Equipment Breaking News

LG to show circular and eliptical LCD panels
LG Display has succeeded in developing a pair of round LCD panels and will show them for the first time this week at an event in the U.S., it said Wednesday. More..

Sony sales, net profits sharply higher but target missed
Sony earned sharply higher net profits in the financial year just ended on the back of stronger sales, but missed an already-lowered operating profit target, it said Wednesday. More..

Sony misses PS3 target as annual shipments hit 9.2M
Shipments of Sony's PlayStation 3 games console came in under target at 9.24 million units in the financial year to the end of March, and Sony's gaming business remained in the red, Sony said Wednesday. More..

Samsung, LG to push single mobile digital TV format in U.S.
Frustrated with the gridlock in the U.S. mobile digital TV market, where several formats are competing and none has become dominant, South Korea's two largest consumer electronics agreed on Wednesday to ditch their proprietary standards and work together on a single format. More..

MPP controls spam for Mac e-mail servers
Message Partners has announced the release of MPP for Mac OS X e-mail and collaboration servers. MPP is an antispam system designed for small and medium-sized businesses and service providers. More..

Apple shows off new flagship Boston store
Apple has big plans for its latest retail store and its first in downtown Boston--literally. The new brick-and-mortar outlet, opening Thursday on Boston's tony Boylston Street, will be the largest Apple Store in the United States with three floors of retail space. More..

Microsoft posts preview versions of server bundles
Microsoft Tuesday released a preview version of its Essential Business Server bundle aimed at small and midsize businesses and said a preview of its revamped Small Business Server 2008 would come in the next few weeks. More..

Apple to take iPhone nonexclusive in Australia and India
Apple's iPhone will be available from more than one mobile operator in Australia and India later this year, further signs that Apple is breaking with its history of exclusive iPhone distribution agreements with operators in other markets. More..

Samsung launches HD flash camcorder with slow-motion video
Samsung has launched a high-definition (HD) video camera that can also snap high-resolution digital photos and take smooth slow-motion video. More..

Gran Turismo series shipments hit 50 million
Shipments of the Gran Turismo series of car racing games edged past the 50 million unit mark at the end of April, Sony said Friday. More..

Toshiba eyes fuel cells, Cell-based TV by 2009
Toshiba plans to begin mass production of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells by March next year and to have a television based on the powerful Cell microprocessor on sale before the end of the same year, it said Thursday. More..

IBM to build apps marketplace for SMBs
IBM is trying to rally support for an online applications marketplace for small and midsized businesses that it plans to launch later this year. More..

Intel opens software marketplace for small businesses
Intel has set up an online store called Business Exchange that's meant to help small and midsized business find software applications that runs on the chip maker's hardware. More..

Sony, Samsung launch new Blu-ray Disc products
Sony and Samsung, two of the biggest backers of the Blu-ray Disc format during its battle with rival HD DVD, are releasing new Blu-ray Disc products with the anticipation that consumers are finally ready to start upgrading to high-definition video discs. More..

Xerox showcases erasable paper, smart documents
Xerox's research arm Monday showcased its latest innovations, including erasable paper and tools that make documents "smart" by adding a deeper meaning to words and images. More..

Polycom aims to lower SOHO videoconferencing costs
Polycom  is announcing at Interop Las Vegas a new small office/home office router tuned specifically for low-cost, high-quality videoconferencing.  More..

Sony to double LCD TV production at Slovakia plant
Sony plans to double the production capacity of LCD televisions at its plant in Nitra, Slovakia, it said Monday. The expansion is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year and will make the factory Sony's largest flat-panel TV production base. More..

Apple aims to patent IM features on iPhone
A recent patent filing indicates that Apple is getting closer to adding its own instant messaging client to the iPhone. More..

5 IT skills that won’t boost your salary
IT skills less in demand run the gamut from NetWare to COBOL to SNA to HTML to PC tech support. New technology adoption replaces the need for older technical, systems expertise. More..

Wanted: 10 IT skills employers need today
High-tech job seekers looking to cash in on the panic created around reports of an imminent IT skills shortage should get schooled on wireless, Web 2.0 and virtualization while also boning up on business basics, say experts from CompTIA, Beyond.com and Foote Partners. More..

Out with the old, in with the recycled for Sony TVs
Consider it a blast from the past: that space hogging TV from 10 years ago creeping back into your living room in a reincarnated form. This scenario is quite possible as Sony's latest sleek Bravia flat-panel TVs now contain plastic components partially recycled from old television sets. More..

Cisco's Linksys phase-out moving along
Cisco's Linksys brand may disappear sooner than expected, according to a top executive for small business at the company, although he wouldn't say how quickly. More..

NEC unveils Lui home media server and portable clients
NEC will put on sale next week its new Lui PC and home media server. The Lui can tune into digital high-definition TV broadcasts and stream both live and recorded programs to compatible TVs and computers and allow remote Windows desktop access from portable devices. More..

Casual Friday: BD-Live Goes Live
In our ongoing efforts to celebrate slack, I've found a few great new ways to kill what little free time you think you have this weekend and beyond. More..

Lawmakers look into sale of military equipment online
Government auditors were able to buy military-grade equipment, including night-vision goggles, body armor and parts for fighter jets, from online sites such as eBay and Craigslist during a recently completed undercover investigation, a representative of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) told lawmakers on Thursday. More..