Hanover  - Anyone looking to buy a new family PC should not get caught up in the hype surrounding quad core computers. The quad core machines offer far more brawn than really needed for household applications, says the Hanover-based c't magazine.

A PC with dual core processors is a better choice. Normal users will see little benefit from quad cores, c't's editors say. A PC with a quad core processor also makes more noise and consumes more power than comparably priced twin-core machines.

Bonn  - Sometimes crooks disguise themselves as friends. That's exactly what's happening when you're surfing the web and suddenly see the warning message "Your computer is virus infected. Click here to receive the latest anti-virus software."

Beware! The warning is part of a new threat faced by computer users: scareware. Essentially, scareware is malicious software that pretends to be anti-virus software, but really wants to gain access to your computer.

Munich  - When it comes to colours being displayed on computer monitors, many computer users cannot be blamed for being confused. After all, the white on the screen is not really white. Monitor technology itself often disrupts the neutral depiction of colours: imperfect circuitry or tubes may cause the image to have a reddish tinge or the colours to appear too cold. The best chance you have of setting up your monitor with professional precision is to calibrate it, says Andreas Roth from Prad, a consumer portal for monitors and TVs.

Bonn, Germany  - If you use Internet Explorer, you should either deactivate JavaScript or temporarily switch to another browser to combat a newly discovered vulnerability, according to the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI)

The security hole allows hackers to execute programs on your computer without your knowledge or permission, says the Bonn-based agency. The victims need only be lured into visiting a specially rigged web site.

Samsung’s INNOV8i8510M is all geared up to hit the North American market through AT&T as it has passed the FCC test.

A 2.8-inch LCD with 320×240 resolution, 320×240 video at 120fps, 640×480 video at 30fps and the ability to automatic geo-tag images with their location are some of the exclusive features of Samsung i8510. Other than this, it even has Bluetooth 2.0 support, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and onboard memory of 8GB or 16GB with expandable microSD card support and also supports AT&T’s 3G data network.

The Microsoft revealed on Friday that Microsoft's Zune media players were functioning properly on Thursday as the New Year arrived, though they froze up on the last day of 2008 because of a glitch involving their internal clock. In spite of this, many were still complaining regarding the problems they face during operating the devices.