Hewlett-Packard Co. will replace memory modules in up to 900,000 HP notebooks with an "industry-wide" design flaw that can cause system lockups. The problem is tied to the interaction of DRAM and Intel chipsets. HP's replacement program will send the customer a kit containing a screwdriver and instructions for replacing the faulty modules. The customer can then ship the DRAM to HP and receive a new module free. HP appears to be the only computer manufacturer taking action. A representative from Dell Computer Corp. said the company is "looking into it."
Computer trade show Comdex, once the biggest event on the tech calendar, has been canceled this year, making room for the growing interest in shows emphasizing consumer electronics and specialist IT gear.
Personal computer makers have been eager to revolutionize the way people watch movies, listen to music and record their favorite TV shows. Last month Intel launched new core logic and motherboards, along with a new socket format for the Pentium IV, targeting the high-performance desktop PC market. The new technology gives PCs more powerful sound and graphics, a speedier link for peripherals and memory, and an ability to run a wireless data network, turning the PCs into home entertainment devices. The inclusion of Wi-Fi access point technology allows new PCs with the chipset to become wireless gateways for other mobile devices. Intel was unable to ramp up the Wi-Fi technology in time for the launch, but Intel spokesman Dan Snyder said Intel will announce the technology now and provide availability later throughout the year.
Sun Microsystems has designed 3-D interface software to compete with the PC desktop and file folders. Sun's "Project Looking Glass", is a 3D interface allowing documents or images to be turned sideways and spun around so that notations can be made on the back. Sun is initially planning to use the technology on desktop machines running Linux or Sun's Solaris operating system. Sun president and COO Jonathan Schwartz says Project Looking Glass reflects a swing in software development back toward desktop machines instead of running programs on centralized servers.
Meanwhile the digital home has become a reality! At the Samsung Tower Palace in Seoul, $1 million-plus apartments are outfitted with Internet-enabled ovens, security cameras and wall-mounted flat-panel displays. The company has tests under way in Canada, Australia and Europe, and it recently struck deals with two U.S.-based home builders to conduct digital home trials in the U.S. Wiring homes in the U.S. will cost from $2,000 to $10,000.
The Virtual Doctor Will See You Now. Some health care providers are offering e-mail medical advice and "e-visits". So how do you get doctors who don't want to use e-mail because they are too busy, worried about privacy, and not being paid for it to buy into the program? Pay them, of course! In August, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts will start paying primary care physicians for 'Web visits' with their patients. Blue Cross will be expanding a pilot program that pays doctors to respond to patient e-mails. Watch for the program in your area...
From truckers in the U.S. and Canada to Yak farmers in the mountains of Nepal, more people are jumping in with wireless technology. Yak farmers are taking advantage of a wi-fi network set up in a remote region to keep in touch with their families where there are no phones or other communication. And at networked farms of the future, farmers sit in their pickups with a laptop, drive robot tractors and even feed the hogs remotely. Two Georgia farmers are already using the technology: One uses wireless video to monitor vegetable packing; another uses a wireless network equipped with GPS to monitor irrigation systems. Robotic tractor technology has also proven useful in insect control. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) hopes to reduce fatigue-related accidents by enticing drivers with free Wi-Fi hotspots so they'll stop more often and check their e-mail. Meanwhile, the whole city of Chaska, Minnesota will soon be blanketed by a Wi-Fi hot-spot and city officials plan to offer wireless Internet access as a municipal service for about $16/month for home users, creating a "connected community." The manager of arena operations for the Charlotte Bobcats is including Wi-Fi wireless in the design of a new $265 million arena. He says, "Some people will think this is the geeky thing, the nerdy thing. But they were probably saying that 10 years ago when other people were going to Web sites and using e-mail." Other sports teams are following suit; Giants CIO Bill Schlough says: "It's like walking into Starbucks -- except our Wi-Fi is free!"
Game developer Respond sign has created a first-of-its-kind game geared toward helping the player lose weight through exercise and diet. The game, titled "Yourself! Fitness", is designed for the Xbox and features a virtual personal trainer who guides the player through a customized set of exercises and diets; players advance to the next level when certain fitness goals are met. Next year the Xbox Live version will allow players to use a wireless headset to chat with each other during their workouts
"The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales," released by Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee and his co-author Koleman Strumpf, of the University of North Carolina caused a ruckus in the music industry. The team concluded Internet music piracy not only doesn't hurt legitimate CD sales, it may even boost sales. The researchers contend that most downloading is done over peer-to-peer networks by teens and college kids, groups that are "money-poor but time-rich," and wouldn't have bought the songs they downloaded, anyway. The team also claims illegal downloading may actually help the industry with an older crowd who download a song or two and then, if they like what they hear, go out and buy the music.
"Toxic dust" found on computer processors and monitors contains chemicals called PBDEs which have been linked to reproductive and neurological disorders. "The levels in the dust are enough to raise a red flag, but not enough to create a crisis," said Dr. Gina Solomon, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council and assistant professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. "I have an old computer monitor in front of me now, and I'm not about to throw it away. But when I get a new one, it darn well will be free of these chemicals." Dell, along with Apple Computer Inc. and others, stopped using PBDEs in 2002.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a federal law designed to restrict Internet pornography violated Americans' rights to freedom of speech and upheld an injunction excluding prosecutors from filing criminal cases under the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, until a full trial takes place. COPA restricts the use of sexually explicit material deemed "harmful to minors" on commercial Web sites. But the law isn't dead: COPA now goes back to a Philadelphia appeals court for a full trial.
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