BT goes mobile with Sharp

BT Wireless has announced that it will be teaming up with Japanese electronics giant Sharp to develop and supply a new range of mobile phones. The first phones to be produced by the new deal will be called 'Cyclops' and will be GSM/GPRS network-compatible and feature Internet access and a built-in camera. Users will be able to take digital photographs and send them to friends using the phone's WAP feature. ...more

T-Mobile maps out coverage

T-Mobile is offering a network coverage checking tool via its website, to better advise potential users of the services available in particular locations. Dubbed StreetCheck, it generates a visual guide to the strength of 2G and 3G coverage on the basis of a user-supplied post code. 'It's a big simple thing,' T-Mobile's Brand Experience Manager, Greg Watts told us. ...more

Opera 9 goes public

Opera has announced the first public Beta of Opera 9, its forthcoming browser. Features of version 9 include support for widgets, thumbnail previews, site-specific preferences and improved pop-up blocking. By the term 'widgets' Opera means small Web apps that run directly on the desktop. ...more

Intel announces new China 300mm wafer fab

Intel is strengthening its ties with China with the announcement of a new 300mm wafer fab in the city of Dalian, in the north-east province of Liaoning. While Intel has a number of such chip factories around the world - in Israel and Ireland, as well as the US - this is its first in Asia. In what is described as a $2. ...more

Users back Windows SP 2 despite 'massive failings'

Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP 2) appears to have been a largely painless update for XP users, according to the first conclusive survey of the UK IT community. Two months and 106 million installations after its release, 5,000 PC Pro readers have given the update a cautious thumbs up, with 75 per cent of respondents experiencing 'no problems' when installing the software. But Microsoft said it was surprised at the results, and will officially comment in the next issue of PC Pro. ...more