And also today (17-Jan-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. It's all a question of class. A survey of 200 large firms across Britain has found that 30 per cent did not provide staff below middle management level with Internet access. ...more

Optical disc giant to buy optical disc giant

Optical disc giant Imation is to buy rival Memorex in a deal worth up to $375m. Imation will pay $330m in cash, with further potential payments of up to $45m depending on performance in the three years following the acquisition. Following the deal, Imation expects Memorex to add up to $36m in operating income to the balance sheet. ...more

Sony breaks DVD read-write speed frontier

Sony has unveiled a DVD drive boasting the fastest read-write speed yet, up to 18x for DVD+/-R discs. The drive is a product of Sony's optical drive partnership with NEC - announced in February - and incorporated new features designed to compensate for unbalanced discs and to minimise the effects of shock and vibration. As well as the 18x write speeds on ostensibly 16x single-layer discs, the AG170A also provides 12x DVD-RAM burning, 8x recording of both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL double/dual layer discs and 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW recording. ...more

WWDC: Tiger - new features

OS X 10.4 Tiger will introduce Mac uses to around 150 new features, Here we take a look at some of them. Spotlight Drawing in Tiger's new underlying search technology, Spotlight provides a single place to search your files, emails, calendars and contacts. ...more

UPDATED: Legal woes block UK online ink cartridge reseller

UK online ink cartridge reseller Recharge has agreed to stop selling Epson-compatible cartridges after facing legal proceedings. Epson claims that Bolton-based Recharge Inkjet Technologies Limited, which trades under the name CartridgeMonkey.com, will pay it a 'substantial settlement payment' and promise 'not to infringe Epson's patents and registered designs'. ...more