Asustek Computer will begin shipping third-generation (3G) smartphones based on Intel's mobile platform to European telecom service providers including Vodafone and O2 in the fourth quarter of this year, but these will be the last Asustek 3G smartphones based on Intel's platform, according to industry sources.

Camera phones and webcams could get even smaller because Micron has introduced their new 1/5" wide 1.3 megapixel CMOS sensor. The MT9M019 sensor captures 1280 by 1024 pixel pictures at 30 fps or 640 by 480 pixels at 60 fps. Micron claims the low-light sensitivity of the sensor is about 1 lux which is equal to one candle.

Fujitsu today announced today that it recalled approximately 287,000 notebook computers equipped with Sony-built batteries. The total number of recalled notebooks with Sony batteries has now topped 7.5 million. Last week, Fujitsu said that their computers were affected by the defective Sony batteries, but did not announce how many would be recalled.

The wireless keyboard and mouse could become a lot less power hungry if a new radio technology called Wibree fulfils expectations.

Think of it as a car alarm and kill switch for your phone. A London-based company has developed Remote XT, new security software that makes a stolen cell phone scream and lock itself. The program also wipes all the data from the phone.

Everyone and their mother seem to be jumping on the credit card-sized USB flash drives. Now OCZ Technology is announcing an 8GB model USB 2.0 drive that measures the same thickness of about 3-4 credit cards. The OCZ Mega-Kart comes in black and has an LED light that blinks when the drive is accessed. The Mega-Kart comes with a one year warranty. No release date or price has been announced.

Are you a podcast addict, but can't stand the hassle or the time needed to download all your new episodes? Imorphosis, a San Ramon, CA-based company, is developing a podcast appliance that automatically downloads and synchronizes podcasts to your Ipod and most other MP3 players. The ivory white docking unit has a Cat 5 Ethernet connection to directly download the podcasts, without a computer.

Project-a-Phone, a company that makes products for projection of cell phone screens, today announced the launch of the ICD-5000 Image Capture and Display system. The ICD-5000 allows cell phone owners to display the content on their mobile screen to a computer, monitor, or projection screen.

Ontario (CA) - Samson, makers of professional audio gear, has released the Zoom H4 Handy Digital Recorder, which promises to capture professional sounding audio to SD cards. The H4 has two condenser microphones that are mounted for stereo sound capture. Samson representatives told us the integrated microphones can sweep a room and record true stereo sound without any channel dropouts.

With all the laptops going up in flames recently, the United States government, specifically the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), is given some helpful tips on how to prevent such a catastrophe. While some of the tips are indeed useful, many of the others are painfully obvious and leave us scratching our heads.

Too lazy or embarrassed to pick up your cell phone to see who is calling? Soon you'll be able to simply glance at your watch for Caller ID information with Fossil and Sony Ericsson's new line of watches. The watch receives the Caller ID information via a Bluetooth link with the owner's mobile phone and then displays the number under a set of traditional hour and minutes hand.

Round Rock (TX) - Dell today announced that they have updated the number of battery packs in their notebook computers that were affected by the recall of Sony batteries. According to Dell, the number has been increased from 4.1 million to 4.2 million. Dude, your Dell just exploded...

ESPN today announced that its cell phone service, Mobile ESPN, will suspend its operations effective 31 December, 2006. The service, which was only available to a handful of specific handsets, will be repackaged as a licensed service to Sprint PCS customers.

Washington D.C. - Lenovo, IBM and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today issued a recall for 526,000 Sony batteries in Thinkpad notebook computers. The recall comes after reports that a Lenovo system had caught fire at the Los Angeles LAX International Airport. The latest recall brings the tally to more than 6.4 million Sony batteries that are being recalled due to a fire hazard.

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft today announced the official launch its Zune media player. The device will go head-to-head with Apple's video Ipod starting on 14 November and will sell for a lower than expected retail price of $250. See the Microsoft Zune in detail here ...

At the ongoing Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Asustek Computer is showcasing a notebook that comes with a small screen on the cover.

Toshiba today announced details of two new notebook computers, each of which is available with Intel Core 2 Duo Processors.

Nokia today introduced a new addition the list of N-series phones, their high-end line of multimedia phones. The N95 includes a slate of ambitious features, like GPS functionality, a "2-way slide concept" and a 5-megapixel digital camera.

Sirius today announced a new flagship portable radio that promises subscribers to listen to live satellite radio from anywhere. The S50 tuner, Sirius' other portable radio, lets subscribers play back recorded content on the go as well, but requires them to hook the radio to a car or home dock to actually receive live programming. Another unique feature of the Stiletto 100 is Wi-Fi compatibility, which offers an alternative way to connect to Sirius's Internet radio services and enables users to transfer MP3 and WMA files to the radio for on-demand playback.