Sober virus set to continue reign

Antivirus vendors have totted up the figures for December, with some showing nearly four in five reports accountable to the Sober worms. Sophos put the Sober-Z worm at number one for the month, claiming 78.9 per cent of reports. ...more

Spring IDF 2006: Your DVD player is as hot as a cup of Starbucks coffee

Intel's Home Entertainment keynote brought up one astounding fact: your DVD player, when idle, is almost as hot as a cup of Starbucks coffee. That's 74.3C for your DVD player and 77C for the coffee. ...more

EU sets up cyber crime unit

The EU has agreed to assemble a European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) to provide a co-ordinated front against security threats to Europe's online infrastructure. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society said of the decision: 'I'm very pleased that both Parliament and Member States have seen the urgency to get this agency in place and have been able to reach an agreement on the first reading of the proposal. All parties involved in the issues of network and information security have been advocating closer co-operation and the ENISA delivers the infrastructure for this. ...more

Speakers without corners

Philips has launched a range of speakers with a premium on design The smoothly curved MMS460, at ?55, comprises five satellites and a wooden subwoofer. The curvy satellites are so designed to reduce noise reflection, while the octagonal sub-woofer's design minimises standing waves and further features reduce distortion at the low end of the spectrum. The speakers also use Philips' new TDA8947J Integrated Amplifier Chip which offers 18V architecture - rather than the usual 12V - for an 'improved dynamic range'. ...more

Experts demand research into nano risks

More research is needed to identify any health and environmental hazards of nanotechnology so that public confidence is maintained in the fast-growing industry, experts said on Wednesday. Nanotechnology, which involves manipulating materials on an ultra-small scale, has the potential to make better products in fields from computing to cosmetics to fuel additives. But nanoparticles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair could be dangerous if they interact with the human body or the environment in unexpected ways. ...more