Digital chart detects download rigging

A British band has been caught up in what is believed to be the first case of digital chart rigging. Industry, the latest signal by The Modern, would have entered the UK Official Top 40 chart at number 13 had routine checks for 'unusual sales patterns' not revealed that the track had been downloaded in large batches from HMV. One buyer bought the song more than 100 times. ...more

CeBIT 2007: Wacom signs off digital signatures

Pen tablet specialist Wacom showed off its signature prototype at Germany's CeBIT show, which captures biometric profiles with handwritten digital signatures. The handwriting signature product is aimed at companies needing to authenticate documents, whether for internal use, or as part of the transaction process with their customers. Users sign on a 5in LCD display with a pen stylus. ...more

AMD starts work on new Dresden Fab for 300mm wafers

AMD has begun the construction of new manufacturing facilities in Dresden, Fab 36. The significance of this lies in the fact it will support the processing of 300mm wafers - and the larger the wafer the more chips that can be produced from them. Furthermore, the site - which will produce the next generation of AMD products - will use AMD's patented manufacturing system, Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM 3. ...more

Everquest heads to PocketPC

Is that a single-player version of EverQuest in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see us? Sony Online Entertainment has revealed more on its plans to turn almighty MMORPG EverQuest into a singleplayer game for PocketPC. Developed by Emodiv, the first part of the miniature edition is due out shortly in the US. EverQuest on PocketPC allows players to adventure in a shrunk-down version of the game-world of Norrath, featuring many familiar locations such as Freeport and the Befallen dungeon. ...more

Ricoh chooses both Blu-ray and HD DVD

The headache consumers face in choosing between the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats could be soothed by a new multiformat component developed by Ricoh. According to reports, Ricoh has developed an optical laser system able to read both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, as well as existing DVD and CD standards. The device uses a single pickup and objective lens rather than separate components for each format and employs a 'diffraction grate' to adjust the laser beams to the correct incident ray so that they are focussed through the objective lens at the right point on the disc respective of each format. ...more