RIM wins US Patent Office battle

Research In Motion, the company behind the popular Blackberry wireless email handheld is breathing a sigh of relief. The company has announced that the US Patent Office has issued 'non-final actions' against two of the patents held by technology company NTP. In effect they are held to be invalid This leaves RIM facing only one issue of patent infringement as now seven of the eight original patents on which the NTP case was based have now been declared invalid. ...more

Frankenfish takes to the water

The New Scientist magazine reports of fishy experiments in the laboratories of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Researchers at MIT have constructed a robotic fish consisting of a microprocessor that sends signals to live muscle taken from a frog in order to make it wiggle and swim through a solution of glucose. The robot fish swam around for a few minutes and then stopped to regain energy from the sugary waters. ...more

Sony to launch 'world's first 4K resolution' projector

Sony describes its SRX-R110 high-end projector as 'the world's first 4K resolution projector' (4096 x 2160). Based on its own SXRD (Silicon Crystal Reflective Display) panel technology, the projector is designed for scenarios requiring 'ultra-high resolution' and wide colour gamut projectors, for example digital cinema, post-production and stage events. Meeting the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) System Specification standards, it provides a contrast ratio of 2000:1 and a brightness of 10,000 ANSI lumens. ...more

Customisation firm offers gold-plated iPods

A company that specialises in luxury customisation of mobile phones has begun selling gold-plated iPods. Amosu will plate a video or nano iPod's metal back with 24-carat 'hardened mirror' gold, for a price. An 80GB iPod, normally ?239, will set you back ?399; a gold-plated 8GB iPod nano will cost ?299, compared to just ?169 for an unadulterated player. ...more

HP targets IBM in quest for mobile computing top spot

HP's General Manager of Mobile Computing, Ted Clark, was in bullish mood as he presented his keynote speech at HP's Mobility Conference in San Jose, California. He declared 2005 to be 'The Year For Mobility' and boldly stated HP's goal to reclaim number one position worldwide in notebooks this year. 'We have a very strong retail presence worldwide, an equally strong corporate channel presence, and we're also building on our direct business. ...more