Personal Technology News

While the smartphone world is moving toward touchscreen technology, Research in Motion on Monday partnered with T-Mobile to announce the first BlackBerry flip phone.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Millions of youngsters across Europe could suffer permanent hearing loss after five years if they listen to MP3 players at too high a volume for more than five hours a week, EU scientists warned Monday.

A Silicon Valley company is claiming a major victory in its efforts to sell computers to schools that might otherwise be enticed by low-cost laptops such as the green-and-white XO from One Laptop Per Child or Intel Corp.'s Classmate PC.

While the possibility of the iPod having an integrated solar cell remains a patent application on paper for now, a company from Singapore, Shiro, offers an alternative for those who can't wait.

San Francisco - Apple iPhone, move over. At least, that's the hope of Google and Research in Motion as they ready the first serious competitors to the iPhone, in the "mobile 2.0" market that Apple invented.

Anyone who's held an iPhone near electronic equipment like car radios, computer speakers, audio receivers and more has likely been subjected to the noise of electronic interference from the iPhone. A new product from Quick Bridge Solutions promises to fix that. The QB-EM Shield costs $3.99.

Orange UK has temporarily stopped selling Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold while it tries to figure out a solution to unspecified 3G-related problems on the handset.

Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) on Friday announced it's shipping the TransDock Direct, a new dock and charging system for the iPod. It costs $59.99.

People who listen to personal music players for only five hours a week at a high volume may be doing permanent damage to their hearing.

There's a lot to look forward to in the upcoming New Xbox Experience -- set to launch on November 19 -- but for those who own Xbox 360s without a hard drive or a 256MB memory card, you may have to go through a few headaches before you can download it.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc. rallied more than 9 percent Friday, as investors saw a newly attractive valuation in the battered stock and anticipated new laptop computers.

LOS ANGELES - Now that Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG have broken off their troubled relationship, known as Sony BMG, the Japanese company hopes to harmonize its consumer electronics and its music, a duo that was badly out of sync.

When Apple released its MacBook Pro laptop, reviewers called it an evolutionary improvement and touted its new GeForce 8600 GT mobile graphics processor, made by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia. Now some models may have faulty chips.

Research In Motion and its U.S. carrier, AT&T, are being careful to avoid the problems Apple had with its launch of the iPhone 3G.

If you've ever been stuck with a non-functioning computer and a functioning Apple iPod that has all your music on it, you are not alone. Now Senuti ("iTunes" reversed) offers a solution.

ezGear has released its ezView Leather Case for the iPhone 3G. The new case costs $34.99.

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Mobile gaming companies say they will book few new sales from Nokia's N-Gage phones or Apple's iPhone, but are betting on a market boost next year as more phones of these kinds are taken up by consumers.

Earlier this week, U.K. telecom Orange decided to hold off on the Blackberry Bold for two to three weeks, due to quality concerns. Why? Software problems, apparently. It's one possible reason why AT&T has taken so long to release the Bold here in the United States.

We recently got a chance to grab a controller and play around with the latest in-development version of the Microsoft Xbox Live Experience at a demo here in San Francisco. The highlights? Revamped avatars and a "party system".

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Apple has swept the board at Britain's T3 technology magazine's annual awards, winning four top prizes, including gadget of the year for its iPod Touch.

Microsoft is raising Xbox 360 forecasts in Japan amid rumors Sony might drop the price of its PlayStation 3 even more. Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning to release an Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray drive, putting it on more equal digital-media footing with its main rival.

The Web is percolating rumors that a new Apple laptop is in the works with an $800 price tag. Currently, Apple lists its lowest-priced MacBook at $1,099.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Apple is expected to unveil new notebook computers, perhaps even one priced for those with tight budgets, at a "town hall" gathering at its northern California headquarters next week.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - TiVo Inc said on Thursday it has received the $104.6 million in damages from EchoStar Corp that it won this week when the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal of a patent infringement case.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc will unveil its updated laptops on October 14 and they may cost less, but analysts say the company's drooping stock has already taken any change into account.

Intel-backed start-up ZPower may be the first to introduce an alternative to the ubiquitous lithium-ion laptop battery, with a silver-zinc technology the company says will make its debut with a large laptop maker in 2009.

TOKYO (AFP) - Sony said Thursday it will launch a beefed-up version of its PlayStation 3 in Japan this month at the same price as the current version but with double the storage capacity.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - DVD rental company Netflix Inc on Wednesday said it will begin adding $1 to monthly membership fees to provide unlimited access to high-definition Blu-ray movies.

Incipio has introduced the Feather, a new case for the iPhone 3G. It costs $19.99.