A new generation of iPods use sophisticated software to convert the names of bands, albums and individual tracks into recognisable speech to tell you what it is about to play, removing the need for users to look at the screen while selecting music, and making the device safer and easier to use while driving, cycling or in badly-lit locations.

Matsushita, the maker of the Panasonic brand of electronics is planning to launch the world's largest plasma television by the end of the year.
Measuring 2.4 meters by 1.4 meters (94 by 55 in) and weighing 215 kg (473 lb.), the 103-inch (measured diagonally) panel is bigger than a double-sized mattress and almost as heavy as an upright piano.

The recorded music industry's trade group has invited internet service providers (ISPs) to "enforce their own terms of use" and freeze the accounts of customers who illegally fileshare.

UK satellite broadcaster Sky have gone live with a free service called 'Sky+ Remote Record' that allows you to schedule your Sky+ satellite set-top-box to record programmes using your mobile phone.

Fancy turning your copy of Skype into a watch-anywhere TV viewer? Now you can, courtesy of Japanese company Novac, which today announced a box that turns any suitably-specified PC into a machine for beaming TV shows to anyone on the internet.

Don't use your iPod or mobile phone in a lightning storm. There have been various reports of teenagers suffering some extreme traumas due to the unwise use of such devices at the wrong times.

Remember where you were when you heard that Google was giving away a gigabyte of storage with its GMail service? Well, Google is doing it again, taking on the likes of YouTube via a breakthrough offering that is destined to strap a rocket to the so-far earthbound Google Video service.

DVDs coated with a layer of protein could one day hold so much information that storing data on your computer hard drive will be obsolete, says a US-based researcher.

Online video sites like YouTube are Hollywood's hottest new marketing tool. And in a way similar to what their theatrical counterparts are doing with new movies, studio DVD marketers are scrambling to harness the power of viral marketing by posting trailers of upcoming DVD releases to these nascent sites and hoping they get passed along -- again, and again, and again.

The German computer magazine c't has discovered that it is possible to use screenshot functions to circumvent the copy protection built into Blu-ray and HD DVD player software.

Prodisc Technology, one of Taiwan's leading optical disc makers, has reported a fire at one of its Taiwanese factories through a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).

Resident DVD adept Flash has started a new series looking at common questions around the theme of DVD writing. His third article answers the question that is often asked: how do I put my VHS tapes onto DVD? If you have a question you would like Flash to answer please email him.

With so many options to watch various content including new DVD formats, new releases and rereleases, it comes as no surprise that studios are starting to slow their DVD output.

Philips has been hit with a setback in its actions against alleged violations of its optical disc patents, as authorities in some European countries have ruled that the company does not have the right to demand that authorities seize DVD-R shipments.

Microsoft will start selling a wireless digital music and video player to compete with Apple's iPod by Christmas, according to a reuters report, citing sources close to the matter.

Analyst firm DRAMeXchange is predicting that the price for DDR2 will increase in August as there is a supply shortfall of 10-20 percent. The market watchers said that the reason is that industry players are starting to prepare for the release of Vista.

LG Electronics have announced that its 4x GBW-H10N Blu-ray Disc burner will be landing on Taiwanese shelves later this week at a recommended retail price of NT$29,900 (US$923, £500).

A lawsuit has been filed against Russian music download site AllofMP3.com by the British recording industry. The High Court said it will hear the suit even though AllofMP3.com is based in Russia, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) said yesterday.

Microsoft has shot down reports, based on comments made by an Australian Toshiba executive, that Microsoft plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive.

In a move that Apple has dubbed 'State Sponsored Piracy', the French government has ordered the outfit to stop using its iTunes software like a monopolist and to open its formats to its rivals.