Brand: MacNews

Ellen Hancock, former Apple executive and most recently CEO of ExodusCommunications, resigned from the Web hosting company Tuesday after gettingpressure to step down amid continued heavy losses and a severe drain in thecompany’s cash position. Hancock took over Exodus in March 1998, less than ayear after Apple CEO Steve Jobs forced her out as executive vice presidentof R & D and chief technology officer.

LaCie today announced a combination FireWire DVD-RAM/R drive that will sell for US$689. Using 4.7GB DVD-R media, the drive provides a transfer rate of up to 11Mbps, while with 4.7GB DVD-RAM media, the drive can transfer data at up to 22Mbps. The press release (not available online) notes a July availability, although it’s unclear if this means July 2001 or 2002, or if it is a typo.

From now until the end of the year, Thursby Software is offering MacSOHO for US$49 — $50 off the regular price. MacSOHO enables Macs and PCs to share files between platforms over a network.

PrintToPDF 2.2.5 is a maintenance update to the US$20 shareware printer driver that can create PDF files from virtually any document. The new version corrects a couple bugs and includes other minor enhancements.

Sales of laptop computers grew nine percent in the second quarter to 6.3 million units, and for the first time represented more than a fifth of total computer sales during the quarter. Laptops with 14.1-inch and 15-inch screens (such as the PowerBook G4) comprised 63 percent of total laptop sales.