Japan’s Pegaso has announced the latest in bone conduction technology with the GBD-01 Audiobone. Bone conduction technology involves sending vibrations into the skull of a person, transmitting audio directly to the auditory nerve. The process bypasses most uses of the ear, so is frequently used in hearing aids.

The chief designer of Apple Computer’s phenomenally popular iPod digital music player was named on Friday in the Queen’s Honors List. London-born Jonathan Ive, 38, Apple’s senior vice president of design, on Friday was awarded the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the queen. The title recognizes Ive’s achievements in industrial design as leader of the team that produced not only the iPod but also the iMac, iBook, and PowerBook computer lines in his nearly 13-year career at Apple.

Nearly two years after landing on the Red Planet, NASA exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to send back amazing images and information about Mars in a mission long outpacing expectations. Since landing on opposite sides of Mars in January 2004, the US space agency’s two robotic explorers have plowed over five kilometers of the planet’s surface and sent back more than 130,000 pictures, many of them stunning depictions of a desolate, arid but highly varied landscape. But what has equally pleased the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is that the two rovers have far exceeded their 90-day missions, lasting through one full Mars year–669 Mars days, the equivalent of 687 Earth days.

Happy New Year from all of us at ZATZ!

They’re exploring the deep sea and distant planets. They’re saving lives in the operating room and on the battlefield. They’re transforming factory floors and filmmaking. They’re just plain cool! From Qrio to the Terminator, here is Wired’s list of the top 50 robots of fact and fiction.

The world’s biggest chipmaker said on Thursday it will scrap its 37-year-old logo and well-known tagline as part of a major rebranding that will emphasize its shift away from its core PC business and into consumer products. The original Intel logo featuring a lowered “e” will be replaced with one showing an oval swirl surrounding the company’s name. The phrase “Leap ahead” will supplant “Intel Inside,” which launched the Silicon Valley giant into public awareness in the 1990’s and helped it build the world’s No. 5 brand , worth an estimated $36 billion.

XM Satellite Radio and VoiceBox Technologies announced a multiyear alliance Thursday to bring voice control to the satellite broadcast service. The partnership will let drivers issue voice commands to search through XM Satellite Radio’s 160 channels of music, talk radio and other stations and to find personalized information such as stock prices, traffic and weather. The technology is planned to be available to automakers and to those producing aftermarket products in mid-2006.

Sony BMG has struck a deal with the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit over copy-restriction software it used in music CDs, according to a settlement document filed at a New York court. The record label has agreed to compensate buyers of CDs that contained the XCP and MediaMax DRM programs and to provide software utilities to allow consumers to uninstall both types of software from their computer.

BoxWave is pleased to announce the Desktop Cradle for i-mate K-JAM. The Desktop Cradle for i-mate K-JAM is a USB cradle that comes with everything you need to sync and charge your i-mate K-JAM to your computer. It also includes an A/C adapter cable for quicker charging time.

In an effort to provide physicians and other health care professionals with the most current and pertinent point-of-care information available, EBSCO Publishing is pleased to offer PDA access for DynaMed subscribers. PDA users can choose from a downloadable version of DynaMed, or access a live version of the database through available wireless connectivity. DynaMed is the only evidence-based reference shown to answer most clinical questions in primary care. DynaMed was created by a physician for physicians and other health care professionals as a point-of-care clinical reference tool to replace most routine textbook and article searches. In addition, this resource is a great tool for medical students and residency programs.