Google branded top by 'branding professional'

Internet firm Google has again pipped Apple to the top spot in a global brand ranking that also sees YouTube and Wikipedia debut in the top five, a survey showed on Friday. The annual survey by online branding magazine brandchannel.com often throws up controversial results, such as in 2004, when Arabic TV station Al Jazeera was named the world's fifth most influential brand. ...more

Mouse on the move

Are you a mobile computer user? Do often find yourself stuck for space when using your laptop? Is your current pointing device just not delivering the goods? Well, the Ring Mouse available from PSA Parts aims to solve such a problem. The device is like a mini-trackball with a hole in the middle so that it can be worn on the index finger like a ring. The thumb is then used to manipulate the ball and direct your pointer; the index finger clicks the main trigger. ...more

Lucent develops silicon saviour

Lucent technology's Bell Labs has developed what it claims to be the first all-silicon chips for receivers in base stations. A base station, which receives radio signals from mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs, currently houses between ten and 20 gallium arsenide chips. The receiver, created by Jenshan Lin, Olga Boric-Lubecke and Penny Gould, would need only three silicon chips, making it 100 times smaller and far cheaper to produce. ...more

RAZR wants a cut of iTunes action

First it was the ROKR, now the new RAZR V3i is Motorola's second iTunes-playing phone. iTunes playback aside the quad-band phone includes a 1.23 megapixel camera with a full screen view-finder, zoom, and video capture and playback, a mini-USB stereo headset, Bluetooth and Airplane mode, which disables the phone components but leaves iTunes operational. ...more

Intel links Centrino with Linksys

Intel has announced a joint technology and marketing program with Linksys, the maker of consumer wireless and Ethernet products. The avowed intent is to simplify the use of Centrino technology - Intel's brand for its combination of mobile processor, chipset and WLAN adaptor - with Linksys wireless routers and access points. Specifically, the two will launch joint engineering and co-marketing activities. ...more