Intel jumps chip for performance addicts

One for hard-core gamers. Intel has updated its Core 2 quad-core range with a chip aimed squarely at enthusiasts, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800. Running at 2. ...more

Sony BMG forced to break up?

Europe's anti-monopoly authorities struck another blow yesterday when the European Court of First Instance - the EU's second highest court - struck down the approval of a joint venture between two of the world's biggest companies Sony and Bertelsmann AG to form the media business Sony BMG. It now means that the European Commission will have to reconsider its 2004 decision to allow the two groups to merge. The Court granted an appeal by the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association (Impala), an association of around 2500 music production companies, that the deal would concentrate power in the music business into a small cartel of industry giants and harm competition. ...more

BPI turns its aim toward corporate IT managers

The BPI is turning its attention to corporate IT managers as it continues to step up its fight against unauthorised file sharing. The UK record industry's main representative body is sending a booklet to the country's largest employers warning them of the potential cost of file sharing in the workplace. 'Illegal filesharing in the workplace not only wastes employee time, it may also open up employers themselves to the risk of litigation,' said BPI chairman Peter Jamieson. ...more

Kiiro camera - small in size and ambition?

Billed as the world's smallest, portable, easy-to-use, non-professional digital still camera, it's certainly all of these, as are most other Webcams. Spec-wise the CJ-100 is of Webcam proportions: it produces stills at a resolution of 350,000 pixels (that's a big chunk off even one megapixel, let alone the 2.1 muscle of today's non-professional consumer digital cameras) and records VGA video at 640 x 480 at 15 frames per sec, with no option to record sound. ...more

Creative's entry-level Webcam

Creative's new device is aimed at first-time Webcam users. As well as offering a video capture and editing facility, the Creative Webcam has a 'Snapshot' button for 'one-touch' still imaging. 'The Creative WebCam is the neat and easy-to-use USB solution for desktop video and stills,' states Geraldine Lee, European brand manager for WebCams with Creative Labs Europe. ...more