Optus and Research In Motion announced the UMTS-enabled BlackBerry 8707g is available for customers in Australia. The BlackBerry 8707g features popular and proven BlackBerry functionality including support for “push” email, phone, text messaging, organizer, browser and other corporate data applications. The handset can be also used as a tethered modem, providing customers with the ability to access the Internet from their laptops. Together with Optus’ UMTS network, the BlackBerry 8707g allows users to simultaneously send and receive email, browse the Internet and use other applications while speaking on the phone, even while the handset is being used as a tethered modem.

We continue our editorial coverage of the broadband over powerline (BPL) controversy with a letter from Ed Hare, Laboratory Manager of the ARRL (American Radio Relay League). The ARRL has be the most vocal opponent we’ve seen to BPL and, in this article, we give their technical expert the opportunity to discuss the issue.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

Computer firm IBM made technological history on 12 August 1981 with the announcement of a personal computer–the IBM 5150. Costing $1,565, the 5150 had just 16K of memory–scarcely more than a couple of modest emails worth. The machine was not the first attempt to popularise computing but it soon came to define the global standard. It altered the way business was done forever and sparked a revolution in home computing.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced that an ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to all of Thailand’s millions of elementary school students will begin in October. The U.S.-based “One Laptop per Child” project aims to deliver up to 30 computers to Thailand in October and 500 more in November, Thaksin said in a nationwide radio broadcast on Saturday. “If this project is completed, each elementary school child will receive a computer to learn on at school,” Thaksin said.

Even if the product you make doesn’t look, smell, feel, or do anything remotely close to what an iPod does, and even if consumers can’t buy it on the shelves in a store, that apparently doesn’t mean Apple won’t release its legal dogs on you if the name of your product includes the letters P-O-D. That’s exactly what’s happening to Dave and Carolee Ellison, owners of Mach 5 Products–a small, family operated business that makes games for arcades–the kind that either spit out tickets as a reward for your performance or the crane-oriented games where you take your chance at retrieving a stuffed animal or some other toy with a hand-operated crane. The Ellisons created an arcade machine-mounted device for tracking profits, and named the device “Profit Pod.” When Apple got wind of it by way of the Ellisons’ trademark application, it sent a threatening letter to the Ellisons demanding they cease and desist.

Analysts believe Sony is preparing to cut PlayStation handheld gaming system prices in coming months. While the price of the PlayStation 3 may prove to be too high for some this holiday season, it’s looking more and more likely that Sony will try to tempt consumers with a less expensive handheld gaming system. As it prepares to launch its next generation machine, Sony is apparently stockpiling finished gaming hardware, which analysts believe to be the PSP. That, they believe, is a signal that the company plans to reduce the price of the PSP as the holidays get closer.

Online advertising in the United Kingdom raked in $2.48 billion last year and is now worth three times the U.K. radio-advertising market, Ofcom’s annual report into the communications market has revealed. Now the fourth-largest display advertising medium in the U.K. behind newspapers, television and direct mail, online outstripped outdoor advertising in 2005, as well as the business and consumer magazine markets. Two big advantages of online advertising are its targeted nature, which generally suits the niche nature of the Internet, and the ability of advertisers to closely track results, which has in turn led to a variety of specialized advertising arrangements, such as cost per thousand (known as CPM in the United States) or cost per click (also known as pay per click).

BoxWave has released their miniSync for the Agfa ePhoto CL18. The miniSync for the Agfa ePhoto CL18 provides your Agfa ePhoto CL18 with charging capability in an ultra-portable form factor. MiniSync has an innovative retraction and recoil design that is also compatible with Versacharger, Car Charger, Wall Charger, and Battery Adapter.

BoxWave has released their ClearTouch Anti-Glare and ClearTouch Crystal Screen Protectors for the Nintendo DS Lite. The ClearTouch Anti-Glare is the screen protector with a perfect blend of anti-glare and optical clarity. Packed with numerous features, ClearTouch Anti-Glare provides you with more than protection from scratches. Just to name a few features, this screen protector reduces 90% of UV Rays caused by reflected light, repels dust, fingerprint free, is washable and reusable, and sized to fit your DS Lite’s display. The ClearTouch Crystal is known for its amazing glass-like clarity and 99% visual transparency. ClearTouch Crystal will retain the full color vibrancy and life of your DS Lite’s screen along with similar great benefits of ClearTouch Anti-Glare screen protectors.

The US Department of Transportation has announced that a laptop computer containing names, addresses and social security numbers of 133,000 Florida residents was stolen two weeks ago. According to a letter sent to Congress on August 9, the theft of the laptop happened on July 27 in Doral, FL, a suburb of Miami. The theft was reported to the DOT Inspector General on July 31. The information on the missing laptop included people in Miami-Dade County who hold commercial drivers licenses, Florida residents who have pilot’s licenses and people who got their Florida drivers licenses from a facility in Largo.