Dual-layer 8.5GB recordable DVDs developed. There is good news at this week's Ceatec Japan 2003 exhibition for users looking to squeeze extra data onto a recordable DVD disc. Companies are demonstrating dual-layer versions of both DVD-R and DVD+R discs that offer almost double the data capacity of today's standard blank DVD discs. [InfoWorld: Top News]

The Instreamer. Barix has a new version of the Exstreamer coming out, their digital audio system for streaming MP3s around a home network from a PC to a stereo, but we're far more intrigued by their new version of the Instreamer, which works the other way around, taking any audio source (like the radio, a CD player, turntable, etc.), and converting into an MP3 stream which can then be beamed around the network. Read... [Gizmodo]

Magicstor's 4.8GB mini-drive. A couple of months ago Hitachi took the wraps off a new 4GB version of the MicroDrive, its line of miniature hard drives that fit CompactFlash Type II expansion card slots. Now Magicstor is upping the ante -- just a bit -- with a one-inch drive for CompactFlash slots that has 4.8GB of storage space. Read... [Gizmodo]

Chatting with your PDA. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have created a PDA with a voice synthesizer that you can actually hold a conversation with:Amanda is the personal assistant of the future: she is a good listener and quick at answering back. She reads email, checks the news and weather, scans exchange rates and arranges appointments. Ask her any question and she'll raise her eyebrows as she considers it carefully, blink while she scans the internet for an answer, and deliver her finding within seconds. Don't like her somewhat robotic voice? She can change it to have an Australian accent. Rather have a male butler? Amanda can arrange for Joshua to replace her, if you prefer. In fact, preference is what Amanda is all about - because she is a virtual character that resides in a personal digital assistant.The trick is that the PDA has to be wirelessly connected... [Gizmodo]

TDK's new MP3 players. Four new feature-laden additions to TDK's line of MOJO MP3 players: the MOJO 1 (pictured at right), which is built into a pair of headphones and has 128MB of internal memory, a slot for SD and MMC memory cards, and an FM tuner; the MOJO 256F, which has 256MB of internal memory, a slot for SD and MMC memory cards, an FM tuner, special text-to-speech software which can "read" text files stored on it, and a built-in mic for doubling as a digital voice recorder; the MOJO 128F, which is like the 256F, but has just 128MB of internal memory, and no text-to-speech software; and the MOJO X, which is a no-frills player with 128MB of memory. Read... [Gizmodo]