Toshiba pushes iPod-sized disk to 80GB

Toshiba has announced an 80GB version of the 1.8in hard drives used in the iPod. The drive sets a new capacity record for its size and combines several developments including a new magnetic disk structured to support perpendicular recording, a new high performance perpendicular magnetic head and disk and head integration to maximise their combined performance. ...more

UPDATED: HP to brand own version of the iPod

Apple and HP have announced a 'strategic alliance' to create an HP-branded music player based on the iPod. The agreement will also see iTunes pre-installed on HP PCs. HP has found that over 54 per cent of its customers download music to their PCs, and presumably believes that the iTunes Music Store is the best way for them to do this. ...more

Intel peers into the future

The future of computing lies in peer-to-peer technology, according to a senior Intel figure. Speaking at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Intel's chief technology officer Pat Gelsinger outlined his vision of "self-organising webs," in which users share computing resources - such as storage and processing power - to work towards common goals. He also announced the formation of a peer-to-peer working group of 18 companies, chaired by Intel, and including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, to develop standards in this field. ...more

Apple facing pressure for music download dominance

The music industry is gearing up for an explosion in downloading at its annual get together in Cannes. Download services such as Napster, record labels and mobile phone manufaturers all predict that 2005 will be the year in which Apple's dominance of the market for both music downloads, through its iTunes Music Store, and portable devices on which to play them, such as the iPod, will come under real pressure. Some observers believe that where downloaded music is played - on a computer, portable player or phone - will not be the key issue of the year; rather, the battle will be between subscription-based services and those like iTunes which only offer paid-for-downloads. ...more

02-02-2002 Essential news of the week

Brought neatly together and presented on a plate, here is a roundup of some of the week's main news stories from the world of IT. HP beholds the Zinfandel Microsoft appoints Chief Security Strategist Kodak honours digicam cock-up The men from EC say 'Yes' - to HP-Compaq< Flying the .coop Time takes Tiny Windows XP upgrade wipes out security patches IBM appoints new chief Forty-five per cent connected to the World Wide Wait Virus warning: The Party was wild AMD launches Mobile AMD Athlon 4 Processor 1500+ Power Macs break 1GHz barrier Don't forget, we welcome your comments. ...more