Wireless technology breakthrough offers cheap long distance broadband

A Florida based company is claiming a breakthrough in fixed wireless broadband that uses low frequencies to extend the operating distance. As any radio ham or whale will tell you, the lower the frequency of a wave, the greater the distance it can travel and still be understood. According to its inventors, xMax is a new modulation and encoding technology that allows the deployment of broadband services using lower frequency bands The problem with low frequency transmissions of this kind have been weak signals and slow data rates. ...more

Google signs deal with Nokia

Mobile phone giant Nokia is set to announce a deal with Google that will see Google Talk offered on the Nokia 770 portable Internet Tablet. The announcement, due to be made on Tuesday, will allow 770 owners to have voice conversations and perform instant messaging on the device. The 770 Internet Tablet, which currently costs ?245 in the UK, runs the Linux-based Tablet 2005 software and currently offers a web browser, email client, Internet radio, media player and notebook. ...more

IBM outcomputes Chinese supercomputer with more Opterons

Just days following the announcement of a new Chinese supercomputer, the Dawning 4000A, IBM says it is to provide an even better one to serve as the keystone to Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The Dawning 4000A uses 2000-odd AMD Opteron chips turning out a performance of 10Teraflops, or 10 trillion operations a second. Still, the 1,058 IBM eServer 325 systems that make up the supercomputer use 2116 Opterons and crunch through 11Tflops/sec. ...more

Sony boss goes for a tomato

With news that Sega CEO JF Cecillon has flown the coop, it is surprising to hear that Sony's top marketing man has also moved onto pastures new. Marketing Director, Alan Welsman oversaw the original PlayStation launch in 1995 and has been at Sony right up to the recent PS2 campaign. Swedish telecommunications company Speedy Tomato, which went live earlier in the month, has poached Welsman to be UK marketing manager. ...more

Red Hat launches desktop client

Barely days after Red Hat strangled support for Red Hat Linux 9, the Linux leader has bounced back into the desktop/standalone client arena with new client software. Announced today at a London press event, the Red Hat desktop will be available from 15 May with an initial focus on extending relationships with existing server customers to the desktop. The desktop is built on Red Hat Enterpise Linux and upgrades will be synchronised with the 12-18 month cycle of the ES, AS and WS server/workstation systems. ...more