Qrio and Aibo to be culled

Sony's robotic dog Aibo is to be put down after seven years of loyal service. Along with the humanoid robot Qrio, the Aibo cull marks the end of Sony's robot endeavours as restructuring changes driven by new CEO Howard Stringer get underway. The technologies developed within the artificial intelligence divisions will be deployed elsewhere for consumer electronic product development. ...more

Dell regains number one ranking for worldwide PC shipments

Dell has regained its laurels as the number one PC maker and put some clear water between it and its nearest rival HP, according to research group IDC. IDC's figures for the first quarter of this year showed a year on year growth of 16.5 per cent, with 41. ...more

Three new screens from Philips

Philips has just announced prices for its three new high-end monitors: the Brilliance 202P4 and 109P4 aperture-grille models and the 201B4. The models, weighing in with 22in, 19in and 21in screen sizes respectively, offer Philips' Auto Calibrate function that continually recalibrates colour temperature and luminance, which Philips claims to extend operational life by 30 per cent. The monitors are also sRGB compatible, meaning that the colours you see on the screen should exactly match those printed out on an sRGB-compatible printer, for example. ...more

Fujifilm announces three cameras

Fujifilm has lined up the FinePix A205S, S5000 Zoom and S7000 Zoom cameras for an autumn launch. Opening with the A205S, Fujifilm is hoping to attract the novice photographer with a 3x optical zoom, a 2megapixel CCD, a video-out connection to pipe pictures straight to your telly and long battery life. Available in September, Fujifilm has yet to price the camera, although with 2megapixel cameras currently around the ?200 mark, expect a competitive figure. ...more

Sony may expand PlayStation hard drive capacity

Sony said on Tuesday that it is considering launching a PS3 console with a larger hard disk drive capacity, in a bid to cater to the needs of hardcore gamers and other heavy users. The company had previously announced the decision not to make a 20GB version available when PS3 launched in Europe last month, leaving it with just the single, 60GB version. 'For users who vigourously store [games and other entertainment content] in the PS3, 20GB is probably going to be too small, and even 60GB may not be big enough eventually,' Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said. ...more