Personal tracks

Hitachi of Japan is about to launch a device which will have record execs
hopping mad. Its cDVD, which goes on sale worldwide in the summer for around
$750, looks like an ordinary DVD player and plays DVD movies. But it will
also play standard CDs and will have a CD writer built in. To help people create
a “best-of compilation album from their CD collection”, Hitachi says, its CD
writer uses a small TV to display a split-screen guide that helps users make
their compilations. The two drives can run at twice normal speed to halve the
copying time.…