Sony's palmalikes
Sony will launch its first Palm-compatible handheld computers in Japan in September - one with a colour screen, one mono -but they won't work as MP3 music players. The Sony devices are much like current Palm machines except that will take Sony Memory Sticks. However, they will not play music from Sticks used in the MS Walkman because they don't support the copyright protection system used. Sony's "personal entertainment organisers" also have faster processors, running at 20MHz. This will enable them to run video sequences, using Generic Media's player, at 4-10 frames per second. Sony is not saying when it might offer its palmtops outside Japan. However, rival "Windows-powered" (ie CE3 powered) PocketPCs from Hewlett-Packard, Coimpaq and Casio come with MP3-playing software built in.
Ultimate video
Could the humble VHS video recorder follow almost every other type of device and go digital? Philips hopes so. It plans to unveil its first D-VHS recorder, the VR20D, at the IFA sound and video show in Berlin next month. Digital recording will provide a much better picture, Philips says, and up to 21 hours of video on a single tape. (Useful for those long holidays, perhaps?) The system should also appeal to digital videocamera users who will be able to make perfect transfers from their tiny tapes.
The little matter about which Philips remains strangely silent is, of course, the price.
Tiny transmitter
Tiny, the PC manufacturer, has launched a system that can distribute DVD movies around the house. The DigiCast gizmo consists of a transmitter, which is attached to a PC with DVD drive, and a receiver, which is attached to your TV set. The idea is that you can run a DVD movie on a PC in the study, say, and watch it in the comfort of a living room up to 50m away. It could also be a boon for families who aren't talking to one another...
Gateway leads
Gateway is now the brand of PC most commonly found in US homes, having finally overtaken Packard Bell, according to a survey by the American research firm Media Metrix. But Gateway, with 10.3% of the installed base of 55m PCs, is only a whisker ahead of Compaq, the world's largest PC manufacturer. Packard Bell, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and IBM follow on behind. In a separate survey, Media Metrix research shows a decline in Apple Macintosh ownership in homes from a high of 4.9 million house holds in January 1996 down to 3.8 million households in January 2000.
Lovely Clio
Two years after being unveiled at the Comdex computer show in Las Vegas, the award-winning Clio notebook computer is heading for the UK. The distribution of the latest Windows-powered version (ie it runs Microsoft's Windows CE3 operating system) has been taken on by A2000 Distribution (see www.pocketpc.uk.com). The unique selling feature is a SwingTop (sic) screen: it swivels so the Clio can either be used conventionally or as a pen-operated tablet computer.
