HP debuts water cooling system

HP plans to begin selling a water cooling system next week to address the power and heat problems that new technology inflicts on computer administrators, reports CNet.

The Modular Cooling System attaches to the side of an HP rack of computing gear, providing a sealed chamber of cooled air separated from the rest of a data centre, said Paul Perez, VP of storage, networking and infrastructure for HP`s Industry Standard Server group.

The system lets a rack consume as much as 30 kilowatts of power - about three times what would be possible otherwise - without posing problems to a data centre`s cooling systems, Perez said. However, the cooling system also requires a connection to an external chilled-water system to cool its water.

Today Google rolls out yet another new product - a search toolbar geared toward businesses - and it has updated its popular existing desktop toolbar.

According to Forbes, the desktop toolbar, essentially a pint-sized window designed to sit on an Internet browser frame, makes an easy entry point for initial searches. But Google is also making the application more useful for other chores.

The updated toolbar is compatible with Microsoft`s Internet Explorer and features customisable buttons that can visit and search specific sites and automatically update with new feeds. This toolbar also features an enhanced search box and the ability to share Web pages via blog, e-mail or text message. It will also let users sign on to their Google account.

The city of Los Angeles is suing the maker of the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for hiding sex scenes in its computer code, reports The Guardian.

The game, released in 2004, is one of a series in which the player takes the role of a criminal who commits murder, deals in drugs and pimps prostitutes in a virtual Los Angeles.

However, the game`s maker, Take-Two Interactive Software, may have stepped over the line by embedding a game within a game called Hot Coffee in which the characters have explicit sex under the control of the player, who can alter position and viewpoint with a keyboard or joystick.

Sony has officially euthanised the Sony AIBO entertainment robot and stopped development on its QRIO humanoid robot, the company said today. The announcement was slipped into Sony`s 2005 third-quarter earnings report, which also detailed a number of plant closings and a refocusing to core businesses like entertainment, pictures and music, reports PC Mag.

According to the report, AIBO development had already ceased in mid-to-late 2005 and production ended late last year. "However, sales and support will continue," the report said. "There will also be no new development for QRIO."

While the QRIO and AIBO may be no more, their "minds" will live on. Sony plans to continue the robotics artificial intelligence research begun for these products and will implement it "in a broad range of consumer electronics products".