Staples

Logitech has shaken up its high-end computer mouse line with the new wireless MX1100.

The peripheral manufacturer will bundle the new mouse – which marks the first major peripheral redesign by Logitech in two years – with its ergonomic cordless Wave Pro keyboard.

Logitech’s latest mouse has a plethora of cutting edge features and claims to have the fastest data-transfer rate of any wireless device on the market, ensuring users do not experience jumps or delays in input.

The MX1100 comes bundled with Logitech’s SetPoint computer software, which allows users to reprogram the eight button mouse and alter scrolling and pointer speed.

SetPoint also monitors how much battery power the mouse has left.

Vice-president of product marketing for Logitech Denis Pavillard said: "Independent research clearly demonstrates that the Wave Keyboard can help improve the comfort of your typing experience."

Logitech’s Wave Pro and MX1100 bundle costs around £65 and the company claims the keyboard’s battery will last for three years.

Staples, free next day delivery.

Intel has announced it will start shipping six-core processors in September as it aims to replace its current quad-core offering.

The firm’s senior vice-president Pat Gelsinger said the new Xeon X7460, which uses the chip manufacturer’s 45-nanometer Penryn technology, will provide customers with a significant boost in performance.

He said: "The big cache and six cores will give customers a nice bump in performance."

"We’re quite excited about it," he added.

According to industry experts, the pressure is now on AMD as the new Xeons are expected to outperform anything that AMD currently has on offer.

But analyst at In-Stat Jim McGregor claimed that the amount of software that supports quad-core processors is in the minority and without proper software support buying a multiple core chip doesn’t necessarily boost performance.

AMD started shipping its own quad-core processors earlier this year, releasing 2.6Ghz, 2.0Ghz and 1.8Ghz Phenom chips in July.

Buy office equipment from Staples.

A new gadget that manufacturers claim boosts productivity by improving people’s posture has been unveiled.

The iPosture is designed to be worn around the neck or clipped to clothing close to the chest and gently vibrates to warn wearers when they are slouching .

According to iPosture.com, bad posture can cause hunched shoulders, reduced height and lower back pain.

The company, which aims its products primarily at women, also claims that females who improve their posture drop their waste size by an average of two inches and become more attractive.

Using a Wearable Intelligent Nano Sensor (Wins) the one-button iPosture can be calibrated by the user to give them optimum performance, allowing more than one person to use a single device.

The iPosture costs £50 and comes with a free guide to improving your posture called Young, Sexy and Healthy: the Ten Best Exercises for Your Posture, written by neurologist Dr Moacir Schnapp and Dr Elma Schnapp.

Staples, your business partner for office supplies.

A new eco-friendly tie imbued with photovoltaic cells has been unveiled by a team at Iowa State University.

The solar powered necktie is aimed at people with a multitude of mobile gadgets and even has a built-in pouch to store your favourite device in while it is being recharged.

Researchers at the American university, who were looking for a suitable application for their photovoltaic textiles, decided the humble office tie would be an appropriate application.

A university spokesman said that the solar panels undoubtedly made the tie difficult to tie, but any trouble encountered while doing-up the energy-saving necktie could be solved by putting the photovoltaic cells onto a clip-on tie.

They added: "Usage of narrower solar panels was considered, but there would be sacrifices in power generation."

Other recent solar powered life-style aids include the Helius solar powered backpack, the Power Purse and a solar powered bikini.

Staples, we make buying office products easy!

Sony has unveiled its smallest standalone Blu-Ray DVD player to date as it tries to push the format into the mainstream.

The BDP-S350 is compact, it can power up in less than six seconds and has a price tag of less than £250.

According to Electricpig, it will be available in the UK next month and will be one of the most affordable Blu-Ray DVD players on the market.

The new player also features 24p True Cinema, Bonus Views and Sony Precision Cinema HD Upscale, which converts standard-definition DVDs to 1080p.

Sony’s S350 has internet connection capabilities that allow for future firm-ware downloads and access to digital content related to whatever film is currently in the drive.

However, a review on CNN’s technology website criticised the player for being more expensive than the PS3 while having less features and no high-definition gaming capabilities saying: "Sony still can’t come close to matching its toughest competitor: itself."

Staples, free next day delivery.

Canon has launched two new photo inkjet printers claiming they successfully blend performance and convenience.

The Canon Pixa MP480 and MP190 both have printer, copier and scanner functions and both printers use intelligent automatic cropping and saving functions to determine what is being scanned and how it should be formatted and saved.

Using its dual cartridge four-colour ink system – based on ChromaLife technology – Canon claims that photographs will last for 300 years when printed on its Photo Paper Plus Glossy II.

The printers both have maximum printing resolutions of 4,800 x 1,200 dots per inch and can print a full colour photograph in 45 seconds.

Black and white documents can be printed at a rate of 20 pages per minute and colour documents can be churned out at a rate of 16 pages per minute.

The MP480 inkjet printer has a 1.8-inch TFT screen for previewing photos before they are printed and Bluetooth technology to allow users to send their photo’s direct from their digital camera without having to connect it to the printer.

It is expected to retail for around £50.

Buy office supplies from Staples.

Concern for the future of the UK’s ICT industry has been voiced as the number of A-level students studying IT at school or sixth-form has fallen again this year.

The number of pupils taking ICT at A-Level dropped more than eight per cent to 12,277 and numbers studying computing tumbled almost ten per cent to just over 5,000.

In the last seven years, the number of students taking IT-related subjects has plummeted by more than a fifth as pupils fail to see the potential of taking on a career in technology, according to Robin McGill, chief executive of the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

He told Computer Weekly: "The main barriers are the need for quality teaching, perceived difficulties of the subjects and negative views held about careers within the industry."

The A-level pass rate increased for the 26th year in a row, with record numbers of pupils achieving top grades in their exams, according to figures released yesterday.

Buy office supplies at Staples.

Microsoft will unveil major technical details about the next incarnation of Windows this autumn, according to the Windows 7 blog.

According to Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky, engineering managers at Microsoft, the Professional Developers Conference and Windows Hardware Engineering Conference will "represent the first venues where we will provide in-depth technical information about Windows 7".

Windows 7 is the replacement operating system for Windows Vista – which received a luke-warm reception from users and critics alike – and is on track for a January 2010 release, according to Microsoft’s new blog.

It has been claimed that the operating system will be a redesign of Vista, allowing Microsoft to avoid making big changes to the underlying code of its existing version of Windows.

According to the Blog’s latest entry, Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer said that the company is going to try some interesting new approaches with Windows 7 – including "being just a little more like Apple".

Staples, we make buying office products easy!

A new portable radio which connects to the internet, offering listeners a choice of thousands of online broadcasts, has been unveiled by Radiopaq.

The Rp5 has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, which allows listeners to stream live radio through Radiopaq.com - a leading internet-broadcasting search engine.

Radiopaq said that the Rp5 will pave the way for future development in online radio as it allows users to search for the radio content they want when they want it and listen to it without being tied to their PC.

The Rp5 is synchronised to Radiopaq’s website and allows listeners to search for radio stations by name, genre and country at the touch of a button.

Users can also save a list of favourites to their radio for instant access.

Prash Vadgama, president of Radiopaq, said: "We believe that the Radiopaq offering, with its seamless interaction between the website and the hardware, is the future of radio."

Set for launch this September, the Rp5 will retail for £250, according to T3.

Buy Office Supplies from Staples.

Optoma has launched a new range of ultra-portable digital projectors, including the world’s smallest widescreen projector.

The Optoma EW330 weighs just over one kilogram and measures 21cm by 15cm.

Despite its diminutive measurements, the EW330 is powerful enough to use in a well-lit office giving out 2,200 lumens of light.

It has a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and offers viewers true widescreen capabilities at a resolution of 1,280 x 800.

Adam Dent, a regional sales manager at Optoma, said: "The express start-up and cool down options, as well as the outstanding brightness and lightweight features available in our new mobile portable product range, offer users the perfect flexible solution for their specific business communication needs wherever they are."

The EW330 costs £800 and comes with a luxury carry case.

Also in the new Optoma line-up is the EX330, which offers traditional XGA resolution (1,024 x 768), the HD800X LV, the DV11 and the EX525ST short-throw projector – which can project a 60-inch image on a surface half that distance away.

Staples free next day delivery.