via Dpreview

# A compact, lightweight and easy to handle body in a classic penta-prism design
# A professionally approved, user-friendly controls layout
# An 8 megapixel Full Frame Transfer CCD
# Olympus' unique Supersonic Wave Filter to eliminate problems with dust when changing lenses
# A shot preview function to provide easy viewing of images before they are saved onto the memory card
# A high resolution 21/2″ HyperCrystal LCD with 215,250 pixels
# Improved metering from a 49 area sensor
# A special filter to minimise image noise at high ISO levels
# Two memory card slots for Compact Flash and xD media cards
# Full manual control or a choice of 21 pre-defined scene modes

Nokia, today introduced the Nokia 3250, their newest music phone. The Nokia 3250 stores up to 1 Gigabyte (750 songs) of high quality music and offers 10 hours of music play. In addition, consumers can take advantage of the Nokia 3250's two-megapixel camera and smartphone capabilities. The triband GSM 900/1800/1900 model is expected to start shipping in the first quarter 2006 with an estimated retail price of 350 EUR before subsidies or taxes.

By twisting the Nokia 3250 keypad 180 degrees, consumers can toggle between the music controls and the traditional phone keypad. The music player of the Nokia 3250 supports a wide array of digital music formats such as MP3, WMA, M4A and AAC, making it easy to load and transfer music. Additionally, songs can be downloaded over-the-air while on the go. The Nokia 3250 supports microSD memory cards of up to 1 Gigabyte with storage capacity for up to 750 songs. An FM radio with Visual Radio client complements the Nokia 3250's complete music package.

Read More

Samsung, Korea today introduced the SPH-V7900, a new handset for the Korean market. The SPH-V7900 features 2MP camera, MP3 player and a 3Gb onboard HDD

via

Palm, Inc. today announced the Treo 700w smartphone for mobile professionals and businesses. Palm has licensed the Microsoft(R) Windows Mobile(R) operating system for the Treo 700w, which will be available on Verizon Wireless' national wireless broadband network.

The Treo smartphone on Windows Mobile is a CDMA-based phone targeted for the U.S. market and takes advantage of Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service on its EV-DO network with download speeds averaging 400-700 kilobits per second.

The Palm Experience on Windows Mobile

-- Contact someone quickly from the Today Screen and choose between home, office or mobile numbers, or select email or SMS. With only two letters entered, a customer can find a record from among thousands of contacts;

-- Reach people most often called via photo speed dials visible as a band of images on the Today Screen;

-- Decline a call with a friendly SMS, signaling "In a meeting" or "Talking with the boss" instead of simply ignoring the call; and

-- Rewind, delete or fast-forward through work or cell phone voicemail with familiar and consistent on-screen icons.

Full product details will be disclosed when the product is available for purchase in early calendar 2006.

Sunday, China imposed new rules on Internet news sites in another step to regulate web sites in the country. "The State bans the spreading of any news with content that is against national security and public interest," the official Xinhua news agency said in announcing the new rules, which took effect immediately reports Washington Post

The news agency did not detail the rules, but said only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said.

China's population of Internet users has surpassed 100 million and is the world's second largest after the United States, which has 135 million.

China has a dedicated band of cyber police who patrol the Internet with the aim of regulating content. Postings that criticize the government or address sensitive topics are quickly removed.

Rockstar has announced that it will release Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in a single package on the Xbox this fall.

Rockstar Games, also announced Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, which will include on DVD The Introduction and Rockstar's debut documentary film, Sunday Driver.

The feature-length movie Sunday Driver will be available in the fall exclusively on the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format used by Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) entertainment device. Rockstar also will ship an exclusive "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories" game for PSP on October 24.

Produced by Rockstar Games, "Driver" is an all-access documentary film that chronicles the Compton/Watts chapter of California's low-rider car club, the Majestics. Directed by Carol Strong, the film focuses on a community working together to build the ultimate customized vehicles while struggling to legitimize their lifestyle under close scrutiny of the authorities reports Reuters

The publisher also licensed Walter Hill's 1979 classic film "The Warriors" and will release it on UMD on October 3, as well as turning the intellectual property into an M-rated game that ships October 17.

According to US games retailers Best Buy and EB Games , Halo 3 will launch May 2006.

Over the weekend both shops listed the game for pre-order in the US for $59.99. Best Buy / May 15 2006 - EB Games / May 30 2006 .

via

Main specifications:

3GB Hard drive plus T-Flash (microSD) card
Stereo speakers for 3D Sound
1.3 megapixel camera with video capture
262 000 color, 320x240 display
Windows Mobile OS
Bluetooth, IrDA, and USB 2.0

Via Gizmodo

Here are some photos of Sony's new W850 Walkman phone. According to reports the W850 will feature a QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) screen, 3G, and a digital camera on front for making video calls writes Engadget

Seen at Engadget - Gizmodo - Ubergizmo

Mommy Knows best

Coming in October

Speaking to reporters at the Computer History Museum here, Motorola CEO Ed Zander said sales of the Motorola Q and a pink version of the Razr cell phone are now expected to begin in December instead of in January, as originally projected. "My only problem is that I can't make these fast enough," Zander said about the pink version of Motorola's Razr phone

The Motorola Q will be one of the first smartphones to ship with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, compatibility with Razrwire Bluetooth eyewear, a 320-by-240-pixel screen and a TFT display that supports 65,536 colors (16-bit color), a full QWERTY keyboard, support for iMelody, MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, WAX and QCELP audio formats and video (MPEG-4, AAC, and WMV) formats

via zdnet

Some Guy has posted some supposedly leaked specs of the Revolution over at gtv forums. We love Nintendo Revolution rumors so enjoy

Nintendo Revolution will feature a multithreaded PowerPC 2.5 GHz with 256 KB L1 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache, a Physical Processing Chip (PPU) with 32MB of dedicated RAM, 512MB of system RAM , a custom ATI "RN520" 600MHz CPU with 256MB of RAM. The device will support external resolutions up to 2048 x 1268 though HD support is still as yet undecided.

Seen at Engadget

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, a spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment clarified comments made by CEO Howard Stringer recently regarding a spring launch for PS3.

"Ken Kutaragi, president of SCE, announced a spring target date for the launch of PlayStation 3 at this year's E3, and it appears that Sir Howard confirmed it at yesterday's strategy meeting," the spokesperson said.

"We have not yet announced detailed launch dates for each region," he continued, adding: "If you look at how close Microsoft announced release dates to the launch of the Xbox 360, it's rather unrealistic to expect PS3 dates now."

iTunes add-on for Sony Ericsson Walkman Phones

Sony Corp. plans to cut around 10,000 jobs, close eleven plants and reduce or close fifteen unprofitable operations as part of a major restructuring of the company.

Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president and electronics CEO, made specific comments relating to Sony's video game holdings, in both the PlayStation 3 and PSP, commenting in particular of the costs related to designing the PlayStation 3: "Game-related investment has been wrapped up and we hope the game business will recoup the investment."

Read More

Cingular Wireless, plans launch a service next year that will let users download music on their mobile phone, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

The service would likely charge "slightly higher" than what consumers pay for songs on iTunes , Ralph de la Vega, chief operating officer at Cingular, said on the sidelines of a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York reports Reuters

The ClaroTV range is touted to offer everything you expect from a high quality TV or display - but in GLASS. The result is a stunning TV without wires and without a box around it. The Holoscreen is a revolutionary holographic film which displays any image fed through a projector at a specific angle on to a transparent display. All other light is ignored. The result is a remarkably bright and sharp image quality - even in brightly lit environments. The screen is a 1.5m x 1.0m rectangle of 10mm glass with a 610mm x 814mm sheet of translucent attached to it. Any type of projector can be used to cast the image. To complete the futuristic setup, a pair of optional Ferguson Hill FH001 speakers can be positioned either side of the screen.

via GizMag

Blurry images of what may or may not be the Motorola RAZR 2 have surfaced here. Based on the images the Motorola RAZR 2 is identical to the Motorola RAZR V3. The Motorola RAZR 2 wil reportedly be a quad-band GSM device with a one Megapixel camera. Engadget recently posted images of a razr handset with a visible iTunes icon, the image looks fake but Motorola introducing iTunes on the new version of their popular handset would be a smart move.

In his book Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Robert A. Freitas Jr. describes a "programmable dermal display" in which a population of about 3 billion display pixel robots would be permanently implanted a fraction of a mm under the surface of the skin, covering a rectangle 6 cm x 5 cm on the back of the hand. Photons emitted by these pixel bots would produce an image on the surface of the skin. This pixelbot array could be programmed to form any of many thousands of displays. Each display would be capable of two functions: (1) presenting to the user data received from the large population of medical bots that roam the user's body; (2) conveying instructions from the user to that same large population of bots. The display could be activated or deactivated by finger tapping on the skin.

via Medgadget

The Palm Treo 670 AKA the Palm Treo 700w will most likely be launched on Monday. Last week, Gadget Site Engadget gave a first look at the update to the Treo 650. The new Treo 700w will run windows mobile (hence the w), feature a 1.3mp camera with digital zoom capability of 8X, EVDO for Sprint and Verizon users and Screen resolution of 320 * 320.

Microchip Giant, Intel Corp. will implement "WiMax" trials in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines by year-end reports Washington Post . The new wireless technology - WiMax or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access - would allow homes and businesses to receive high-speed Internet service wirelessly instead of via cable or telephone lines.

"The trials of the technology are starting now, and we see (commercial) roll-out worldwide over the next two to three years," Sean Maloney, the head of Intel's mobility unit, told Reuters. "But it's patchy -- some places will be faster than others."

Indonesia and Vietnam would be next in line to try out the technology next year, he added.

In June 2006, Japanese company KYOSHO will launch the MANOI, a new robot based on the robot kit KHR-1 from Kondo. The 40cm tall Manoi will be priced with the $1,500 USD range

via

For those interested, Toshiba, Japan will release the CELL Development Kit in 2006. Cell developed by IBM, Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group) and Toshiba Corporation features supercomputer performance with observed clock speeds greater than 4 GHz. Cell delivers improved, real-time response for entertainment and rich media applications, in many cases 10 times the performance of the latest PC processors. Sony is planning on using this chip in their next-generation Playstation game console called the PlayStation 3. So come 2006, you could totally build your own PS3 or something like it using the CELL Development Kit

Seen

Vertu, the world's first manufacturer of handcrafted luxury phones, recently introduced its latest model - the Vertu Ascent Motorsport Limited Edition.

Crafted from Liquidmetal and petrol-resistant automotive leather, each handset is inlayed with carbon fibre as used on the Team Vertu Supercup racing car.

Only 997 phones will be manufactured and released globally. Each Ascent Motorsport is identifiable with its own unique number, ranging from 001 to 997, and laser-engraved into the back-casing.

The Vertu Ascent Motorsport Limited Edition series is now available in Vertu stores and selected retailers.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Tokyo Games Show, Xbox VP Peter Moore has praised Nintendo's "innovation with the new [Revolution] controller."

"I want to give kudos for Nintendo for its attempt at innovation with the new controller," Moore commented, saying that the new device would -"bring people in that, as Iwata-san said, are either lapsed gamers or gamers that are intimidated by the complexity of the controller."

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has denied rumours that the company plans to distribute its first-party back catalogue for free on the forthcoming Revolution console, but said that some old games may be used as bonus or trial content.

Speaking to a business strategy conference in Japan, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata touched briefly on the topic of the "Virtual Console" - Nintendo's name for the Revolution's ability to download and play the company's old titles. Iwata denied rumours that the company plans to distribute its first-party back catalogue for free on the forthcoming Revolution console, but said that some old games may be used as bonus or trial content.

Read More

NEC Corporation today announced that it has launched the world's thinnest fold-Type mobile phone with mega-pixel camera on the Hong Kong market.

The clam-shell type mobile phone boasts slim measurements of 47.9mm (width) X 101.5mm (height) X 11.9mm (depth; when folded) and a weight of 96g. Supporting mobile-internet and GSM/GPRS, it is equipped with a 1.9 inch (176~220 dot) 65,000 color display in addition to a digital camera (1.3 mega pixels). The sub-screen with an organic light emitting display is convenient for scrolling text messages. The phone is also loaded with a wide variety of features including PictBridge, MP3, Java and Bluetooth. Up to 64-polyphonic ring tones and two minutes of movie shooting can be enjoyed by the user.

This highly innovative model was enabled through a combination of NEC's unbeatable technological competence in the areas of R&D and mobile. Ultra-slim mounting technology continues to be an important and constant R&D theme for NEC.

DLO has announced a HomeDock for iPod. Easily connect and enjoy your iPod's music through your Home Stereo & TV .

- Shipping in October
- Play your iPod, iPod mini or iPod nano's music through your home stereo
- Watch slideshows with music on your big screen TV
- Remote Control of over 14 separate iPod functions including photo slideshows
- Charge, sync and dock your iPod with your Mac or PC via USB
- Dock your iPod without removing most iPod cases
- Add a pair of powered speakers for a complete compact sound system

$99

According to American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, black models of the iPod nano are outselling white models. "Our checks continue to indicate good iPod nano sales, albeit not great," Wu said in a research noted obtained by iLounge. "Black nanos are selling well, while white nanos continue to lag. We are hearing that Apple grossly underestimated demand for the $249 black 4GB iPod nano and is realigning its supply chain to meet this demand dynamic."

"In the meantime, we believe some customers looking for a black 4GB iPod nano end up buying a black 2GB nano or white 4 GB nano as a compromise," he said. "We continue to believe that iPod nano may need a storage upgrade and/or price cut to spur sales beyond black 4GB iPod nanos."

Toshiba, Japan today announced the X30, a new sleek Gigabeat MP3 player. Features include a 30Gb 1.8" HDD, 20% smaller than its big brother (the F21) and a 2.4" 240x320 QVGA screen.

via

Mobile phone giant Nokia said on Tuesday it was delaying the launch of its premium N91 music phone until the first quarter of next year reports Reuters

The Nokia N91 multimedia is optimized for the booming mobile music market. The handset has room for up to 3000 songs on the integrated 4-gigabyte hard disk.

The company said it wanted to ensure that the phone, holding thousands of songs, would work on the widest range of music platforms and be a true "jukebox" mobile phone.

"What we basically decided is that we will postpone it a few weeks, push it out to Q1 and do this Microsoft DRM implementation solidly," Jonas Geust, vice president of music in Nokia's Multimedia division, said in an interview.

"And that's how we want to ensure that we get a great user experience already from launch."

Palm, the folks that brought you the lovely Treo, is facing a lawsuit from Treo owners. The class action suit filed in Santa Clara California covers both the Treo 600 and Treo 650.

At all pertinent times, Palm represented to the public, including Class members, that the Treo 600 and 650 were quick, dependable and reliable hand-held organizers and mobile telephones; that they were free from defects; and that they were of merchantable quality and workmanship. In fact, these phones suffered from extremely poor sound quality and buzzing, choppiness, speakerphone problems, poor and broken screens, phone crashes, software crashes and electrical surges.

Seen at Mobile Mag and OM

JVC, Japan has announced the HP-W1500, a set of wireless Dolby Surround headphones. It draws its power from 2 AA batteries, and it decodes Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES and AAC. The range is about 12 meters.

via

Three authors filed suit against Google yesterday contending that the company's program to create searchable digital copies of the contents of several university libraries constituted "massive copyright infringement," reports New York Times

Last December, Google struck a deal with libraries at three American universities - Harvard, Stanford and the University of Michigan, as well as Oxford University and the New York Public Library for Google to make copies of all of the works in those institutions that are no longer protected by copyright .

The Google Print site, works by typing the name of an author, a book title or a word or phrase into a Web search box at http://print.google.com/..

The plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status, also include the Authors Guild, a trade group that says it represents more than 8,000 published authors.

The Author's Guild said its primary purpose as the nation's largest organisation of book authors was to advocate for and support the copyright and contractual interests of published writers.

"By reproducing for itself a copy of those works that are not in the public domain, Google is engaging in massive copyright infringement. It has infringed, and continues to infringe, the electronic rights of the copyright holders of those works," it said.

The lawsuit said Google knew or should have known that copyright laws required it to obtain authorisation from copyright owners of literary works to create and reproduce digital copies for its own commercial use.

Search Giant Google, confirmed on Tuesday it has begun a limited test of a free wireless Internet service, called Google WiFi. The software is available from certain Google Wi-Fi locations in San Francisco. It's not clear how expansive Google Wi-Fi will be as a network -- the company won't comment about its future plans. But whatever areas it eventually covers, Google Wi-Fi will likely be free and supported by ads reports Information Week

Google spokesman Nate Tyler said the current test is limited to two public sites near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters -- a pizza parlor and a gym -- located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

"Google WiFi is a community outreach program to offer free wireless access in areas near our headquarters," Tyler said.

"At this stage in development, we're focused on collecting feedback from users. We'll determine next steps as the product evolves," he said.

Tyler said the project was started as part of a Google engineer's "20 percent time project."

The Google Web site has several references to Google WiFi but provides few details. One page (http://wifi.google.com/faq.html/) refers to a product called "Google Secure Access," which is designed to "establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi."

Dell Inc., today announced the DJ Ditty, a new digital music player aimed at the iPod Shuffle.

The DJ Ditty weighs 1.29 ounces and its 512 megabytes of storage can hold as many as 220 songs. The device, which has a 1-inch (0.26 cm) screen for managing playlists, starts at $99.

via Reuters

Cnet reviews the iRiver U10

The good: Flash Lite 1.1 compliant; supports both ID3 tag and tree directory-type navigation; great battery life; QVGA screen.

The bad: Video playback is restricted; sluggish transfer rate; high price.

The bottom line: The U10 may be the best MP3 player in a long time to take on the mantle of an iPod killer, but its high cost may just price it out of the market.

Over the course of 1 year, I have seen a lot more shiny stuff than I ever dreamed I would see. It's been an interesting year, lots of hate mail and tips -- most in Japanese, nevertheless - I enjoy doing this Site.