Toshiba’s new hard drive even smaller: Toshiba Corp. has developed what it believes is the smallest functional hard drive for next-generation cell phones and other portable gadgets – a nickel-sized disk that can store 2 to 3 gigabytes of music and video.
At 0.85 inches in diameter, the Toshiba drive would beat a 1-inch model from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Hitachi’s U.S. unit. But the Hitachi drive stores 4 gigabytes. Hitachi refused to give shipment figures or other details.
More commonly used hard drives, such as the 250-gigabyte ones in digital video recorders, are about 3.5 inches in diameter, Hitachi spokesman Tadashi Hisanaga said.
But demand for tinier drives is growing as manufacturers pack more features into cell phones and other networked gadgets. A 2-gigabyte drive can store about 30 hours of music but cannot store movie-length video.
Toshiba plans to start taking orders from device makers by next summer and start mass production of the tiny drives as early as 2005, spokeswoman Midori Suzuki said. Pricing has not been decided.
Satellite radio moves into Canada: The satellite radio race is expanding north of the border.
New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. has announced plans to launch its largely commercial-free service in Canada, saying it would apply to the Canadian government for a license to beam satellite radio across the vast nation.
Working with Canada’s national broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada, Sirius would add Canadian-specific content to its music and talk programming.
Sirius’ rival in the two-player industry, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., has already applied for a Canadian license. Spokesman Chance Patterson said XM hopes to launch service there in the second half of 2004.
Sirius has more than 200,000 subscribers to its satellite radio service, which costs $12.95 a month. But it has consistently trailed Washington, D.C.-based XM, whose $9.95 a month service has more than 1 million subscribers.
Sirius has sought to close the gap this fall by signing deals to air NFL and NHL games.
Have a Slurpee while you surf:
7-Eleven customers who want more than a Slurpee or a cup of coffee can now shop online for many products on souped-up ATMs inside nearly 1,000 of the convenience stores around the country.
The machines, called Vcoms, already allowed check-cashing, money orders and bill payments. Last week, Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. added shopping to the mix. Now customers can buy books, flowers, video games, a round of golf and other items using touch-screen menus on the machines.
They will be charged a $1 service fee on each transaction.
7-Eleven hopes the machines appeal to customers who can’t shop online at home because they lack a computer, Internet service or don’t want to use credit cards for an online purchase. The Vcoms accept credit cards but also take cash, and they give change.
Next on your cell phone: “Cooking With Sven”: If someday you find yourself in Finland and see people glued to their cell phones, please excuse them. They could be watching the final minutes of a cliffhanger.
Finnish broadcasters and mobile phone carriers and Nokia Corp. plan to start sending TV programs to cell phones next year. At first, the broadcasts will a pilot test, with 500 users in the Helsinki area.
Programming will come from YLE, the national broadcaster, and two Finnish commercial TV providers, MTV3 and Nelonen.
Singapore climbs in tech-savvy survey: Singapore, with its driverless subway trains, computerized toll gates and wireless cafes, ranks as the second-most technology savvy country in a new study.
After ranking third last year, the Asian nation came in second only to the United States in a report by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and France’s INSEAD business school. Finland ranked third.
The annual report ranks 102 countries on such indicators as number of telephone lines, personal computers and Internet users to determine how prepared they are to benefit from technology.
Singapore’s 4 million people have the highest per capita rate of home Internet use, and it is one of only five countries where more than half the population has personal computers, the report said.
Singapore also ranked first for overall infrastructure quality, per capita technology exports and subsidies for corporate research and development.
However, Singapore was the seventh-worst country in the world for freedom of the press. The government says it tightly controls freedom of expression to maintain the social order that makes the country attractive to foreign businesses.
Walking their talk in Hong Kong: As if Hong Kong’s 6.8 million mobile phones – one for every man, woman and child – weren’t enough, locals are suddenly swarming to embrace the original means of talking while walking.
Fans say walkie-talkies are good for chatting up friends, making plans or listening in on strangers. Some wear them like wristwatches, recalling the old “Dick Tracy” comics, in the latest incarnation of gadget-crazed Hong Kong’s irresistible urge to stay continually connected.
The trend picked up early in the year, when the territory’s government relaxed controls on two-way radios, letting consumers use them within 2 miles without a license.
Associated Press
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