Fujitsu readies 120GB storage notebook

Fujitsu says it has begun production of a hard drive for notebook computers that offers 120GB of storage capacity.

The new drive offers 20% more storage capacity as well as several other improvements over its nearest 2.5-inch rival, says Fujitsu Computer Products of America marketing VP Joel Hagberg.

According to PCWorld, the company increased storage capacity by cramming data more closely together on the disk`s surface.

Additional improvements include a doubling of the number of times the drive head can be loaded and unloaded from the disk to 600 000, a cut in power consumption and an increase in the drive`s ability to handle mechanical shocks.

Samples of the drives are already with notebook vendors for testing and Fujitsu plans to begin shipping commercial versions of the drive during the second quarter, says Hagberg.

Opera Software has released the second beta version of its next browser, which features improvements designed to tackle Web site spoofing, CIO Today reports.

The latest version displays security information inside the address bar that indicates the level of security present on a site.

A small, yellow security bar appears on secure sites and displays the name of the organisation that owns the relevant certificate, says the company.

"By clicking on the bar, the user has access to more information about the validity of the certificate. These anti-spoof measures help users make educated decisions about a site`s validity and security."

ATI Technologies has bolstered its line of graphics products for gamers, announcing it will ship Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) versions of its Radeon X800 XL graphics cards and Radeon X850 XT graphics processors.

According to Wham Gaming, the Radeon X800, X800 XL and X850 series visual processors originally debuted for PCI Express-based systems in December. PCI Express is rapidly replacing AGP in new PCs as the primary interconnect technology between the main processor and the graphics subsystem.

These new AGP variants will allow users who have not upgraded to PCI Express to experience the same performance and image quality, says ATI desktop and discrete products VP and GM Rich Heye.

"The Radeon X800 XL and X850 products are perfect for gamers looking to upgrade their AGP systems to play the latest games."