UK sees dialup demise

Official figures show the majority of UK homes have broadband Internet connections, accounting for 64% of all Internet connections in the country.

BBC News says figures released by the Office of National Statistics show dialup appears to be in terminal decline, with the growth of broadband fuelled by its widespread availability, competitive prices, and the recent availability of super-fast lines offering connections at 8Mbps.

According to the report, the growth of broadband appears to be largely due to users switching from dialup to always-on fast Net connections because the total number of connections grew by only 5.6% between December 2004 and December 2005. Broadband grew by 59% while dialup fell by 34% over the same period.

America Online (AOL) is to increase the price of its dialup access plan in the US from next month to encourage subscribers to adopt the company`s new broadband access plan.

PC World says with the expected increase of $2 a month, dialup subscribers will pay the same amount as they would for the new AOL High Speed broadband plan announced in January.

The report says although making the switch may seem obvious, subscribers will have to take into account various one-time charges involved in the transition. The price and nature of these one-time charges vary with the access provider but may include activation, shipping, hardware and installation fees.

Lenovo plans to expand its presence in the US computer market by releasing a series of low-end desktop and notebook PCs for small businesses, reports News.Com.

The report says Lenovo plans to unveil the 3000 series PCs in New York later today. The new PCs, which will use processors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, represent Lenovo`s first expansion into the US market since it completed the purchase of IBM`s PC business last May.

Today`s expected launch will mark the first of those Lenovo-branded products to emerge inside the US. The products will initially target small and midsize businesses.

Canon and Nikon have updated their digital cameras by adding higher resolution sensors, vibration reduction and wireless networking, reports CNet.

The highest-end of Canon`s new models is the EOS 30D digital SLR camera, an 8.2-megapixel model that can take up to 30 JPEG images in its five-frames-per-second burst mode. In the "ultrazoom" category, Canon announced the PowerShot S3 IS. The company has also updated its compact Digital Elph line with 6-megapixel image sensors and better low-light sensitivity.

Nikon has announced two models, the Coolpix P3 and P4, which incorporate the company`s vibration-reduction feature into 8.1-megapixel cameras. Nikon is also updating its Coolpix S line.