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Personal Tech

The buzz

By Times Staff
Published September 4, 2006

Apple, Dell to address battery safety issues

Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc., which recalled nearly 6-million notebook batteries between them in August, are among computer- makers planning to meet this month to discuss setting design and safety standards for lithium-ion batteries used in portable electronic devices. The batteries were blamed in rare fires that prompted last month's recalls, the largest electronic recalls involving federal product-safety officials. Dell and Apple belong to an electronics-industry trade group that sets standards for many electronic components. The group's critical-parts committee will meet Sept. 13 in San Jose, Calif. Sony Corp., which made the recalled batteries, has not indicated whether it will attend. Kim Sterling of the trade group IPC said the meeting had been scheduled before Dell's Aug. 14 recall of 4.1-million notebook batteries and Apple's recall 10 days later of 1.8-million batteries.

AOL revamps music download offerings

Internet giant AOL has revamped its Web-based music download service, adding music videos, streaming radio and user community features. The new version of AOL Music Now offers 2.5-million audio tracks and thousands of music videos, the company said. Audio tracks can be bought individually for 99 cents, while music videos cost $1.99 each. The service offers unlimited downloads for $9.95 monthly, or $14.95 for the ability to transfer songs to compatible portable music players. By increasing video content, AOL is putting itself in a better position to compete with rivals like Yahoo, said Phil Leigh, an analyst with Inside Digital Media in Tampa.

Contact us, computer groups

Personal Tech is updating its list of the region's consumer-oriented computer user groups. Send the following information to personaltech@sptimes com: Name of your organization; when the group meets such as fourth Tuesday of the month; time of the meetings; location, including address; and contact information, such as e-mail, phone and/or Web address. The list will be posted at www.sptimes.com/blogs/tech.

Join Tech Times discussion

For tech news, links and comments throughout the week, join Times technology editor Dave Gussow at the Tech Times blog (www. sptimes.com/blogs/tech). We invite you to join the conversation by posting your com- ments and questions. For video games, visit Josh Korr's blog (www.sptimes.com /blogs/videogames).

[Last modified September 4, 2006, 06:01:06]