PKI keeps mobiles on the move

Sonera SmartTrust has unveiled a platform that will allow mobile users to top up their mobile accounts without having to buy another SIM card or give out their credit card details each time. The platform uses PKI technology that allows users to top up their accounts via their handsets, using a private key on their SIM card. The key is activated using a PIN number that identifies the user and the transaction completes. ...more

Microsoft lines up professional imaging tool

Microsoft looks as though it is gearing up to enter the professional graphics software business with the beta release of a new product codenamed Acrylic. Acrylic is based on illustration software known as Expressions that has been available on the Microsoft site for the PC and Mac for some time. Microsoft acquired this illustrations software when it bought out its owners Creature House in 2003. ...more

Ericsson puts wireless broadband into pubs

Ericsson has signed contracts with Inspired Broadcast Networks (IBN) for the deployment of 5,000 public Wi-Fi hot spots throughout the UK. 'The Cloud' - as the network is dubbed - is being deployed via a network of Leisure Link 'entertainment terminals'. There are 90,000 such coin-op machines in 30,000 locations across the UK including railway stations, motorway service stations, but the main location is pubs. ...more

Spring IDF 2006: Intel's Conroe on test

Intel is famously reticent when it comes to its competitors, but at IDF it allowed members of the press to see Conroe, its next generation desktop CPU, running head-to-head against an Athlon 64 FX-60. In his keynote speech, Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner made some bold claims about Conroe's performance, claiming it would be 40 per cent faster than a Pentium D 950 while consuming 40 per cent less power. However, this was measured using the Specint_rate_base 2000 benchmark, so we were keen to see if we could see Conroe running some real applications. ...more

Sony demos PlayStation 3 online service

Sony has been demonstrating the online service for its forthcoming PlayStation 3 console, which lets players compete and chat online, as well as download music, movies and game content (such as weapons or maps). Gamers have long been clamoring for details about the online system for Sony's long-awaited PS3 console. Sony's current PlayStation 2 console was released in the mid-1990s and has roughly 60 percent market share. ...more