Computer Briefs

San Diego — To help celebrate Iomega's 25th year in business, the company introduced the Iomega Mixx flash-memory portable music player.

The Mixx line, which is available in three size capacities, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB, brings Iomega back into the MP3 portable audio business. Pricing is set at $59.95, $89.95 and $129.95 for the three models, respectively. The devices include an FM tuner and can be used as a digital voice recorder.

The portable digital music player is a product category Iomega helped introduce in the late 1990s when it bowed a line of devices based on the company's proprietary nHand magnetic/optical technology. The company subsequently pulled out of the category.

With the Mixx, Iomega is sticking with tried and true USB and flash-memory technology.

The player will show up on a PC as a separate drive for music and data transfer.

Lace Success, N.Y.— Canon will ship a new laser-based multi-function in late September for the small office market. The Faxphone L120, $299 suggested retail price, combines a monochrome laser fax and printer capabilities and a telephone handset. The device has a maximum fax speed of three seconds per page and the fax's 16MB of memory can store up to 340 pages of data. Laser printer has a speed of up to 12 pages per minute and features a 150-sheet front-loading tray. The single-cartridge system is designed to last for 2,000 printouts per cartridge.

Fremont, Calif.— Antec reported today that it has started shipping its Vcool graphics card fan. Designed for the gamer and do-it-yourself customer, the three-speed fan installs into two of a PC's expansion bays, the company said, adding it can reduce the temperature of a graphics card by 5 to 15 degrees. Antec said its fan differs from others on the market by bringing in cool air from outside the chassis instead of re-circulating the interior air. In addition, it will work with any graphics card. The user can control the fan's speed via an exterior switch. The unit carries a $19.95 suggested retail price.

San Jose, Calif. — Samsung Electronics has started shipping the SE-W164C WriteMaster dual-format, double-layer portable external drive. The unit, suggested retail price $199, has 16x DVD +R and DVD-R write speed and 8X +RW and 6X -RW rewrite speeds. It connects via USB 2.0 and weighs 1.2 pounds.

Cupertino, Calif.— Apple rolled out a revamped iBook line that includes faster processors, and doubled the memory included in all Mac mini computers in time for the back-to-school selling season. The PowerPC G4 iBook, suggested retail price $999, weighs in at 4.9 pounds and features a 1.3GHz processor, 12.1-inch display, 512MB of memory, 802.11g Wi-Fi, 40GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. The step-up model adds a 1.42GHz G4 processor, a 14.1-inch display and a 60GB hard drive, and it weighs an additional pound. Like all iBooks, the new models include Bluetooth 2.0 and are equipped with Mac OS X version 10.4, commonly referred to as Tiger. The entry-level Mac mini desktop primary alteration is the additional memory, boosted to 512MB.