Hitachi announced a new drive with a 1.8-inch diameter disk but smaller overall size, thanks to the use of a streamlined connector. The new Travelstar C4K60 series drives for consumer electronics operate at 4,200 revolutions per minute and are available in 20GB and 30GB capacities with a 10 percent smaller footprint than the company’s previous 1.8-inch model.

Next week, Smart Box Design will launch Farkle for Palm OS, a handheld version of the classic dice rolling game. Farkle offers players an opportunity to challenge up to three friends or play against a selection of computer opponents whose playing styles range from nervous to daring.

ParkerVision announced that CompUSA will sell ParkerVision’s SignalMAX wireless networking products and anticipates that SignalMAX products will be on store shelves in September. SignalMAX wireless routers for use with cable and DSL modems, WLAN cards for notebooks, and USB adapters for PC desktops enable wireless networking and Internet connectivity without the distance and dead-zone limitations of conventional WiFi products.

Worker apathy about PDA security is putting corporate data in jeopardy. The Mobile Vulnerability Survey 2004 found that a third of users do not even use password protection on their devices, leaving the information vulnerable to opportunists, hackers or competitors. Two thirds of users do not use any kind of encryption to protect confidential data on mobile devices, according to a survey commissioned by Pointsec Mobile Technologies and Infosecurity Europe.

PowerByHand, provider of mobile content and solutions, has been named the number one Rising Star in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 program for North Carolina. The Rising Star award is a special designation for fast-growth technology companies that have been in business three or four years and are part of the North Carolina Technology Fast 50 program, which ranks the 50 fastest growing technology companies headquartered in North Carolina.

Two gaming handhelds, one shipping in the United States and the other not available anywhere, are being touted this week by their respective manufacturers for consumption by the British public. The British public are getting their first taste of these devices this week at the 2004 European Games Network trade show, better known as EGNExpo, the U.K.’s premier show for computer/video games suppliers, publishers, developers, distributors and the gaming industry as a whole.

Adware company Claria has quietly settled litigation brought by Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans and other online businesses, which charged that its delivery of pop-up ads violated their trademarks. Claria, formerly known as Gator, ended a multidistrict litigation case, or combined lawsuit, with Wells Fargo and Quicken Loans on Aug. 7, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney. In recent months, it also has quietly settled with UPS, Hertz, L.L. Bean, Tiger Direct and Six Continents.

For about $10 million, city officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world’s largest wireless Internet hot spot. The plan, now in the works, would involve placing hundreds, or maybe thousands of small transmitters around the city, probably atop lampposts, each capable of communicating with the wireless networking cards that now come standard with many computers.

Brighthand has published a collection of the most current palmOne Tungsten T5 rumors that are circulating. Check them to see what you think is true and what’s pure vapor.

HP disappointed many iPAQ users when it officially announced that there would be no Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition upgrades for any current iPAQ model. A digital petition, which recently reached 10,000 signatures, has been started urging HP to reconsider.