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Epson's new line of printers for small-business owners

Monday marked a milestone for Epson printers, as the company revealed a new line of all-in-one and photo printers designed for the small- to medium-size business consumer.

The two single-function WorkForce 30 and 40s, as well as the higher-end WorkForce 500 and 600 all-in-ones, promise to deliver speed, quality, and utility in an attractive package. Judging from the initial pictures, the WorkForce 600, the new line's flagship model, appears to have a comprehensive set of buttons on the faceplate surrounding its 2.5-inch LCD screen.

According to the release, the 600 is both speedy and efficient, capable of printing … Read more

Intel USB 3.0 update resolves dispute with Nvidia, AMD

Intel has released a specification revision for next-generation USB 3.0 technology that resolves a dispute with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, which had threatened to develop their own USB 3.0 standard.

USB 3.0--also known as SuperSpeed USB--is a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009. It is significant not only because all future PCs and devices will use connectors based on the standard but because it will offer 10 times the speed of USB 2.0--used in virtually all PCs introduced in the last few years--or roughly 5 gigabits per second.

On Wednesday, Intel released what it … Read more

Moto rolls out new Rokr phones

Motorola expanded its music phone lineup Tuesday with three new Rokr cell phones. The handsets offer a wide range of designs and features, though all put music squarely at the center.

The EM30 is the most high-end model of the trio. It offers a traditional candy bar design in an appealing black and red color scheme. The keypad offers the same ModeShift keypad that we saw on the Motorola Rokr E8. As you move between different functions, the backlighting on the keypad changes to illuminate only the relevant buttons.

In addition to the Rokr music player, the EM30 offers an … Read more

Faster FireWire on way for gigabit generation

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has approved a new specification that gives support for bandwidth of up to 3.2Gbps--the standard that is used by Apple's FireWire and Sony's iLink, among others.

Most commonly called FireWire, it was initially intended as a general-use fast serial bus, but has found niches in attached storage and multimedia applications, primarily because of its guaranteed latency.

Like many standards, the issue for this specification--IEEE 1394-2008--is maintaining compatibility across different generations, and ensuring that the protocol keeps up with advances in hardware technique. Many implementations are still using the 400Mbps S400 … Read more

Fun flying with Power Downloader

Kitty Kilobyte is off to Europe for her annual vacation abroad. Like many of us, she loves travel but hates flying. When she asked Power Downloader if he had any advice--such as a program that was so boring it would put her to sleep for 10 hours--he came back with an alternative plan.

Instead of boring herself to sleep, Power Downloader suggested Kitty try a brain challenge--an engaging game that would take her mind off the pre-flight horrors of the TSA and the in-flight trauma of getting stuck with the middle seat. Power D's recommendation this week is MahJong Suite 2008. … Read more

USB 3.0: Nvidia responds to Intel, SiS joins fight

Nvidia is now firing back at Intel. The world's largest graphics chip maker has responded to Intel's latest statement on the USB 3.0 specification and said chipset maker SiS has also joined the group of companies at odds with Intel.

There are now four companies vying with Intel--all chipset makers: Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Via Technologies, and SiS.

And they're moving quickly to establish their own so-called "host controller" specification. "We're moving fast. We've already staffed it internally. We have resources submitted from all of the companies (Nvidia, AMD, Via, and … Read more

Nvidia, AMD vie with Intel over USB 3.0

UPDATE: AMD and Nvidia aim to wrest control of a crucial PC specification from Intel, arguing that the chip giant is trying to box them out as they move to a new era of faster peripherals.

In play is the USB 3.0 specification, a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009. It is significant not only because all future PCs and devices will use connectors based on the standard but because it will offer 10 times the speed of USB 2.0--used in virtually all PCs introduced in the last few years--or roughly 5 gigabits per second.

Intel formed … Read more

Jenn-Air's slide-in range offers cooktop grilling and downdraft ventilation

The Jenn-Air 30-inch slide-in electric range offers modular flexibility on the stovetop so you can grill chicken while you are boiling pasta.

One side of this stove provides the option to grill with 1,900 watts of cooking power. The stove ships with an open double electric bay on the other side. To use it, you'll need to buy a separate cartridge, which costs between $150 and $299, depending on whether you want coil or radiant heat.

The oven on this model has 4.3 cubic feet of cooking space and menu-driven touch pad controls that offer high and … Read more

MP3 Insider 99: Donald's back!

It's a full-on celebration as Donald returns from his paternity leave and Jasmine demands that he never have more children. Oh, and there are some headphones, an MP3 player, and music news too. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 99

More TV shows for your Zune: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9953767-1.htmlIriver Mplayer: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/iriver-mplayer-1gb-pink/4505-6490_7-32858127.html?tag=prod.txt.3%20?tag=imgJayBird JB-200i: http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/jaybird-jb-200i-bluetooth/4505-7877_7-33056080.html?tag=links;reviewSony MDR-AS30G Active Headphones: http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/sony-mdr-as30g-active/4505-7877_7-32912122.html?tag=links;reviewPhilips … Read more

Webware 100 winner: 30 Boxes

30 Boxes is an online calendaring tool. Instead of clicking on dates and times to enter appointments, you can type in its single entry box something like, "Lunch, noon Friday with Frank," and it will create the appointment based on that.

Despite its simplicity, it's more than an events calendar with a rudimentary understanding of scheduling grammar. It's also an aggregation service for time-based updates from your social sites and for those of your friends. For example, 30 Boxes will put your blog updates, Twitter messages, Upcoming.org calendar items, and Flickr photos on your calendar, … Read more