IBM speeds up

IBM will manufacture a new chipset, which will transfer data at a speed of 160GB per second, reports The Money Times.

The tiny optical chipset would considerably reduce the time needed to download software and applications.

IBM says a high-definition movie would be downloaded in a few seconds as opposed to the current time of 30 minutes. The data transfer speed of this chipset is eight times faster than currently available chipsets.

AT&T and Napster have partnered to offer customers free unlimited access, for one year, to more than three million song tracks through Napster To Go, reports Playfuls.com.

From 1 April, the initiative will allow consumers to access their favourite songs across multiple screens, including the PC, the wireless screen and other compatible music devices.

Users will also be able to customise playlists on their PCs and seamlessly transfer favourite tunes to compatible wireless phones and music devices.

Scientists have developed a battery that can run off soft drinks, reports Scotsman.

One of the first uses for the fuel-cell battery, powered by almost any type of sugar, could be as a portable mobile phone charger. The device would contain cartridges, filled with a sugar solution, which could be replaced when empty.

Researchers at St Louis University, in Missouri, believe their idea could eventually replace lithium in batteries in many portable electronic applications, including computers.

The California secretary of state's office has shut down portions of its Web site after it was discovered it had been selling hundreds of thousands of public documents containing social security numbers and signatures, a practice that lasted for years, reports The Register.

Several other states have also made available materials that reveal personal information, although it is not clear which, if any, have curbed the policy.

The California secretary's move came after a state assemblyman called attention to the practice of making Uniform Commercial Code documents available online.