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March 31, 2004 |
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This week's top stories among CNET readers: the latest news from the Game Developers Conference, offshoring tech jobs, superlight laptops, the CeBIT technology fair in Germany, and electronic books that are just as good as the paper kind. |
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Game consoles
The Game Developers Conference was held last week, which could explain why so many CNET readers have been looking for and reading about gaming stuff. Among the highlights of the show and its aftermath: As expected, Microsoft cut the price of its Xbox console by $30, to $149. But that may not be low enough. One analyst says the console should be closer to $129 if Microsoft wants to boost sales of its Xbox platform and the games that play on it. Meanwhile, Sony used the conference to talk up the futuristic features it expects to implement in the PlayStation 10 or 20 years from now, but the company still wouldn't commit to a feature set for this year's expected PlayStation 3. Finally, Nokia said it's counting on some new titles to kick-start its moribund N-Gage console. The N-Gage, which combines a cell phone and a game player in one box, has faced lackluster sales since its launch last year.
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Offshoring
Offshoring and outsourcing were among our top search terms last week. And for good reason: they're hot-button issues with definite tech overtones. A report sponsored by a tech industry trade group says that outsourcing jobs overseas not only helps the U.S. economy, it will also help generate new U.S. jobs in the long run. Tech employees aren't so sanguine: the U.S. wing of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers said last week the practice has contributed to high unemployment among U.S. techies. Meanwhile, the shores are shifting: U.S. demand for offshore services is apparently driving up pay rates in India, which could make that country less attractive to U.S. firms and move tech work to places such as China and Romania.
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Superlight laptops
One of the most popular stories on the CNET network last week: our roundup of laptops that weigh less than three pounds. For those of us who remember Compaq's first luggables, the idea that you can get a fully functional notebook that weighs so little is still a bit weird. But our reviewers give these low-weight laptops high marks. Two of them, in fact--the Panasonic ToughBook CF-W2 and the IBM ThinkPad X40--are Editors' Choice winners.
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CeBIT
Forget Comdex, forget CES--the really big show for serious technology buffs is CeBIT, held every spring in Hannover, Germany. Most of the announcements are Eurocentric, but what appears there this year could appear here next year. Among this year's top show news: Siemens introduced a new camera phone priced for budget buyers; Sony said it would start a new personalized radio service for its cell phone users; T-Mobile announced plans to launch a speedy, 3G phone service in Europe; and Samsung revealed details of a new 2-megapixel camera phone.
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E-books
For some reason, our search logs recorded a spike in interest in e-books this week. Why? It could have something to do with Sony's announcement of a new generation of electronic books. The display has been the e-book's biggest weakness. But Sony general manager Yoshitaka Ukita says the technology his company is using--from start-up E Ink--"provides a level of text clarity comparable to paper." Sony's e-book will debut in Japan this April, cost about $375, be about half the size of a paperback book, and have 10MB of built-in memory--enough for 20 books.
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