Matsushita plans DVD console

Leading Japanese electronic company Matsushita is to launch a DVD player that will also be able to play console games. The company will launch the new device at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles tomorrow. Details are sketchy, but a report in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbum says that the DVD player/console hybrid will be compatible with the Nintendo Gamecube. ...more

Compaq looks beyond short-term loss

A one-off charge causes Compaq a net loss in its quarterly financial report, but it remains cautiously optimistic about future growth. Reporting revenue of $11.5bn for the fourth quarter ending December 2000, which represents an increase of 10 per cent year on year, Compaq's quarterly net income from operations was $515m, which works out as $0. ...more

Fujitsu launches E-series lifebooks based on M chips

Fujitsu has launched new E-series 'desktop replacement' notebooks based on Intel's new mobile PIII processor-M CPUs and the Intel 830 chipset. The Lifebooks clock speeds of 1.13, 1. ...more

Revamped Power Mac G4s support OS9

Amid all the excitement - if that's the right word - surrounding last week's unveiling of the new Power Mac G5, changes to the Power Mac G4 line-up have gone unnoticed. Apple has pared the range down from four to three machines and made all the machines capable of booting into both Mac OS 9 and X. It has also changed certain aspects of the spec, dropping both FireWire 800 and the SuperDrive options. ...more

Legal music downloads boom

Music fans are increasingly turning away from illegal downloading from p2p sites and increasingly buying their music from legitimate music libraries. The number of music fans legally downloading digital music has grown by 75 per cent in a year. The figures, which come from the 2005 Digital Music Survey carried out by online music research specialists, Entertainment Media Research (EMR), will come as a relief to the music industry which has been pleading poverty over the past few years as it saw spiralling numbers of downloads taking place via p2p networks like Kazaa. ...more