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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Sharp Starts Making Blue Laser Diodes

Knowing a market opportunity when it sees one, electronics maker Sharp has started commercial production of blue laser diodes to feed the next-gen DVD frenzy.

Zvue 250 Personal Media Player Ships

The Zvue 250 media player features a 2.5-inch screen, SD/MMC card storage, supports video at up to 30 fps...and costs just $99.95.

Windows Media Still Rules Video Streaming

Despite the hype around YouTube and other Flash-based sites, a new report from Research and Markets still puts Windows Media way ahead in the video streaming market.

Matsushita Touts Spark-Resistant Batteries

In the wake of Sony's damaging recall of almost 10 million notebook computer batteries, Matsushita says it's cranked up production of spark-resistant batteries.

Cingular Bringing MySpace to Mobile Phones

Cingular Wireless has announced MySpace Mobile, a $2.99/month Java application which enables MySpace addicts to keep up with the enormous social networking site.

Linksys Announces iPhone VoIP Handsets

Yes, it's called iPhone, but it's not the long-anticipated iTunes phone from Apple: instead, it's a line of VoIP handsets from LinkSys.

PC MicroWorks Vega Offers Dual SLI Graphics

If you've gotta have the baddest - and spendiest - in notebooks, check out PC MicroWorks Vega, with dual SLI graphics, up to 600 GB of storage, and a 20.1-inch display.

Falcon NW Unveils FragBook TLX Notebook

Falcon Northwest caters to hardcore gamers with a new 17-inch, 1,680 by 1,050 pixel display, Nvidia GeForce 7600 Go graphics, and a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU.

Gears Of War Clears 2 Mln Mark

The Xbox 360-exclusive game Gears of War has now sold more than 2 million copies, making it the fasted selling next-generation console game to date.

Gates: DRM Not Where It Should Be

Talking with a group of bloggers, Microsoft's Bill Gates says he doesn't think anyone's gotten DRM technology right, and causes headaches for consumers.

Amazon Countersues IBM on Patents

Remember when IBM sued Amazon, claiming some of the company's Web features violated IBM ecommerce patents? Amazon has fired back, alleging IBM violates Amazon's patents.

CBS Launches Music Label

The Eye Network has formed its own music label, CBS Records, as a venue to promote up-and-coming artists...and secure cheaper music for its TV shows.

Nintendo Recalls Wii Straps, DS Adapters

Nintendo is replacing some 3.2 million straps shipped with its Wii consoles, and recalling 200,000 AC adapters shipped with Nintendo DS and DS Lite handheld games in Japan.

Nearly 9 of 10 Email Messages are Spam

MessageLabs' summation of 2006 concludes nearly 9 out of 10 email messages are now spam, and predicts 2007 will mark the convergence of spam, viruses, and spyware.

DSL Dominates Global Broadband

New figures from Point Topic show DSL is by far the world's most deployed broadband technology, with China boasting the largest number of DSL subscribers.

Jaxtr: Calling All Blogs

Start-up Jaxtr wants to "jack up" blogs, online profiles, and sharing sites by letting authors hear from viewers and readers over ordinary phone lines.

iTunes Sales ‘Collapse’ Refuted

Market analysis firms comScore and Piper Jaffray refute recent claims iTunes music sales are flagging - instead, they say sales are still growing.

Sony: One Mln PS3s by The End of 2006

Sony President Ryoji Chubachi says the company stands behind its goal to ship one million PlayStation 3 game consoles by the end of 2006. (Tick tock, tick tock!)

Gartner Rolls Out Crystal Ball

Leading research firm predict blogging will peak in 2007...and Vista will be the last monolithic release of the Windows operating system.

JVC DLA-HD1 Offers HD, 15,000-to-1 Contrast

JVC's new DLA-HD1 front projector for home theaters offers full HD capability and a stunning 15,000-to-1 contrast ratio.

BenQ Widescreen LCDs Target Gamers

BenQ has launched a new series of widescreen LCD monitors specifically aimed at gamers, with HDMI input and sizes ranging from 19 to 24 inches.

Microsoft Releases Robotics Studio

Microsoft has announced a release version of its robotic developer tools, offering support for many third party bots...including iRobot and Lego Mindstorm NXT.

U.S. Likes Cybershopping During Work Hours

New numbers from CyberSource show that while broadband may be available in many American homes, U.S. cybershoppers make most of their purchases during work hours.

Fox Sites Beat Yahoo For Web’s Top Slot

New Web site rankings from comScore Media Metrix sites owned by News Corp - like MySpace - had more page views in November than sites run by Yahoo.

Skype to Offer Unlimited U.S./Canada VoIP

Skype's unlimited calling promotion for U.S. and Canadian callers must have worked: the ViOP leader is now offering unlimited calls for $30/year.

JibJab Goes Nuckin’ Futs

JibJab struck online comedy gold with its election-year parodies: how does "Nuckin' Futs," their review of events in 2006, stack up?

Digital Music Sales "Collapsing?"

U.K.'s The Register reports data from Forrester Research showing iTunes have declined significantly in 2006, with other studies finding flat or declining sales.

AOL’s Gamedaily Signs the Pros

AOL's Gamedaily site has partnered with the "professional" Major Gaming League to offer MLG highlights and online tournaments.

Japan Probes LCD Makers On Antitrust Issues

Japan's Fair Trade Commission is investigated LCD makers Sharp, NEC, L.G. Philips, and others on allegations they agreed to limit production to keep prices high.

Fujitsu Takes Mobile Drives to 300 GB

Fujitsu has announced 2.5-inch drives - ideal for notebooks and other small-footprint computers - with capacities up to 300 GB.

Verizon Takes Motorola Q to the Dark Side

Verizon Wireless will now let you have a Motorola Q smartphone in black - for a $50 premium.

Teens to Spend $3 Billion Online in 2006

A new report from JupiterResearch finds that teens will spend $3 billion online during 2006 - and influence far more online purchases.

VoIP Subscribers Up 18 Pct in Third Quarter

New numbers from research firm TeleGeography finds U.S. subscribers to VoIP services grew 18 percent during the third quarter of 2006.

Dell Offers Blu-ray Burner with XPS M1710

Computer maker Dell has added a next-generation dual layer Blu-ray DVD burner as an option for its Dell XPS M1710 notebok computers.

Westinghouse Offers 42-Inch, 720p LCD

Westinghouse's new W4207 42-inch LCD display offers a bevy of connectivity options - but does the 720p resolution justify the price tag?

HP, Asus Bring On HSDPA

Hewlett-Packard and Asus want you to go faster, announcing new notebook models with HSDPA high-speed mobile broadband technology.

Greenpeace Ranks Tech Companies

Greenpeace has updated its ranking of tech companies' eco-friendly manufacturing and recycling programs. Top of the heap? Nokia. Bottom of the barrel? Apple.

Online Users Show Little Love for Blu-ray?

Market analysis firm Cymfony has combed through blogs and discussion boards, and finds online consumers aren't thrilled about Sony's Blu-ray DVD technology.