Technofile: This week's "iPod killer" is the Toshiba Gigabeat S. The 30GB model runs Microsoft's "intuitive" Portable Media Centre and is almost identical to the iPod. As well as a music and video player, it has an FM tuner and a 2.4-inch QVGA screen.
And like the iPod, it will only work with one kind of computer - in this case Windows XP PCs rather than Macs. There is no European launch date yet but it will retail for €220 in the US.
• Sony's PRS-500 Portable Reader is set to launch in late summer and will be one of the first real tests of digital publishing. This six-inch device uses "E Ink", rendering letters so crisp that it will allegedly rival the printed page. It will let you read about 7,500 pages before needing a recharge, and will hold about 160 books.
• If you have a spare €4,000 knocking about and need a laptop, you may be interested in the Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook Q2010, which is due to launch soon.
Why so much cash? Well the reason is not yet clear, but there is a rumour that it will incorporate the high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) standard for 3.5G mobiles, making it way ahead of its field. Keep an eye on this space.
• You may have wasted an hour or two surfing videos uploaded by the public onto YouTube.com (fear not, nothing profane here), but now you can even create your own TV channel. YouTube hopes channels will become interlinked, creating genres of content. YouTube is starting to be used by businesses to share video, so you may as well join the other six million people on the site every day.
• Stuck in town and need Wi-Fi for your laptop? The Wi-Fi Seeker sits on your keyring and sniffs out wireless connections to a radius of 300ft. But there is a drawback - it won't tell you if the wireless is free. The Seeker can be purchased online for about €20.
• Sony is going to start shipping its WebEx technology inside its latest Vaio TX and BX series laptops. A free WebEx sample web conference will allow for video, synchronised file viewing and screen sharing. Existing Vaio owners can also take advantage of the offer.
• BlackBerry users will be panting at the site of the new 7130 when it launches soon. The 3G-capable mobile has a "two letter, one key" SureType Qwerty keypad, Bluetooth for headsets and laptops, and even quad-band. Maker RIM claims it will provide three hours' talk time and up to eight days' operation in stand-by mode.
• According to some newswires, a number of major movie studios are in talks with retailers to offer films for downloading to in-store terminals. In theory, customers could ask for movies "to go" on a DVD or even for an iPod. If it is true, it may be that the movie studios want to dictate the future of on-demand movies as a hedge against declining DVD sales and increasing illegal downloads.
