NEWS, ETC.
October 2001
10/31 Intel
to Throttle Pentium 4 to 3GHz Next Year
10/31 Cutting
all Cables: Phoneline vs. Wireless Networking
10/31 Netscape
Upgrade Jumps on XP Bandwagon
10/30 Researchers
Up Reliability of Nanoscale Circuit Measurements. Researchers
at Arizona State University report that they have created a method of "soldering" metal
electrodes to each end of a single molecule...
10/30 Motherboards
with Intel's DDR Chip Set to Ship in December
10/30 Intel
and AMD Continue Processor Price War
10/30 Ukraine's
Last Nuclear Missile Silo Destroyed
10/29 Microsoft
Boss Junks Windows 2000. It "wasn't ready" to do so,
and although "reliable, is not very compatible."
10/29 MSI
K7N420 nFORCE Chipsert Motherboard Review
10/29 Intel
to Ship 845 B-Step DDR Pentium 4 Motherboard Chipset in November.
Intel formally informed Taiwan's motherboard makers that it will start
volume deliveries of its DDR SDRAM-supporting chipsets...
10/29 Intel
Chips Away At Pentium 4 Pricing
10/28 Semiconductor
Alert! Commentary & analysis of week's chip news, Oct. 22-26
10/26 XP
Accessory: 20MB of Updates. People rushing out
to buy Windows XP on Thursday may be surprised by the hefty package of
downloads already available for updating the brand-new operating system.
10/26 MSN
Lockout Fuels Antitrust Cry. As some third-party
browsers remain unable to access Microsoft's popular MSN.com Web site
for a second day, the lockout has stirred up further anti-competitive
concerns about the giant software maker.
10/26 Abit
to Ship 30,000 Barebone System Desktops to Compaq Every Month. The
Compaq orders are for desktop PCs, including Pentium 4, Pentium III and
Celeron lines, and will be sold in the Southeast Asia region.
10/26 Lockheed
Wins Joint Strike Fighter Contract
10/26 Intel,
AMD to Cut Prices Again
10/26 Dell
Sidesteps Made-To-Order Strategy with $599 PC
10/26 U.S.
Patent Office to Hire 500 EEs This Year
10/25 XP
Draws Fire From Mac, Linux, Even DOS Faithful
10/25 Microsoft
Kicks Off Windows XP in New York. XP
launch: Gates ushers out "the MS-DOS era"
10/25 Linux
Versions Get a Face-lift.While Microsoft peppers
the media with promotions surrounding the release of Windows XP, new
versions of three major commercial Linux distributions also hit store
shelves this week.
10/25 Computer
Demand Slumps Again
10/24 Motherboard
Makers Facing Difficulty in Choosing Chipsets. Intel to begin
small-scale deliveries of DDR 845D chipsets in November. SiS645 is s3econd
choice and favored because VIA P4X266 license problems. AMD AMD761
chipset will gradually be phased-out...
10/24 MP3.com
Founder Preps Linux OS to Run Windows Apps. The new company,
called Lindows.com Inc., will offer in the fourth quarter of 2001 a Preview
Release of a Linux-based OS, dubbed LindowsOS, that can run both Linux
and Windows applications. Lindows
Web Site and Press Release.
10/24 NASA
Scientists Jubilant After Mars Odyssey Arrival. Odyssey's mission
to study the makeup of Mars and to search for frozen reservoirs of water...
10/24 Windows
XP Extends Microsoft's Reach
10/24 Microsoft
Beefs Up Security with Windows XP
10/23 Cut
Cable Interrupts Phone and Internet Use in Maine. And
now you know why there was no news posted yesterday and why I am behind
on the Forums.
10/23 The
Memory Bottleneck. "Until we have significantly lower latency
DRAM solutions, the effective increase of CPU speed revisions will be
held at bay by the memory that feeds them."
10/23 Groups
Blast FTC For Inaction On Windows XP. Several consumer groups
today castigated Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris for
what they say is his agency's lukewarm response to allegedly illegal
privacy gaps in XP operating system.
10/23 IBM
in Court Over Disk Drive Woes. Those
who purchased a 75GXP from 15 March 2000 to now are included in the
hearing and may be liable for compensation if IBM loses the case.
10/23 Researchers
Find Gene That Boosts Longevity. Researchers
have found a gene that protects cells from a destructive form of oxygen
and could possibly give mammals a longer life span. The finding could
lead to drugs to help cells resist aging.
10/23 Odyssey
Spacecraft Readies for Crucial Mars Maneuver
10/23 Yahoo
Piggybacks on IE, Windows. As AOL Time Warner and Microsoft duke
it out over control of the Internet, Yahoo has snuck into the ring.
10/23 Red
Hat launches Version 7.2 of Linux
10/23 Intel
Introduces First Flash Memory Product On 0.13-Micron Process Technology
10/23 Western
Digital Announces Availability of 120 MByte, 7,200 EIDE Hard Disk Drive
10/23 DFI
Launches Athlon DDR Motherboard With the VIA KT266A Chipset and RAID
10/23 PHP
Rocket Add-in for FrontPage
10/19 Windows
XP Inside & Out. Should you upgrade?
10/19 Internet
Tax Moratorium Set to Lapse Sunday. Expect Senate will pass some
version of an extension on the ban within the next couple of weeks.
10/19 Matsushita
Develops 100-Gbyte Optical Video Disk. 50 Gbytes per side, which
allows the recording of more than two hours of high-definition programs.
10/19 Novell
Releases NetWare 6. NetWare 6 allows Windows, Macintosh,
UNIX, Linux and Web-based client workstations to connect and store files
and data on NetWare servers without any Novell client software on the
workstation.
10/19 Intel
Shuts Down Consumer Electronics Unit
10/18 AMD
Sees 0.13-micron Process as 'Secret Weapon,' Says CEO. Two
0.13-micron processor lines... "Appaloosa" processors are designed
for low-end PCs and mobile products, while "Thoroughbred" is
geared for desktops and servers, according to AMD. The chips are expected
to ship in volume in the first half of 2002. Latest AMD
Processor Roadmap.
10/18 Motorola's
PowerPC 8500/G5 Processor Performance 'Stunning'
10/18 Intel
Opens New Manufacturing Facility. Fab 22 using 0.13 micron process
is located on 705-acre Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona and contains
approximately 133,000 square feet of cleanroom space out of a
total of 360,000 square feet that make up the facility. It cost
$2B and took just 18 months to construct.
10/18 DRAM
Market Predicted to Shrink Another 19% in 2002. Global market
memory chips was likely to shrink an additional 19% in 2002 after a massive
67% contraction this year.
10/18 Shipments
of PCs Said to Fall 11.6% in Third Quarter
10/18 Microsoft
Bug Reports May Send Personal Data. Companies using Microsoft
Office XP and Internet Explorer 5 have been warned that documents containing
personal information could be sent to Microsoft along with debugging
information in the event of a program crash.
10/18 IBM's
Dream: computer, heal thyself
10/18 Tiny
Engines
10/17 IBM
Unveils Fastest Embedded PowerPC Processor. The IBM PowerPC 750FX
is the first to combine the company's most advanced process technologies
onto one chip, reducing power consumption by up to 50 percent or increasing
performance by up to 30 percent. It is the first to include copper interconnects,
silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistors and low-k dielectric insulation
technologies... 1 GHz... consumes only 3.6W (typical) at 800 MHz... 512K
of internal on-chip L2 cache.
10/17 Profitable
IBM Beats Earnings Estimates
10/17 Broadband
In 41% Of Wired U.S. Homes By 2006
10/17 Intel
Announces 'Nocona' Processor for Future 32-bit Servers
10/17 Windows XP may spark
ultimate battle to own the Net... Mission:
Domination of the Internet. Windows
XP: Battle over the Internet.
10/17 Positioning
is Top Priority for VIA's Own-brand Motherboards.
10/17 Lego
Robot Solves Rubik's Cube
10/17 Research
Peers Into Nature's Way Of Fixing Nitrogen
10/17 Intel
Profits Drop 77% in Third Quarter. Net income before acquisition-related
costs fell to $655 million, or 10 cents a share, from $2.89 billion,
or 41 cents, a year ago...
10/16 Taiwan's
Feisty VIA to Develop 'Pentium 4 Processor Clone' for High-end PCs.
At the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, VIA stunned the market by announcing
a 2-GHz processor that is reportedly a "clone" of Intel's Pentium
4! 10/19 Apparently, VIA is now denying that this report is
true.
10/16 For
AMD's New Chips, Connection is Key
10/16 Intel
Looks to Bridge Gap in Multithreading CPU Landscape. Intel is
proposing "pseudo-parallelism" as the next step in microprocessor
design.
10/16 Quantum
Stew: How Physicists Are Redefining Reality's Rules. You
may have to log into the NY Times, but it is free and is well worth the
little effort that it takes.
10/15 Will
Enterprises Buy into XP? When Windows XP Professional ships next
week, virtually no one is expecting a mad rush of buying from IT executives.
10/15 Surge
in Chip Stocks May Offer False Hope. What appeared to be be
a sudden boom on Wall Street for the makers of semiconductors may be
just a case of bottom feeding in an ongoing bust, according to market
analysts.
10/15 AMD
to Unveil 64-bit Hammer and New 32-bit Athlons at Microprocessor Forum
10/15 Via
Enters Motherboard Business to Boost Chipset Prospects. In the
face of reluctance by motherboard manufacturers to use its Pentium 4
chipsets, Via is set to enter the market with motherboards of its own
design.
10/15 Using
Humans as a Computer Model
10/13 Semiconductor
Alert! Commentary & analysis of week's chip news, Oct.
8-12. Does Intel have leg up on 2006 IC packaging? ...new packaging
technology--called "bumpless build-Up layer" or BBUL--that
could make a 20-gigahertz microprocessor possible in five years. Is AMD's
effort to change way PCs are rated a marketing ploy? Fairchild keeps
expanding, through good times and bad...
10/13 Reliability
and Service: Service Takes a Dive. Survey of 27,000 readers shows
customer support at an all-time low.
10/13 A
Cosmic Crisis? Dark Doings in the Universe
10/13 Fiber
weighed for Chip Interconnect. Semiconductor researchers and
at least one startup are going out on a limb, eschewing copper interconnect
to bring optical fiber directly to the microprocessor. ...promise of
ultrafast data rates over a clean, low-power and low-noise pipe.
10/13 Silicon
Valley Unemployment Climbs Sharply
10/13 Judge
in Microsoft Antitrust Case Names Mediator
10/12 AMD's
Turn at the Top? Intel won't release another
version of the Pentium 4 until early 2002, sources say, in a move that
will likely put the performance crown back on AMD's head--at least for
a short time. AMD plans to come out with a 1.6GHz Athlon XP 1900+ with
512 KB cache' in the fourth quarter.
10/12 Microsoft
U-turn on Engineer Accreditation. Microsoft
has done its second U-turn in less than a week by announcing that it
will continue to recognize the MCSE certification for NT 4.
10/12 New
Update for Windows Messenger Provides PC-to-Telephone Functionality
10/12 Compaq
wins $1B contract from US Postal Service
10/12 Hitachi
and Asahi Click on 100-Gbyte Optical-disk System. A disk with
two recording layers on each side could attain a 100-Gbyte capacity consisting
of four 25-Gbyte layers. Such a product could store more than eight hours
of high-definition video content.
10/9 AMD
Bows Its Own XP with Athlon. 0.18-micron process, Socket A, 384K
on die cache', half million more transistors (37.5 million total),
266 MHz FSB, a thermal diode for improved heat control; and draws roughly
20 percent less power. XP 1500+ (1.33GHz), 1600+ (1.4GHz), 1700+
(1.47GHz), and 1800+ (1.53GHz). AMD's
Athlon XP Delivers on Everyday Performance. AMD's new processor
outperforms a 2GHz P4 when running mainstream and high-end productivity
applications, but is second-best when it comes to 3D modelling. AMD
press release.
10/9 Microsoft
Extends Licensing 6.0 Deadline To July 2002.... extending the
deadline for transitioning to its new Software Assurance volume licensing
program by another five months.
10/9 Code
Morphing Tool Promises to Broaden Processor Choices. Transitive
Technologies Ltd., a San Diego startup, has introduced software that
lets code written for one microprocessor architecture run on another.
10/9 Supreme
Court Rebuffs Microsoft Appeal
10/9 Intel
Researchers Disclose Packaging Technology Breakthrough To Enable Billion-Transistor
Processors. The
technology, called "Bumpless Build-Up Layer" or BBUL packaging,
takes a completely different approach to packaging from the current practice
of manufacturing the processor die separately and later bonding it to
the package. Instead, BBUL "grows" the package around the silicon,
resulting in thinner, higher-performance processors that consume less
power. It can also support multiple chips in the same package.
10/9 Staples
Pulls PCs Off the Shelf.
200 of its stores stopped stocking up on built-up personal computers
on September 15. The next 200 stores are expected to have completed
inventory liquidation by the end of the company's fourth quarter in
January 2002.
10/9 Physicists
Who 'Made Atoms Sing' Win 2001 Nobel
10/9 Music
Publishers, Recording Industry in Web Pact
10/5 IWill
XP333 Motherboard Contest. 'Contest to warm-up the XP333
- the Xtreme Mobo that matches perfectly with Win XP and the hottest
AMD Athlon XP processors...'
10/5 AMD
Sees Bigger Loss. Sales tumbled 22
percent and losses soared in the third quarter...
10/5 IBM's
Carbon Nanotube FET Hints at Post-Silicon Circuits
10/5 Microsoft
Eases Costly License Change. Relaxed the restrictions
on "reimaging." Not the same
thing in the story below.
10/5 Survey:
Anger at Microsoft's New Licensing. The
survey found stiff resistance to switching to the new licensing plan,
with 32% of respondents planning to pass on it and 41% saying they would
do nothing. Only 7% of respondents said they planned to move to the new
licensing scheme.
10/4 Compaq
Recalls Power Adapters. Fire risks prompt Compaq
to issue a recall for 1.4 million AC adapters and power cords used with
Compaq Armada and Prosignia laptops. Safety experts warn owners to stop
using the devices immediately.
10/4 Linux
Popularity Breeds More Worms.
10/4 Many
Companies Still Vulnerable to DNS Outage. 25%
of Fortune 1000 company Web sites still have the same vulnerable DNS
(Domain Name System) network setup that led to the Microsoft daylong
blackout eight months ago.
10/4 Dell
Says Orders Rebounded Faster Than Expected
10/4 Pace
Of High-Tech Job-Cutting Slows. 47,250 jobs in the telecommunications,
computer and electronics industries were eliminated in September, 31
percent fewer than the sector's August count of 68,574
10/4 IBM
Launches World's Most Powerful Server -- Regatta
10/3 At
Age 30, E-Mail Matures to Adulthood
10/3 FTC
Says 'Free' Internet Services End Up Costing Consumers A Bundle
10/3 XP
Users to Get Online-Support Chat Feature
10/3 IT
Worker Shortage Continues. Average number of open IT service
and support positions in American companies has more than tripled since
1999.
10/3 Microsoft
Starts to Ramp-down Windows NT
10/3 Intel
Releases 1.2 GHz Celeron Tualatin core, 0.13-micron
process, 256KB L2 cache' and 100 MHz FSB.
10/3 Efficient
Fusion Power Becoming a Reality
10/2 Canon
Sets Out Strategy to Link Cameras, Printers. Unveils
a compact digital camera and a home printer that can hook up to each
other directly to print photos.
10/2 Sun
Releases Beta of StarOffice 6.0. ...streamlined
version of free office software aimed to gain ground against Microsoft's
Office. Or, Microsoft gives away Browser,
Sun gives away office.
10/2 Intel
Introduces PC Accessories. Pocket
Digital PC Camera, Personal Audio Player 3000, and the Play Digital Movie
Creator.
10/2 NVIDIA
Announces GeForce Titanium Series of GPUs
10/1 Toshiba
Offers Flash Drives as Hard-disk Replacements.
Compatible with the pervasive IDE disk technology, the flash drives range
in density from 16 Mbytes to 2 Gbytes. NAND-Based
ICs Building Momentum in Flash-memory Market.
10/1 Intel
Announces World's Fastest And Lowest-Power Processors For Mobile PCs.
Both are based on Intel's advanced 0.13-micron manufacturing process
technology, which enable these new levels of performance and low power
consumption. The new products are among 12 new processors announced today
that span all mobile computing market segments... IBM,
Intel Pose as Low-power Computing Brokers. Big
Blue and the leading chipmaker devise ways of cooling off the processor
process in computers to conserve energy and keep the products from burning
up... Intel
Rolls-out 12 New Processors in Move to Corner Mobile Market
10/1 AMD
Introduces 1.1GHz AMD Duron Processor. $103 in OEM quantities. New
Duron Kicks-off AMD Chip Parade. In another week,
AMD will come out with its line of Athlon XP processors for performance
PCs. Formerly code-named Palomino... The 1.5 GHz chip will actually be
known at the Athlon XP 1800...
10/1 A
First Look at HancomOffice 2.0. HancomOffice
2.0, like StarOffice, will be a multiplatform product running on Linux,
Mac OS/X, and Windows... "It will make Linux a more attractive choice
for business and government, allowing Linux a chance to breathe outside
the server room. Finally, those purchasing Hancom Office 2.0 for Windows
today will have one less reason not to switch to Linux tomorrow."
10/1 Inertia
Keeps Microsoft IIS Sites Running. The
number of Web sites using Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Information Services
(IIS) software continued to climb in September, despite the effects of
Code Red, the closure of a major Web hosting company using IIS, and an
analyst's warning that IIS users should look for more secure alternatives...
10/1 Chipmakers
to Give Chip Cores to Synopsys Library
10/1 Five
Tech Trends With Legs
10/1 Copper
a Perfect Fit for Speedy Chips
10/1 Top
10 Ink Jet Printers
10/1 SPECIAL
REPORT: Online Ad Sales -- What Ads Are Really Being Sold Right Now?
Index |
