Sony launches slim CD writer

If you thought that portable CD writers could get no smaller, you are about to be proved wrong as Sony reveals its new mini CD writer. The CRX75A-RP is one of the smallest and lightest CD writers on the market that can manage an 8x write, 4x rewrite speed. It weighs just 200g and measures 129x15x134mm making it just a little larger than a CD. ...more

No extension of copyright on sound recordings says government review [updated]

A UK government enquiry will recommend that copyright on sound recordings is not extended beyond the current 50 years' protection. According to the BBC, The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property will 'reject calls from record companies and some artists for copyright to last 95 years'. If the government agrees, then early recordings by Cliff Richard, a prominent campaigner for extending protection, will be in the public domain in 2008. ...more

That's no computer, that's a PlayStation

Does the PlayStation count as a computer? Sony believes so. Especially when the Japanese electronics giant faces an extra import duty of 2.2 per cent from the EU now that its units fail such a test. ...more

Intel heightens High Definition Audio

Promising consumer electronics-quality audio for the PC, Intel has finalised the v1.0 specification of its Intel High Definition Audio. Previously codenamed 'Azalia', the audio interface supercedes AC97 and is designed to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in power for audio processing. ...more

MessageLabs warn of new Bagle email worm epidemic

Security experts at MessageLabs are warning of a new email worm epidemic, racking up roughly 50,000 reports an hour. The new worm arrives as an attachment in a blank email (both the subject line and body text are blank). If the recipient runs the attachment, the virus is activated and trawls through a list of online resources attempting to download a variant of the Bagle virus. ...more