Brits crack cheaper, greener chips

British researches have developed a technique that could lead to cheap, environmentally-friendly microchips using low temperature and ultraviolet lamps to make silicon dioxide, reports BBC News

The process, developed by a team from University College, London, operates at room temperature, and therefore requires much less power than traditional processes that typically involve energy intensive furnaces.

Developers of the process say the resultant energy savings could reduce the prices of electronic devices for consumers and have a positive environmental impact.

Although Toshiba has just announced a 4GB secure digital high capacity (SDHC) memory card that uses the latest SD Card Association 2.0 standard, the company says a 32GB card, based on the same standard, should hit the market soon.

Daily Tech says the higher capacity memory cards will be intended for use in applications such as digital cameras for storing high-resolution pictures and videos.

However, the report notes the new SDHC cards are not compatible with existing SD card slots and readers.

US mobile TV service provider MobiTV has expanded its software to include devices that run the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system for cellphones and other handheld devices.

ZD Net says: MobiTV is a TV broadcast service that enables US customers of Alltel, Cingular and Sprint Nextel to watch live TV on cellphones as well as access on-demand content in full-screen format.

The article says in 2005, 1.1 million people in the US purchased mobile video content. That number is expected to grow to more than 30 million people by 2010, according to research firm In-Stat.

US research has found that people who talk on cellphones while driving, including those using hands-free devices, are as impaired as drunken drivers, reports News.Com.

The researchers at the University of Utah say authorities should consider making it illegal to use cellphones while driving because in driving simulation testing, more accidents were caused by participants using cellphones than those who had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit.

The study concluded that driving while talking on a cellphone is as bad as, or worse, than driving drunk, which was the cause of 40% of US traffic fatalities.