Europeans favour music for portable gadgets

Music will continue its reign as the prime mover of European gadgets, according to Jupiter Research. A survey of 5,000 consumers from Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain and Italy, revealed that devices that boast video and other high-end features simply don't interest European consumers. Some 27 per cent of those polled said they wanted a mobile gadget that plays music only. ...more

Press fooled by dummy iPod phone

Media reports that pictures of the rumoured iPod phone have been leaked are causing red faces as the purported pictures are nothing more than a mock up. Reports in PDA France about a front cover picture of French title 20 Minutes magazine in, and some UK publications, are claiming that the pictures represent the final version of an iPod phone that will be launched by Apple at the forthcoming Apple Expo in Paris. But the pictures are nothing more than a mock up designed for the cover of the UK's leading Apple title, MacUser, published in May this year. ...more

BBC report shows manufacturers' differing iPhone attitudes

Investigations by the BBC reveal that in the face of imminent competition from the iPhone, mobile manufacturers have very different views over what makes a good phone. Speaking to the corporation's technology correspondent, Mark Ward, SonyEricsson's product marketing manager, Gilles Oriol, threw some doubt on the wisdom of using a touch-screen rather than a physical keypad. Reminding readers that this requires the screen to be constantly active, he cited battery life to be a major concern on a device of this kind. ...more

US launch for HD-DVD postponed

Toshiba may put back the launch of HD-DVD in the US until next year in order to 'optimise' the release schedule. The company, which is the main driver of the high-capacity optical disc technology, said that it still plans to introduce it in Japan this year. 'We are now in talks with Hollywood studios and large-scale retailers to seek the most effective timing of the launch and best way to launch,' a Toshiba spokeswoman said. ...more

HP board members sanctioned 'tracer email'

Released documents reveal how executives of Hewlett Packard agreed to a plan to unmask a board level mole by leaking information to a journalist. The plan, apparently suggested by a former journalist, was to gain the trust of CNet writer Dawn Kawamoto in the hope that she would lead them to the source of confidential company information. Some of the information presented by the Committee sounds more like a bad script from Mission Impossible rather than the business of a major corporation. ...more