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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Wal-Mart Starts Selling DRM-Free MP3s

Retailing giant Wal-Mart hs begun selling downloadable music tracks from both Universal and EMI music in MP3 format without DRM, at 256 Kbps and 94 cents a track.

Paramount, Dreamworks Animation Go HD DVD

Paramount Home Entertainment and Dreamworks Animation have announced they're dropping Blu-ray, and will offer titles exclusively in HD DVD format.

Windows Update Led to Skype Outage

VoIP operator Skype says all the system restarts prompted by last week's Windows update exposed a bug which disrupted Skype's peer-to-peer network.

Onkyo Rolls Out HDMI 1.3a AV Receivers

Onkyo has begun shipping four high-end THX-certified AV receivers featuring HDMI 1.3a, Sirius and XM satellite radio compatibility, and HDMI system control integration.

Nokia Seeks U.S. Ban on Qualcomm Chips

The patent battle between Nokia and Qualcomm got hotter today, as the Finnish company asked the ITC to ban U.S. imports of chips it says infringe on its patents.

Sony Announces Free U.S. Recycling

The Sony Take Back Recycling program will launch in September, enabling U.S. consumers to get Sony-branded electronics recycled for free.

Dell To Restate Four Years of Earnings

After a year-long audit, Dell has admitted executives misled investors for four years, which will cost the company up to $150 million in restated earnings.

NPD: Americans Still Love Simple Phones

Sales figures from The NPD Group show U.S. consumers are adopting new and high-end mobile phone features, but lots of people still like simple, free phones.

Gateway Goes to China

Computer maker Gateway is expanding its business into China, offering premium desktop and notebook PCs in a distribution partnership with Digital China.

Sprint Names Forthcoming WiMax Service Xohm

Sprint has christened its forthcoming WiMax high speed wireless Internet services XOHM, and says it plans to spend up to $5 billion on it through 2010.

Lime Wire to Sell DRM-Free MP3s

Peer-to-peer service Lime Wire has announced it plans to offer "legit" music sales in the form of 256 Kbps, DRM-free MP3 files. But will major labels go along?

Skype Hit with Major Outage

Skype has confirmed problems on its network are creating connectivity problems for its users - and the problems will still take hours to resolve.

Logitech Intros Pure-Fi iPod Speakers

Logitech has announced two iPod speaker systems, the Pure-Fi Dream with an alarm and radio, and the Pure-Fi Anywhere portable system with a 10-hour rechargeable battery.

Epson Intros World’s Fastest Inkjet

Epson says its new Stylus C120 inkjet printer is the world's fastest inkjet printer, pushing 37 ppm in black and 20 ppm in color - and its just $90.

Ionic Winds to Cool Computer Chips?

Researchers at Purdue University an "ionic breeze" technique that could improve fan-based cooling of computer components by as much as 250 percent.

DirecTV Inks Powerline Internet Deal

Satellite television provider DirecTV plans to subscribers high-speed Internet connectivity over electrical power lines, in a new deal with Current Group.

Sharp LCDs Get Bigger in Smaller Packages

Sharp has announced its new line of D64U Aquos high-definition LCD televisions, which manage to pack bigger screens in smaller frames than the predecessors.

Sirius Announces Satellite Radio Receivers

Sirius has announces a new portable Stiletto 2 portable satellite radio, the Sportster 5 Dock & Play radio, and the SCV1, which can receive backseat TV.

Helio Says Fin is In

Helio's first flip phone sports a 3 megapixel camera, 100 MB of storage, microSD expansion, and built-in GPS capability - and it's less than 12 mm thick.

Accell Intros 2-to-1 HDMI 1.3a Switch

If you already find yourself overloaded with HDMI 1.3a-capable devices, Accell's new UltraAV Switch lets you switch between them by remote control.

H2O Gets Wet with the 2nd-Gen iPod shuffle

H20 has announced its new iS2 waterproof case for Apple's diminutive second-generation iPod shuffle.

YouTube Calls Comedians Stewart and Colbert

Preparing to defend itself against a $1 billion lawsuit from Viacom, YouTube has requested testimony from comedians Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert.

Fujitsu Announces Two New Tablet PCs

Fujitsu has officially unveiled its new LifeBook T2010 convertible tablet PC, along with the tiny, QWERTY-equipped LifeBook U810 palmtop tablet system.

Imagine John Lennon on iTunes

Apple still hasn't been able to work out a deal to bring the Beatles' music to iTunes, but it's just launched the catalog of John Lennon's solo material.

Half of Web Users’ Time Spent on Content

A new report from the Online Publishers Association finds that Web users spend nearly half their online time with actual content, up 10 percent from a year ago.

XM XpressRC Radio Offers Split Screen

XM's new XpressRC satellite radio offers a fully-color split screen display, 60-minute replay, and music storage features.

Novell Defeats SCO in Unix Copyright Ruling

A federal judge has issues a ruling which may end an epic battle, finding that SCO does not own copyrights to the Unix operating system.

Toshiba Recalls More Notebook Batteries

Toshiba has issued a recall of about 1,400 notebook computer batteries sold in Satellite A100, A105, and Tecra A7 notebooks.

Google Stops Selling Digital Video

Effective August 15, Google will shut down online video sales and rentals via Google Video...and all video purchased through the service will simply stop working.

AT&T Launches LG trax HSDPA Phone

AT&T has launched the LG trax music phone, featuring a 1.3 megapixel camera and blistering HSDPA wireless data speeds.

Oppo DV-980H Upscales DVDs to 1080p

If the high-def format war has got you down, Oppo's new DV-980H upscales standard DVDs to 1080p, handles 7.1 surround over HDMI, and supports scads of disc formats.

iPhone Screens Developing Dead Spots?

Reports have Apple quickly and quietly responding to iPhone buyers complaints that portions of the devices touch screens go "dead," making functions difficult or inaccessible.

World in Conflict On Sale September 18

Sierra Entertainment's World in Conflict next-generation strategy game has gone gold, and will be available at retailers September 18.

Onkyo Announces First HD DVD Player

Onkyo has announced its first HD DVD player, offering HDMI 1.3a and support for lossless surround sound formats for $899.

Motorazr V9m Landing at Verizon, Sprint

Starting in September, both Verizon Wireless and Sprint will be offering the Motorazr V9m phone as a sleek way to handle both music and multimedia.

Macally Offers Flat-Panel iPod Speakers

Macally's new TunePro flat panel speaker system for iPods offers SRS WOW immersive audio, NTX flat panel speakers, and an integrated alarm clock.

Fujitsu to Push Notebook Drives to 1.2 TB

Fujitsu says it can read and write from new "ideally ordered" aluminum nanohole patterned media, which could let push 2.5-inch hard disks to 1.2 TB capacities.

Vonage Lowers Losses, Loses New Subscribers

Struggling VoIP provider Vonage managed to cut its financial losses during its second quarter, but also saw a substantial drop in new subscribers.