Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Worldwide shipments of handheld computers fell 12 percent in the first quarter to 2.25-million units from a year earlier.
PalmOne Inc. kept the top spot, with a 36 percent share of units shipped, down from 39 percent in the fourth quarter and the same as a year earlier, IDC said. No. 2 Hewlett-Packard Co.'s share rose to 26 percent from 18 percent a year earlier as its unit sales increased 30 percent.
Many customers bought handheld computers during the holiday quarter, and sales slumped 33 percent from the fourth quarter of 2003, IDC said. Many of the devices sold were entry-level, with fewer features and lower prices. That may call into question whether consumers will buy more expensive models when they are introduced this year, IDC said.
NTracker thwarts laptop thieves
Laptop theft is a nagging worry for business travelers and those who compute. While the computer can be replaced, confidential and personal data stored on it may be priceless. So the nTracker by SyNet Electronics aims to protect both your hardware and your software.
Once installed and configured on a laptop, the nTracker software sends a periodic e-mail message to the mailbox of your choice, listing the Internet Protocol address the computer is using (even if it is in your possession and everything is fine). This can help authorities locate a stolen machine when it is being used online. During the nTracker setup process, the user is asked to create a password that must be entered periodically. If the laptop is stolen and the correct password is not entered by the thief after three tries, nTracker encrypts specified folders on the machine and the screen displays a message that the computer has been stolen.
The nTracker program works with Windows 98 SE and later and sells for $50 at www.synet.biz where a trial version is available to download. As an added security feature, the program can be uninstalled only with the original software CD.
To prevent thieves from booting your computer from a Windows installation disc and reformatting your hard drive to evade nTracker, the company suggests disabling the computer's ability to start up from a CD or diskette in the system's BIOS settings and then password-protecting the BIOS itself to prevent tampering. There is a catch, however: You have to remember your passwords.
Yahoo, AOL offer new features to users
Yahoo Inc. released a new version of its IM program. The "All New Yahoo Messenger" adds photo sharing, Internet radio and avatars, graphical representations of people or creatures. "We are changing the messaging landscape by introducing new ways for people to express, share and manage, making instant messaging more essential to their lives," said Lisa Pollock Mann, senior director.
America Online has software, too. The AOL Toolbar is a free download to give subscribers and nonmembers access to Google-powered AOL Search. Small icons on the bar also offer easy access for members to read AOL e-mail and navigate to popular content areas such as Yellow Pages, white pages, weather and stock quotes. The toolbar runs on PCs using Microsoft Windows. The Time Warner division's release comes on the heels of other search-related toolbars recently upgraded or offered by MSN, Yahoo and Amazon.com.
Memorex device repairs scratched CDs, DVDs
If a long winter left you with a pile of scuffed and skipping DVDs and PlayStation discs, a little spring cleaning of the digital variety might be in order. To get those scratched and battered video games, movies and albums spinning smoothly again, Memorex offers its OptiFix Pro system.
The OptiFix Pro kit, which sells for $30 in electronics stores, comes with special chemical solutions for cleaning and repairing most disc formats. It can buff computer-friendly CD and DVD discs, audio CDs, DVD movies and those GameCube, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Xbox discs that take a lot of handling from family gamers.
The repair solution (a tube of aluminum oxide used with special repair pads included in the kit) can be used to fill in light scratches on the reflective layer of a disc. The cleaning solution, silicone oil, comes with a set of pads for use inside the OptiFix Pro unit.
Once the proper pad has been sprayed with the cleaning or repairing solution, the damaged disc is placed inside the OptiFix Pro, which automatically polishes it for 45 seconds to two minutes. Although some discs with deep scratches are beyond repair, a session with the OptiFix may save you from having to buy another Blue's Clues DVD after the toddlers get ahold of the first one.
AtomFilms goes high-definition
Sit back, relax and enjoy. That's how AtomFilms Hi-Def, a new free online film service seeking to be so easy to use that instructions will be superfluous, introduces itself. Blending the services of AtomFilms, a Web-based film-on-demand pioneer, and Marven Networks, a broadband media software company, AtomFilms Hi-Def automatically downloads film to Windows-based computers with high-speed Internet access.
Three films a week, 60 seconds to 30 minutes each, are saved onto the hard drives of computers running the AtomFilms-Marven software, which can be downloaded at www.hidef.atomfilms.com Elisa Greene, a spokeswoman for the service, said all films could be viewed in full screen and at least DVD quality.
For computers using Windows XP and Windows Media High-Definition Video, the service begins to live up to its name: It delivers two high-definition films each month. Those films can be viewed at a progressive-scan resolution of 720 lines, almost twice the resolution of standard digital television. The films delete themselves two weeks after arriving. This month the service is adding to its lineup the second season of Angry Kid, a popular British series of one-minute animated films about an oversize adolescent rendered in computer animation and live action.
Talkback on spyware
Spyware is in the news. Readers with questions or comments about it and other tech news and issues of the day can post items for Times personal technology editor Dave Gussow at the Times Talkback site (www.sptimes.com/talkback)
- Compiled from staff and wire reports