Type of Article: MacMinute Web Site

IBM has beefed up its Deskstar and Travelstar line of hard drives with the introduction of new models. The 3.5-inch Deskstar 120GXP, at 120GB, is the company’s largest drive and spins at 7200RPM. The 2.5-inch Travelstar 60GH is the highest-capacity and highest-performing drive for laptops, with 60GB of storage spinning at 5400 RPM, while the Travelstar 40GN is a new family of 4200RPM laptop drives available in 10GB, 20GB, 30GB, and 40GB capacities.

After initially launching the iPod in the UK with a £329 price tag, which was later increased to £349, Apple UK has now reduced the price to £323, as noted by Macworld UK. The reasoning behind the price fluctuation is unknown.

Sonnet Technologies has announced they have ranked 490th in Deloitte & Touche’s Technology Fast 500 for the second year in a row. The award recognizes the fastest growing technology companies in the United States and Canada. Fast 500 winners will be publicized beginning November 14, 2001 on www.Forbes.com and www.fast500.com.

Brother has announced the MFC-6800, flatbed scanner designed for copy, scanning or faxing bound documents. The new scanner will support Mac OS X via downloadable drivers and is shipping in Canada now for an estimated street price of CAD$799.99.

E.Digital has unveiled what it claims is the first wearable, voice-activated digital music player. The MXP was developed in conjunction with IBM and can hold up to 32 hours of music and voice recordings. Jim Collier, the company’s CEO, was quoted as saying “We feel it’s going to be very competitive with the iPod.” Mac compatibility is expected around the end of the first quarter of 2002, but comparing it to Apple’s iPod may be a stretch.