High technology news

Scientists from IBM, Macronix and Qimonda today announced joint research results that give a major boost to a new type of computer memory with the potential to be the successor to flash memory chips, which are widely used in computers and consumer electronics like digital cameras and portable music players.

The advancement heralds future success for “phase-change” memory, which appears to be much faster and can be scaled to dimensions smaller than flash – enabling future generations of high-density “non-volatile” memory devices as well as more powerful electronics. Non-volatile memories do not require electrical power to retain their information. By combining non-volatility with good performance and reliability, this phase-change technology may also enable a path toward a universal memory for mobile applications.
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After years of selling online music digitally wrapped with copy and playback restrictions designed to hinder piracy, major music labels are beginning to make some songs available in the unrestricted MP3 file format.

The releases are part of an experiment to gauge demand for tracks that can be played on any digital music player capable of playing MP3s, one of the oldest music compression formats.

Normally, copy-protected tracks are only playable on certain devices. By selling MP3s, recording companies can ensure they can be played on Apple Computer Inc.’s market-leading iPod players without going through Apple’s iTunes Music Store.
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Advanced Micro Devices Inc. began shipping personal-computer processors made with a new technique that makes them more efficient, closing a gap with market leader Intel Corp.

Advanced Micro is selling four new Athlon desktop-computer chips made with so-called 65-nanometer technology, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said in a statement today. Personal computers based on the chips go on sale this month.
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South Korean researchers have designed and built an inexpensive optical lens that collects light from a large area and produces a virtually distortion-free wide-angle image. Standing in contrast to commonly known “fisheye” lenses, which produce significant amounts of visual distortion, low-distortion wide-angle lenses can potentially improve image-based applications such as security-camera systems and robot navigation. The new wide-angle lens is lighter, smaller and more affordable than commercially available “rectilinear” lenses, which also produce low-distortion views. The researchers present their new feat of optical technology in the Dec. 1 issue of Applied Optics, a publication of the Optical Society of America.
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