Analyst: Intel Macs could appear in January

Apple may release its first Intel Macs as early as January, according to UBS Investment Research analyst Ben Reitzes. Noting that Intel plans to launch its Yonah dual-core mobile processor at the start of 2006, Reitzes suggest that Steve Jobs traditional new year curtain raiser - his keynote address to the Macworld Expo in San Francisco - may provide the platform for an Intel-driven Mac mini to be unveiled. He based his prediction on talks with Intel's Semiconductor Research Team, who indicated that the Yonah would be ideally suited to the compact desktop and possibly the iBook. ...more

Supporting the encryption of XML

W3C - the body that looks after Internet standards - has announced the launch of the XML Encryption Activity. Its aim is to specify the data model, syntax, and processing necessary to best help encrypt XML content. Because XML (the eXtensible Markup Language) is designed to preserve the logic of data - rather than be a literal mark up language, such as HTML - the encryption could be used wherever sensitive data is to be transmitted. ...more

Mobile devices turn up the heat

Shipments more than double, with the Nokia 7650 putting Symbian at the top of the OS charts Figures for EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) shipments of mobile devices in Q3 showed a 104 per cent growth over the corresponding quarter in 2001, figures from research group Canalys show. This puts an end to four consecutive quarters of decline. The market is led by the introduction of a single phone, Nokia's 7650, which has been in such demand by retailers that Nokia temporarily ran out of stock in September. ...more

Hardware plumps Apple's financials

Apple has recorded a year-on-year 43 per cent increase in computer sales and more than five million iPod shipments in its latest quarterly financial results. The company made a $290mn profit on $3.2bn revenue in the three months to 26 March, almost matching the record performance from the previous quarter. ...more

Wireless cups reinforce personal bonds

Two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed Wi-Fi glasses so that people separated by distance can enjoy a drink together. Jackie Lee and Hyemin Chung have incorporated a variety of coloured LEDs, liquid sensors and wireless links into a pair of glass tumblers they have called Lovers' Cups. 'Lovers Cups explore the idea of sharing feelings of drinking between two people in different places by using cups as communication interfaces of drinking,' they explain [PDF]. ...more