Canon and Toshiba team up for SED panels

Canon is teaming up with Toshiba in a ?900m venture to produce the new generation of flat panel displays using SED technology Such investment is a huge commitment to a technology that was first shown in 1998 as a relatively tiny 10in prototype. By comparison the first SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) TVs to be sold in Japan in the first half of 2006 will start at 50in. Toshiba is dropping all plasma TV production while Canon is to invest a further ?100m in a new research facility to open in June of next year to develop cheaper SED production techniques. ...more

Microsoft boss says 'stolen' is most common iPod format

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer indirectly labelled iPod users as 'thieves' during a recent meeting in London. Silicon.com reports that Ballmer said, 'We've had DRM in Windows for years. ...more

Sound and vision

If you are looking for a little extra something when playing back your favourite MP3 files then Samsung may have the MP3 player for you. The South Korean company has updated its popular Yepp MP3 player with a 2-inch colour LCD panel which can playback a series of still images. The panel has a resolution of 280 by 220 pixels and it is planned that the listener/viewer will be able to watch static images of the performer and see the lyrics of the song you are listening to. ...more

Zone Labs denies DoS attack claims

Zone Labs has denied that any denial of service attack on its network infrastructure took place last week. The company responded to reports last week that an unknown aggressor had attempted to use NTL servers in the UK to launch an attack and that this had caused a major loss of Internet connectivity. In an email, Zone Labs' Mischa Dunton said that the company, 'has not experienced any attack against its network infrastructure, nor have we been contacted for any "ransom. ...more

Sun takes DRM open source

Digital Rights Management may currently be the single most contentious issue amongst computer users and music and DVD buyers but that has not deterred Sun Microsystems from establishing an open source alternative to the closed systems employed by the likes of Apple and Microsoft. The Open Media Commons initiative has been set up to create a royalty-free copy protection technology that can be deployed across competing devices, platforms and media. Sun's COO Jonathan Schwartz argues that the current situation is restricting innovation and economic growth, something that a single standard could overcome but acknowledged that it will not be easy. ...more