Mouse hides its tail

Kensington's new PocketMouse Pro is aimed at laptop users looking for a portable mouse to supplement or supplant the trackpad or 'nipple'. Though 'portable' mice have been around for a while - Logitech's neat MouseMan Traveler is one example - what marks the PocketMouse Pro out is its retractable cord. When the mouse is not in use the 76mm USB cable can be wound back and stored out of the way in the body of the mouse. ...more

Visual Studio.NET officially unveiled

Microsoft achieves its first major .NET release - the development system Visual Studio.NET, which allows programmers to start building Web services the Redmond way. ...more

Red Hat offers testing ground

Red Hat has announced its 'Red hat Ready' application testing programme, allowing ISVs to certify the compatibility of their products with the Linux distribution. The programme will assure potential customers of both Red Hat Linux and ISVs (independent software vendors) that the applications will be stable and reliable on Red Hat, having gone through what Red Hat describes as 'rigorous testing on the latest versions of Red Hat Linux'. Red Hat Ready will certify applications for all of Red Hat's Enterprise products, including the recently announced Enterprise ES and WS. ...more

Phoenix adds security at the hardware level

The major BIOS developer, Phoenix Technologies has unveiled its first product based on its new extensible Core System Software (CSS). The new technology has been built with security in mind and offers embedded security features that protect the core system software from malicious attack and a security API. The first products to benefit from the new cME Trusted Core NB are notebooks and tablet PCs, which are particularly vulnerable to being lost, stolen or provide points of vulnerability when they log on to corporate networks remotely. ...more

Hitachi joins the battery recall list

Hitachi has joined the growing list of computer makers that have recalled Sony-manufactured laptop batteries. The company has announced that it will replace 16,000 batteries installed in Flora 210W and Flora Se210 portables. Apple, Dell, Fujitsu, IBM, Lenovo and Toshiba have already begun recalls, while Acer is investigating whether it needs to join them. ...more