Giant CompactFlash cards coming our way

Viking Components announces two new additions to its CompactFlash memory card range - cards that can hold a whopping 192Mb and 256Mb of data. CompactFlash cards are currently used in a number of consumer electronics goods such as digital cameras, MP3 players and personal digital assistants and the new 256Mb cards will be the highest capacity card on the market. The cards can also be used in PC Card Type II or Type III slots with the right adapter. ...more

Leaner BT makes fitter profits

Attributing its success to improved efficiency and cost controls, the telecom giant has reported a quarterly profit of ?322m, which is an increase of 61 per cent on the same period a year ago. In the financial quarter - covering May to June - the debt of the telecom giant was also cut by ?300m. More than ?13bn still remains outstanding, largely as a result of investments in 3G technologies and licences, but the company was faced with a debt mountain of ?30bn as recently as March 2000. ...more

Philips unveils three way compatible Blu-Ray R/W drive

Dutch electronics giant Royal Philips Electronics has developed a optical drive which can read and write to CDs, DVDs and the upcoming Blu-Ray disc format. The announcement of a fully compatible drive which can burn and play in the three most common optical disc formats will be seen as a big boost for the Blu-Ray format over the rival HD-DVD format favoured by Toshiba and many of the big Hollywood studios. Philips has achieved its three-way compatibility by the simple expedient of fitting the drive with three lasers. ...more

Universal sued for Webcasting its own music

Universal Music is being sued by its own publishers and songwriters for broadcasting their songs over the Internet, even though the material is part of Universal's catalogue. Having successfully seen off MP3.com in a recent copyright infringement suit, Seagram-owned Universal Music set up its own Internet record label: Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub. ...more

Dial 056 for broadband, says Ofcom

Users who wish to make phone calls via their broadband connection will be able to have their own 056 telephone number according to draft proposals by the communications regulator OfCom. The document suggests that VoIP services differ from normal PATS (public access telephone services) as they are not always connected to the emergency services and should be treated differently. The watchdog also considers that a single 05x number is sufficient at present and there is no need - at least for the time being - for some kind of geographical identification as there is with landlines. ...more