Barnardo's launches e-baby

It's a little baby. Measuring less than an inch, it's an interactive screen mate launched into the world by the Barnardo's children's charity. As guardian of the electronic infant, which was created by advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, you have to pay attention to the little one's demands. ...more

BT pleas for customers

Having spent ?15m on opening up the local exchanges, BT has stated that demand for space in them has "evaporated". Of the 40 operators that initially wanted access, only nine are still active, and of the 2,100 exchanges originally in demand, only 202 places have been taken up. Much of the blame has been pointed at the adverse financial climate faced by the telecommunications industry. ...more

Creative warns of Christmas MP3 player shortage

The president of Creative Labs has warned potential MP3 player buyers that they may be hard to find in the run up to Christmas because of a shortage of flash memory chips. Craig McHugh said that 1GB chips are proving particularly elusive and blamed Apple. 'Industry demand for high-capacity flash memory currently outstrips supply and this will impact availability of our 1GB flash MP3 players for the holiday quarter,' he said in a conference call following the announcement of Creative's latest financial results. ...more

LaCie plugs FireWire for rich audio

LaCie has unveiled what it claims to be the first FireWire computer speakers to plug into the power of FireWire, the LaCie FireWire Speakers. The speakers take advantage of FireWire 400's inherent superiority as an audio connection, LaCie says. Speakers attached to a headphone jack must contend with noise distortion from the circuitry within the computer while USB speakers vie for limited bandwidth and power, having to share the bus with the keyboard, mouse and other peripherals. ...more

Motorola fends off network attacks

With denial of service attacks on servers an ever-increasing threat, Motorola has stepped up to provide a software system that can analyse network data and provide a visual representation of possible attacks. The Motorola Intrusion Vision provides a single visual representation of network data and correlates "attack data" to let network operators know of a serious attack. The data is presented in near real time, so the user can react quickly, and the system uses a graphical representation of a bull's eye that operators can easily interpret. ...more