Canon launches two new DV cam ranges

Canon has launched two new digital video camera ranges, the compact 1.33 megapixel MVX300 series and the entry-level MV800 series. The MVX300 range comprises the MVX350i, MVX330i and MVX300 digital video cameras. ...more

Apple, Samsung, Sandisk face MP3 patent lawsuit

A Texas firm has filed a lawsuit against Apple, Samsung and Sandisk alleging that the three portable music player makers have infringed a patent on MP3 technology. MP3 Technologies' patent describes a method for 'an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method', or more succinctly, a portable music player than can play MP3s. However the patent was only granted last June, almost five years after Apple released its first iPod 'MPEG portable sound reproducing system' and some years after Samsung and SanDisk followed suit. ...more

Microsoft fights back over iPod virus claims

Microsoft has said Apple, not Windows, was to blame when a number of iPods were infected by a virus last month. Jonathan Poon, who is responsible for ensuring Microsoft's products are virus-free, said the fault lay with Apple's working practices. In a blog entry headed ' Where's your class? Your integrity?' he slammed Apple's attempts to deflect the blame. ...more

The Free Software Foundation tightens the GPL

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has published the third draft of the third version of the GNU General Public License (GPL), which now includes provisions to outlaw agreements similar to the patent deal agreed by Novell and Microsoft. In that agreement, Novell and Microsoft agreed to hold each others' customers harmless to any patent claims from either side. However, the open-source community saw this as a sneaky move from Microsoft to imply that Linux-based operating systems did infringe its intellectual property and a cheap way to sidestep the patent provisions of the GPL. ...more

An eco-friendly webserver

We've had PCs in briefcases and PCs made of wood but here comes a computer project that will test even those of you with superior soldering abilities. Yes, one fellow has managed to create a portable webserver that is powered by a crank! Pierre Philippe Coupard is the individual in question who has come up with the "uCdynamo", a webserver that has been adapted using one of those rechargeable lanterns made by Freeplay. Pierre chronicles his experiences on his site here, and tells how the Freeplay FPSL generates enough voltage to keep a Lineo uCdimm activated. ...more