Stories by Martyn Williams

Electronics companies on both sides of the high-definition video disc format battle unveiled their latest prototype players and PC drives this week at the Ceatec exhibition in Japan.

Microsoft and Toshiba have reached an agreement under which they will explore ways to use Microsoft Windows CE technology in new high-definition optical disc players, according to top executives of both companies.

After failing to break into the mainstream of computing, the Tablet PC might have been written-off by many, but it still has at least one strong supporter. Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, said Monday he still believes in the form-factor and repeated a prediction that, with better hardware and software, it could still dominate over traditional laptop PCs.

East Asian hardware makers seeking to turn the popularity of Internet telephony services and Skype Technologies SA's Skype VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) application into sales were plentiful at Computex, which took place last week in Taipei.

Samsung Electronics has developed a replacement for conventional hard-disk drives that is based on flash memory chips. The company plans to begin mass production of the device in August, it said on Monday.

Samsung Electronics has developed what it says is the world's first organic light emitting diode (OLED) display that measures 40-inches across the diagonal.

An ambitious plan by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab to develop and distribute a laptop computer costing no more than US$100 is expected to take a major step forward shortly with the receipt of the first order.
Orders from five or six countries, for a total of 6 million machines, are hoped for before a full pilot project can begin, said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the MIT Media Lab, in an interview in Tokyo. The basic aim of the project is to provide a laptop for every child, supplied though any country that wants to offer them.

Toshiba has developed a prototype HD-DVD disc that increases the format's storage capacity by 50 per cent and brings it much closer to that of the rival Blu-ray Disc.

Price competition in several of Sony Corp.'s key business areas resulted in another quarterly loss for the company as sales fell during the period from January to March, it said Wednesday.

Adobe Systems Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Macromedia Inc. for US$3.4 billion in stock, the company said Monday.

Samsung Electronics has built what it says is the largest LCD (liquid crystal display) panel yet made and will show it at this week's Cebit show in Hanover, Germany.

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will begin selling a new range of 3G handsets in Japan this month that will mark its first attempt to push 3G telephony into the mainstream of the cellular market.

South Korea's LG Electronics unveiled a 71-inch Plasma Display Panel (PDP) TV set this week, claiming it is the biggest of its kind available.

Sharp Corp. will put its first Blu-ray Disc recorder on sale in Japan in December, it said Thursday.

Samsung plans to begin selling later this month a cellular telephone that includes a hard-disk drive. The handset was unveiled as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom Asia 2004 event.