Sharp claims LCD has highest contrast

TOKYO — Sharp Corp. has developed an LCD panel that exhibits a contrast ratio of 1,000,000 to 1 the company will aim at the professional monitor market.

Named Mega-Contrast ASV (Advanced Super View) Premium LCD, Sharp claimed that the display goes well beyond self-illuminating displays such as CRTs and plasma displays.

The prototype display, being shown at CEATEC in Japan this week, is a 37-inch panel with full HD resolution (1920x1080) and luminance of 500 candelas per square meter.

"1,000,000 to

Apple stirs product speculation over Oct 12 event

Apple Computer Inc. has e-mailed invitations to reporters for a special event next week, prompting speculation on the Internet that the company would unveil a long-rumored iPod that can display videos.

The invitation from Apple, which is notoriously tight-lipped about its future products, said simply: "One more thing..."

Early last month, Apple unveiled its pencil-thin iPod nano, which holds up to 1,000 songs and replaced the iPod mini, then the most popular iPod model.

Apple Chief Executive     Steve Jobs has

Power-One sues Artesyn for patent infringement

Power supplier Power-One Inc. has filed a lawsuit against rival power supplier Artesyn Technologies Inc. for allegedly infringing several patents related to power converters.

The suit, filed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division., revolves around patent numbers 6,936,999 (the '999 patent, issued Aug. 30, 2005) and 6,949,916 (the '916 patent, issued Sept. 27, 2005) held by Power-One.

In its complaint, Power-One (Camarillo, Calif.) alleges that Artesyn (Boca Raton, Fla.) is infringing the '999 and '916 patents

Intel's Xeon ready to enter dual-core era

Ahead of its original plan but still months after the competition, Intel  appears ready to launch its dual-core Xeon processors on Oct. 10, according to e-mail invitations sent to journalists by Intel and HP.

An HP spokeswoman distributed an e-mail message Friday outlining the Oct. 10 announcement of new dual-core ProLiant servers. Separately, Intel Japan representatives invited journalists to an Oct. 11 event celebrating the launch of dual-core server and workstation chips.

Earlier this week, Dell provided a preview of

IBM Applies Technology for Disabled at Aging Baby Boomers

As IBM's Human Capital Management group offers help to companies with huge numbers of employees reaching retirement age, the group is relying on IBM's years of experience helping people overcome disabilities.
"It's something IBM has had a deep commitment to for a long time," Accessibility Services Program Manager Sara Basson, Ph.D., said in an interview Friday. "It obviously predates any government mandate. Now, from a larger business perspective, there's a real impact."

Baby boomers are likely to face some of

Vendors Ship High-Speed HSDPA 3G Technology

At least two vendors this week released products that work with high-speed HSDPA 3G networks even though very few such networks have been deployed.
Novatel Wireless said Thursday it has started shipping its Merlin U740 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) PC Cards to several unnamed European cellular operators. HSDPA is a follow-on to UMTS 3G and will deliver data speeds in excess of 1Mbps.

While HSDPA is not yet widely available, the company said its card is backward compatible

Vendors Ship High-Speed HSDPA 3G Technology

At least two vendors this week released products that work with high-speed HSDPA 3G networks even though very few such networks have been deployed.
Novatel Wireless said Thursday it has started shipping its Merlin U740 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) PC Cards to several unnamed European cellular operators. HSDPA is a follow-on to UMTS 3G and will deliver data speeds in excess of 1Mbps.

While HSDPA is not yet widely available, the company said its card is backward compatible

Sony, SanDisk push micro Memory Stick

SanDisk and Sony Corporation have launched a jointly developed Memory Stick card dubbed the Micro, and are targeting the removable flash storage recording format at the mobile phones sector.

The companies will start licensing for the development of ‘Memory Stick Micro’ compatible hardware next week. The card measures just 15 x 12.5 mm and is only 1.2 mm thick. This makes it about one quarter the size of the current Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Users will be able to insert