Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo to talk lithium-ion battery standards

Four of the leading laptop makers are to meet to discuss the formation of manufacturing standards for lithium-ion batteries. Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo hope to have agreed a standard by July 2007 that will prevent the kind of problems that recently led to Dell having to recall more than four million Sony-made batteries. Apple has also had to replace batteries in the past, having recalled 128,000 in 2005. ...more

Google Earth pairs sound with vision

Google Earth will soon be able to provide sounds to accompany its satellite images when a California firm releases its archive of 3,500 hours of recordings later this month. Bernie Krause has spent the last 40 years collecting recordings from all over the globe and his company, Wild Sanctuary, will now link this to Google Earth. He has created software that can embed those sounds, together with information about when they were recorded, into Google's application. ...more

Sky names the day for HD TV

Satellite broadcaster Sky has announced - to no great surprise - that it intends to kick off its High Definition television service in time for the World Cup finals taking place in Germany this summer. HDTV is regarded to be the next big change in television viewing habits. The new generation of 'HD Ready' plasma and LCD television sets can not only give much sharper resolution than the traditional set but also provide more vivid colour and often have surround sound built in too. ...more

Freeserve subscription flaw detected

A bug has been detected in the sign-up page for Freeserve's unmetered access service. When users upgrade to Unlimited Freeserve Time they are emailed a link to a web page that alters the settings on their browser software so that you automatically dial into the new number. However, Microsoft Outlook Express will need to be changed manually otherwise it will continue to dial the old number and you will be charged local rates. ...more

Mobile content market set to explode

A new study highlights the untapped potential of the UK mobile content market. While Informa calculates the 2006 value of the market as ?661 million, it believes 'it is on the cusp of becoming multi-billion pound industry'. According to the study 'UK Mobile Content Survey: What Consumers Want', 50% of revenues come from the 'mobile cash rich' 25-34-year-olds, and the average mobile content spend in the UK is ?6. ...more