Type of Article: MacMinute Web Site

PC makers, IBM and Compaq are about to release new laptop computers that come fully equipped with wireless capabilities. IDC analyst Alan Promisel said, “IBM and Compaq are adding built-in wireless in part because of demand but also because their competitors are offering the same.” Apple has offered wireless networking on its line of PowerBook and iBook computers for some time.

If you’re a SOHO user, like so many people these days, you may want to take a peek at your fax machine to see if it’s made by Canon. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Canon has received five reports of their Faxphones unexpectedly catching fire. Although no injuries have been reported, the company has issued a recall. More details on the specific serial numbers and appropriate phone numbers can be found at Reuters.

Motorola has said that they are searching for a new buyer for their semiconductor production plan in South Queensferry, Scotland — this due to the company’s current financial difficulties. The plan is to move operations from South Queensferry to Dunfermline and hire 750 new workers for the project, but that has been put on the back burner for the time being.

Movie buffs and conspiracy theorists will immediately recognize this scenario. Apparently European Parliament officials are heading home earlier than expected as a result of U.S. officials declining to meet with them. These “U.S. Officials” read like a who’s who of cloak and dagger — the CIA, NSA, FBI, State Department, Members of Congress, the Pentagon and more. The nuts and bolts of it surround Echelon, a global security monitoring system set up at the end of the cold war.

Gracenote has hit Roxio, makers of Toast CD mastering software, with a lawsuit alleging patent infringement and breach of contract. Roxio used Gracenote’s CDDB database until the agreement expired on April 22 — at that time they started using Freedb.org. Gracenote says that organization illegally uses its technology.