Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will launch a Windows Mobile-based cell phone that packs an 8G-byte hard-disk drive, hitting European markets in the second half of 2006, the company said Monday.

Plextor, perhaps best known to Mac users for its external optical drives and personal video recorder (PVR) devices, has entered the Network Attached Storage (NAS) market with the introduction of its PX-EH line. Prices start at US$299.

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday reported the highest quarterly revenue in company history for its fiscal 2006 second quarter on the strength of its Windows OS and a series of highly anticipated product releases. Still, the company fell slightly shy of analysts' revenue expectations.

Seagate Technology LLC has begun shipping a 160G-byte hard-disk drive for use in laptop computers, it said Monday.

The drive to replace DVD technology with newer discs boasting greater storage capacity has come down to two major competing formats, and the coming marketplace battle will be bad for companies and users, the head of a major U.S. technology products retailer said Friday.

Miniature hard-disk drive maker Cornice Inc. will launch higher-capacity drives at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that begins later this week in Las Vegas, the company said.