Ed Oswald

Intel fired back at AMD in a filing with the U.S. District Court in Delaware, refuting AMD's claims that its business practices stifle competition and saying that it has broken no laws.

AMD sued Intel on June 28, accusing its rival of using illegal scare tactics and coercion to keep computer manufacturers from buying AMD processors. It also said that rebates Intel gave computer manufacturers for using its chips exclusively were unlawful since Intel has a monopoly on the processor market.

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MSN on Thursday took the wraps off a new version of its Start.com customizable portal. The new version includes support to indicate what feeds have been read or unread, automatic updates, as well as capabilities to show more or fewer headlines based on a user's preference.

"It's now available without puzzles or obfuscation, at http://www.start.com (although still a "preview")," developers wrote on the project's Web log. The group is asking people to send their comments to [email protected].

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In the wake of hurricane Katrina, several online scams have begun to circulate the Internet, according to several security firms. Sophos warned users on Thursday not to open a malware-Infected e-mail posing as news on the disaster.

Possible subject lines of the e-mail could be "Re: g8 Tropical storm flooded New Orleans", "Re: g7 80 percent of our city underwater", and
"Re: q1 Katrina killed as many as 80 people". The group said there could be additional variants.

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A computer system that assists lifeguards in preventing drowning is being credited with saving the life of a 10-year-oldz North Wales girl on August 24. The system alerted lifeguards and within 40 seconds the child was pulled from the pool and resuscitated.

Called Poseidon, the system was installed by local officials two years ago at a cost of $118,000 USD. The pool is one of the deepest in Wales, with a top depth of 12.5 feet.

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Creative's Japanese arm has apparently shipped several thousand of its Zen Neeon players infected with the Wullik.B worm. The affected players have serial numbers between 230528000001 and 1230533001680.

Details of the issue were posted only on the company's Japanese Web site. The problem is localized to the Asia-Pacfic region as the player has not been publicly released elsewhere.

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Since 2001, the average cost of a laptop computer has fallen 39 percent, from $1,640 to $1,000 this year, according to a recent survey completed by the Wall Street Journal. The reason behind the falling prices is rising demand for laptops, mainly driven by the college market, as well as cheaper component prices.

According to college polling firm Student Monitor, about three out of every four people of college age planning to buy a computer within 12 months are expecting to opt for a laptop. A possible reason for the spike in demand among college students could be the greater presence of wireless Internet on college campuses.

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Philips added two new players to its digital music lineup on Thursday, boasting more capacity, PlaysForSure compatibility and color screens to allow users to store and view JPEG photos.

The GoGear HDD1630 and HDD6330 will have 6GB and 30GB capacities. For navigation, both feature backlit touchpads as well as Philips SuperScroll technology that allows a user to quickly navigate through their song collection.

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Camera manufacturer Nikon added several new digital cameras to its lineup, including a pocket-sized model that includes 10x optical zoom, and two additions to its Coolpix line that include Wi-Fi capabilities.

The Coolpix S4 is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. But despite the camera's size, the unit sports a 2.5" LCD screen and 10x optical zoom, the highest of any camera in its class.

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The RIAA Wednesday filed 754 more lawsuits against users of file sharing networks who participated in the trade of copyrighted music. The suits were filed in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. among other locations.

The Recording Industry Association of America has now filed over 14,000 lawsuits in less than two years. The group had previously warned after announcing in its last round of lawsuits, "in the coming weeks and months, we will significantly expand our anti-piracy efforts for those who have ignored the [Supreme] Court's message."

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16 feet of water hasn't stopped a local New Orleans newspaper from keeping the information flowing out of the hurricane-ravaged city. The New Orleans Times-Picayune has turned to the Internet and its Web site to keep residents and evacuees informed of the latest on the situation.

For a time Monday night, it appeared that New Orleans had been spared the full wrath of Hurricane Katrina as most of the city remained dry. However, a serious break in a levee along Lake Ponchartrain caused water to flood into the city, which predominantly sits like a bowl below sea level.

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Microsoft approached the Open Source Development Labs at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo about carrying out a study to compare its operating system with Linux, however the group balked at the idea saying it would likely be used as fodder for anti-Linux marketing.

OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen in a statement to BetaNews confirmed that talks took place with Martin Taylor, General Manager of Platform Strategy at Microsoft. While the specifics of the conversation remain confidential, Cohen did speak to the talk of a joint study.

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A study released this week by research firm IDC indicates that the increasing popularity of camera phones is also causing consumers to buy more digital cameras. The firm said that camera phones introduce users to digital photography, and those who want better quality and more features will upgrade. 30 percent of camera phone owners will make this move due to these concerns, the report indicates.

The survey said that 4 billion phone pictures and 28 billion digital camera images were taken last year, and those figures will increase to 7.5 and 40 billion respectively in 2005. However, it seems consumers are becoming less apt to make prints of their imagery, with the rate of printing falling from one per month last year to one every three months this year.

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Many residents of the hurricane stricken areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama remain without power and no reliable connection to the outside world. T-Mobile is attempting to alleviate some of that suffering by opening up its hotspots in those three states to the public through Friday. The company would reevaluate the situation at that time.

T-Mobile said that the offer only extends to its wireless Internet services. "This free offer for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is for Wi-Fi service only, not T-Mobile voice services," the company said. The company offers service at Borders, FedEx/Kinko's and Starbucks among other locations.

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Apple quietly added an option to its Web site earlier this week allowing for customers to test out the company's Mac Mini product for a period of thirty days. The promotion is only being honored through Apple's online store.

"We’re so confident you'll love your new Mac mini, we'll let you test drive it for 30 days with no risk," the promotion's Web site reads. "If you decide you don't want it, we'll take it back."

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In an attempt to counter Apple's expected announcement of an iTunes phone next week, Napster on Wednesday said that its subscription-based Napster To Go service was already available on several mobile phones.

Almost any phone that operates on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 2003 is able to transfer and listen to songs from the service. This includes the Motorola Q, due early next year, as well as devices from Audiovox, HP, HTC, i-Mate, Orange, Palm, Samsung, Siemens, and Sierra.

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