March 15, 2006, 1:46 PM PST
Business desktop advice
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

The wise businessperson always seeks input from more than one adviser before making a decision. So if you're trying to decide on which business desktops to buy, in addition to CNET's own business buying guide, you might want to look at a new desktop buyer's guide from AllBusiness.com. We don't agree with all of its recommendations (for example, we recommend dual-core machines as hedges against increasingly piggy application suites and for the upcoming Vista operating system), but it is a thoughtful overview of the business PC market.

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March 15, 2006, 1:44 PM PST
The Mamiya ZD is finally here...sort of
Posted by: Lori Grunin

For those of you who don't religiously follow this type of thing, Mamiya announced its 22-megapixel, medium-format-size (48mm-by-36mm) sensor back in September 2004. The big news at the time was, in addition to the high resolution, compatibility with Mamiya 645AF lenses. Well, the Mamiya ZD is now finally available, at least in Europe; we North Americans will have to wait a few more months to find out if it's worth its $13,000 price tag.

Note: Matt Fitzgerald contributed 99 percent of the words in this piece; I just changed their order a bit.

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March 15, 2006, 11:25 AM PST
Archos releases new MP3 player
Posted by: James Kim

After a quiet winter, Archos has launched the 104 MP3 player, which replaces the 3GB Gmini XS 100. Exactly the same size as its predecessor, the Archos 104 includes a 4GB hard drive, a colorful OLED screen, and photo-viewing features, as well as compatibility with MP3, WAV, and protected WMA (including subscriptions).

Here are some specs from Archos:

4GB hard drive: stores up to 2,000 songs or 40,000 photos

OLED 1.5-inch color screen

Photo viewer: store, share, and view JPEG2 photos

Newly designed icon-based navigation: easily guide through functions and menus with the fresh interface

Multiple file formats: plays MP3, WAV, WMA, and protected WMA music and audio podcast files

Up to 14 hours of battery life

Microsoft PlaysForSure support: purchase, download, or rent protected music content from PlaysForSure-compatible digital music stores

Windows Media Player 10 support: enjoy automatic synchronization with Windows Media Player 9 and 10 for fast music transfer

Easy music management: use the Archos ArcLibrary to sort music by artist, genre, title, and year, as well as rename, move, copy, or delete files and make playlists directly on the device

USB 2.0 connection: download content using a high-speed USB 2.0 connection

Choice of color: metallic gray, black, or pink to match your lifestyle

Shuffle playlists: shuffle your entire library or select a folder or a playlist for random playback

Stereo connection: hook up the Archos 104 to a stereo and play music around the house

Wide choice of optional accessories: an extensive list, including a carrying case that can be worn on a belt or around the neck; car chargers; sound cases; and more

The 4GB Archos 104 shapes up to be a great buy at $150, which is about $100 less than the much waifier 4GB iPod Nano. It's a bit iPod Mini-like in size and aesthetics, plus it has a color screen. If you're a feature hound, you should know that it's missing an FM tuner and recording capabilities. Still, as with the XS 100, we think the 104 will rate highly. It will be available in May.

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March 15, 2006, 11:08 AM PST
Adobe releases critical Flash security update
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Adobe acknowledged critical vulnerabilities within its Flash player and recommends downloading an updated version, 8.0.24.0. The advisory affects all versions of Flash before 8.0.22 running on Windows 98, 98 SE, Me, and XP. To find out what version you have, visit this Macromedia Flash page. The Flash vulnerabilities, if exploited, could allow a remote attacker to gain control of an affected system. Adobe also released security updates for Macromedia Breeze Meeting Add-In (for online conferencing) and Shockwave Player 10.1.1.

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March 15, 2006, 10:40 AM PST
Nova features the DARPA Grand Challenge
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

Although not particularly timely, Nova will air an in-depth feature about the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge on March 28. Titled The Great Robot Race, it will be broadcast by PBS. And if you happen to miss it, you'll be able to watch the entire program at Nova's Web site starting on March 29. Currently, the Web site hosts video outtakes and teasers about the feature.

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March 15, 2006, 8:55 AM PST
PS3 launch details revealed; new PSP features and price announced
Posted by: David Rudden

In the wake of fervent rumors of the PS3's demise, Sony came clean with launch information about the PS3, while presenting a host of new features for a price-dropped PSP. Here are the main bullet points, separated by console.

PlayStation 3:

The PlayStation 3 will launch in all territories in early to mid-November 2006--with a pre-Black Friday release promised. No price was given. This is a delay from the console's purported spring release in Japan but on track with the speculated launch for the United States and Europe.

The 60GB 2.5-inch hard disc drive will have a Linux OS. It was not revealed whether the hard drive will come with the console, but one will be necessary to play PS3 games.

Sony is preparing an online gaming service comparable to Xbox Live. It will be called PlayStation Network Platform. No price was given, but "free" is being bandied about.

In order to meet the worldwide demand and avoid Xbox 360-esque shortages, Sony will produce 1 million PS3 consoles each month, promising 6 million by March 2007.

As expected, PS3 games will only be available on Blu-ray discs to curtail piracy. The PS3 will play DVDs and CDs as well as PS2 and PS1 games.

PlayStation Portable:

A new PSP bundle available next week will retail for $200--$50 less than the current bundle. The new bundle will include only the system with the built-in battery pack and an AC adapter. Gone is the 32MB Memory Stick, the headphones with remote, and the soft case. No word yet on the status of the worship cloth.

Sony is developing an emulator that allows the PSP to play PS1 games--legally. The games will be digitally distributed in the same way that Microsoft provides Xbox Live Arcade games and Nintendo promises to deliver previous-gen games on the Revolution. This leads speculation that Sony will ramp up the available memory, perhaps via a console redesign.

Beginning in October, the PSP will support Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Complementing it will be an EyeToy-esque accessory that supports motion JPEGs.

Rounding out the new features for the PSP is the ability to play games made with Macromedia Flash, RSS feeds in the Internet browser, and a GPS locator.

PlayStation 2:

The PS2 will remain firm at its $150 price tag. Sony will continue to support the console for another four to five years. It's always nice to have some humor at these press conferences.

Source: GameSpot (PS3) (PSP), IGN (PS2)

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March 15, 2006, 8:34 AM PST
Bitty not so bad
Posted by: Rafe Needleman

After I wrote a questioning bit about the Bitty Browser ("Picture-in-picture for the Web: Is it needed? Doesn't it compete with RSS?"), that I saw at PC Forum, I got a quick e-mail reply from the company's CEO, Scott Matthews. He has answers for my questions, which I've edited for length. Note that Scott references a column I recently wrote, stating that the Web is becoming a collection of modules, not pages. Clever, turning me against myself like that.

Q: Is it needed? A: "First, regular 'full-size' browser navigation is useful. Second, people like to build sites out of blocks of content (I don't need to convince you of that). Those two are not mutually exclusive. And navigable blocks have considerably more potential than flat blocks."

Q: Doesn't it compete with RSS? A: "It provides you with another way to work with RSS content; for example, people often add RSS feeds to their sites (that is, in a block, as mentioned above) but you typically just get a list of headlines, and clicking them takes you away from the page you're on. With Bitty, you can point it at an RSS feed, and then browse and read the contents of the feed while remaining in-context."

I stopped by Scott's exhibit at PC Forum and got a full demo of his technology. I came in thinking that pop-up browser windows, tabs, and framed Web pages did enough for us, but I now think he's onto something. He's built a way to embed one entire site into another, which could be useful as the modular Web gets built out.

I think he has a lot of work to do with design, though. If you embed a site designed for a full PC interface into a tiny window, it looks awful. However, you can easily embed a WAP or cell phone site (such as CNET's Mobile site, m.cnet.com) into a small window, and it's a pretty cool effect. Another person watching the demo thought Scott should modify the look and feel of his window frame to look like a cell phone, which would telegraph to the user that there's a micro Web site embedded within it. I thought that was an excellent idea.

Final verdict: Very cool idea, needs some artistic and business development.

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March 15, 2006, 8:28 AM PST
LG to release HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo player this fall?
Posted by: John P. Falcone

Reuters is reporting that LG Electronics is planning to launch a "universal player" capable of playing HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. The player, which (according to an analyst quoted by Reuters) would be released in the fall, would give consumers a futureproof upgrade option to next-generation high-definition optical discs while effectively allowing them to remain neutral as the format war between the two camps continues to rage.

Toshiba's first HD-DVD player, the HD-XA1, is scheduled to hit stores on or around March 28. Blu-ray players from Samsung, Sony, and Pioneer are scheduled to become available starting May 23, and Sony's PlayStation 3--which will play Blu-ray movies in addition to next-generation video games--has now been officially slated for a November 2006 worldwide release. While a universal player would be welcome news to videophiles, LG has yet to confirm pricing, availability, or even a model number for the supposed player. However, the combo player would be a logical step forward based on last week's news that the company was cancelling its previously announced Blu-ray-only player and backing HD-DVD in addition to Blu-ray. We have a call in to LG asking for further confirmation and clarification, and we'll pass along any news as soon as it arrives.

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March 15, 2006, 1:55 AM PST
PS3 worldwide in November, PSP for $200 next week
Posted by: David Rudden

At a hastily planned briefing held in Japan, Sony provided some big news, much of it concerning gamers in the United States. Primarily, executives promised a worldwide November (pre-Thanksgiving) launch of the PS3. No price was given, though a PSP price drop to $200 starting March 22 was announced, according to GameSpot.

UPDATE: Full details on today's PS3 and PSP news is available here.

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