Wi-Fi Alliance presses ahead for 802.11n certification

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that it will begin certifying 802.11n products in the first half of 2007, ahead of the final ratification of the high-speed wireless standard by the IEEE. The IEEE is currently targeting the first quarter of 2008 for final approval, but Wi-Fi products such as broadband routers that deploy the draft specification are already available, with tens of millions pre-standard devices expected to ship next year 2007. ...more

UPDATED: ViewSonic issues customer service bulletin for VX LCDs

ViewSonic has issued a customer service bulletin for its VX range of its LCD displays, regarding the screen not sitting square to the stand. It is not believed to be a large scale problem: 'There have been two reported incidents regarding the above this year during which time ViewSonic has sold 15,000 units of these two models,' said ViewSonic. Specifically, the model numbers are: VX922,VX924, VX724, VX715. ...more

Broadband connections shoot up

The number of homes with broadband in the UK has risen by more than 60 per cent in the past three months, according to new figures. The latest research from industry regulator Oftel shows that 13 per cent of homes are broadband enabled, nine per cent with cable modem and four per cent with ADSL. Overall Internet usage in the UK remains steady, with 42 per cent of UK homes connected and 50 per cent of adults going online. ...more

Steve Jobs to preview Mac OS X Leopard at WWDC 2006

Steve Jobs and other Apple executive will be previewing Mac OS X 'Leopard' at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to be held in San Francisco in August. Apple has confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs will be giving a keynote at the conference, which will put a spotlight on the technologies in the next-gen operating system. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Bertrand Serlet, senior VP of Software Engineering; and Scott Forstall, VP of Platform Experience, will also be taking part. ...more

Microsoft exec warned Bill Gates: 'I would buy a Mac today'

A senior Microsoft executive told Bill Gates in 2004 that he would buy a Mac if only he was not employed by the Windows maker. In an email dated 7 January 2004, Jim Allchin, who is co-president of Microsoft's Platform Products and Services Group, told Gates, the company's co-founder, and chief executive Steve Ballmer, that Microsoft had lost its way. The email was submitted as evidence by attorney Richard Hagstrom in an Iowa court, on the second day of Comes v Microsoft, an class action lawsuit against the software maker that alleges unfair business practices harmed consumers. ...more