TSMC and Nvidia reaffirm ties amid reports that IBM has won Nvidia orders

Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reaffirmed their close cooperation following reports that IBM won a multiyear contract to build new computer-graphics chips for Nvidia. IBM said on Wednesday that it will make new graphics chip for Nvidia, winning business that would have otherwise gone to TSMC, Reuters reported. Nvidia contracts TSMC to produce its graphics and core logic chipsets used in personal computers, laptops, workstations and Microsoft's Xbox game console. ...more

UK Patent Office undergoes self-examination

The UK Patent Office is inviting inventors and others to comment on the workings of the current British patent system. The Patent Office says it is looking to find the 'Goldilocks' solution to the 'inventive step' - to identify the original idea that will underpin the granting of any new patent. An inventive step should not be too high a hurdle so that truly original inventions are unable to get the protection of a patent. ...more

Nikon recalls cameras

Nikon has announced a product recall for some of its Coolpix 2000 digital cameras. A mechanical fault has been found in some batches, which results in overheating in the battery compartment causing the casing to melt. Nikon has stated that cameras with the serial numbers in the following ranges are affected: 2010001 - 2042816 2510001 - 2543248 3010001 - 3060980 3510001 - 3561916 4010001 - 4063334 4510001 - 4555696 5010001 - 5014664 5510001 - 5512592 No other models are affected. ...more

Apple resolves 17-inch PowerBook production problems

According to sources, production problems for the 17-inch Apple PowerBook have finally been solved. Unveiled in January and originally due to be in mass-production for availability in February, mass production is only just now ready to be ramped up, with products expected in the channel this month. Compal Electronics is said to be the contract manufacturer of the 17-inch PowerBook. ...more

PlusNet announces new cut-price broadband services

PlusNet has announced three new ADSL packages which although not as quick as a standard broadband connection are cheaper and do provide improvements on dial-up services. The dslConnect service comes in three varieties: 3x faster (than dial-up, that is) at 150Kbps for ?15.99 per month; 4x faster at 200Kbps (unique to PlusNet) for ?16. ...more