Samsung is entering the ultra-portable notebook PC market with a pair of super slim, lightweights - the NV-5500TL and NV-5500TX.
Both laptops feature a 12.1 TFT XGA screen, an Intel Mobile P111 500 LV processor, an external digital camera with video conferencing software and a 56kbps modem.
Samsung claims that the notebooks are the first to be accompanied by a clip-on docking station which houses a DVD or CD-rom drive and a floppy disk drive. Also new is the PC's integrated MP3 player which, if hooked up to a remote control/headphones unit, can still be used when the unit is switched off.
The more expensive NV-5500TX (£2,499 inc VAT) boasts 128MB of memory, a 20 gigabyte hard disk, a DVD-rom drive and a battery performance of around 7.5 hours.
The NV-5500 TL (£2,000 inc VAT) has 64MB of memory, a 10 GB hard disk, CD-rom drive and a battery life of around 2.5 hours. They will be on sale in January.
Further models in the NV ultra portable notebook series are expected in May, almost certainly featuring Bluetooth and SmartMedia compatibility.
Get more on Mini Discs
Sony is targeting MiniDisc fans who store music on their PCs with its latest home MD recorder. The £350 MDS-PC3 comes with a software and connection pack that enables users to transfer music stored on their hard disks to a MiniDisc.
In typical Sony fashion this means not using MP3, but via the company's Atrac compression system.
Atrac works in a similar way to MP3 in losing the bits of the sound spectrum the ear cannot hear, to enable further compression.
The MDS-PC3 can be hooked up to a hi-fi system and sports both analogue and digital inputs and outputs.
Recording time is rated at 320 minutes per disc no matter what the source (PC or hi-fi system) courtesy of the recently launched MiniDisc Long Play (MDLP) technology. However, discs recorded using the MDLP format will not play back on non-MDLP MiniDisc players.
RecordTV's new alliance
RecordTV, the controversial internet based-VCR system, may soon be coming to Europe. The company has confirmed that it is has been in talks with German media giant Bertelsmann with a view to offering programmes via the web.
Users simply state what they want to record and then watch the programmes online at their own convenience.
The move is indicative of Bertelsmann's recent approaches to web companies. Several months ago it sealed an alliance with online music swapping service Napster.
Earlier this year RecordTV suspended its US-based virtual VCR service after members of the Motion Picture Association of America filed a lawsuit against the company. The lawsuit is still pending with a trial date of July 2001.
