Magix at odds with BPI over mix-your-own ringtones

Magix is at odds with the British Phonographic Industry over its new ringtone software. At a tad under ?20, Magix ringtone maker allows you to opt out of the ?120mn industry by creating your own ringtones rather than play ?1.50 and risk being scammed by disreputable companies abusing reverse SMS charging and so on. ...more

ATi tops out X800 line with X850 XT PE

Graphics specialist ATi has launched a new member of its Radeon series of graphics processors. Squaring up to Nvidia's GeForce 6800 Ultra, the Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition replaces the X800XT at the top of ATi's product tree. The X850XT PE has the same 16 pixel pipeline, 6 vertex shader architecture as the X800XT, but it has quite a different form. ...more

Doubts cast over Apple G5 speed claims

Apple CEO Jobs launched the new Power Mac G5 this week hailing it as 'the world's fastest personal computer', a claim that is being challenged by one Mac user. The company's website similarly claims that, 'The new Power Mac G5 throttles past both the fastest Pentium 4 and a dual-processor Xeon workstation when tested using industry standard SPEC CPU 2000 benchmarks.' However doubts have been cast about Apple's figures by a Mac user on his SPL's soapbox site. ...more

Sun bids to shut out MS Java appeal

Sun claims Microsoft appeal is part of delaying tactics to ensure Java's demise. In the light of Microsoft's appeal to stay an injunction forcing it to include Sun's version of the Java runtime environment in copies of XP and Internet Explorer, it now falls to Sun to persuade the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals not to intervene. In a 25-page filing submitted to the court yesterday, Sun claims that in allowing the injunction, Microsoft would still have plenty of time to incorporate Sun's technology, as the next shipping date for Windows falls within the 120-day period allowed - meaning Microsoft wouldn't have to worry about it until the next shipping date. ...more

Intel opens parallel application testing lab

Intel and SGI have announced the opening of a Parallel Application Centre to help third-parties to test the scalabililty and performance of heavy duty apps. Employing SGI and Intel-based technology, the centre is intended to be a state-of-the-art development and testing facility for developers and ISVs worldwide. 'The Centre will accelerate the pace of innovation for high-performance computing across leading enterprise and advanced academic environments,' said Richard Wirt, Intel Senior Fellow and General Manager, Software and Solutions Group. ...more