Rio launches rival to the iPod shuffle

Rio has hammered out the latest in its Forge range of digital media players, the Forge 512MB. Targetted for sports use, the new Forge stands as its largest capacity flash-memory based player in the range, but this can be boosted still further with CD/MMC cards. A single AAA battery will last for 20 hours, claims the company, and the device boasts a touch-sensitive pad for navigation and an LED backlit display. ...more

Twenty-one new broadband exchanges

B ...more

BT cuts broadband pricing

BT has cut its wholesale prices for ADSL IPStream products by up to ?2 on consumer products and by 55 per cent for business, but the ISPs aren't altogether happy. 'We have a major price cut in wholesale DSL,' said Ben Verwaayen, CEO of BT. The price cuts come into effect from the 1 May, and are applicable to the IPStream offerings. ...more

PC World to offer on-the-spot credit checks for leased IT equipment

PC World will be leasing IT equipment to the SME sector, removing much of the red-tape with an on-the-spot credit check in its retail stores. By offering this 'convenience leasing' approach through its network of 120 high street stores, Dixons-owned PC World is hoping to capture business from the 3.5m SMEs in UK, many of which it claims have shied away from the lengthy process of organising equipment-leasing more suited to enterprises. ...more

Putting E Ink to Paper 2.0

Dutch company Philips has signed a deal to develop a revolutionary new display with electronic ink company, E Ink. What's electronic ink - or E Ink - I hear you ask? The concept is relatively simple. Within the ink there are millions of tiny microcapsules, each one containing white particles suspended in dark dye and when an electric field is applied to the liquid, the microcapsules become visible. ...more