NEWS, ETC.
January 2003

Friday, 31 January 2003

AOL's Subscribers: 'Retreat!' Despite an aggressive promotion campaign, the number of AOL subscribers fell for the first time ever on a quarterly basis, dropping by 170,000 in the last three months of 2002.

AMD Delays 64-Bit Processor. AMD announced that the introduction of 64-bit Opteron processor for servers and workstations will take place on April 22.  The Athlon64 desktop and mobile processors will be introduction in September 2003.  The Athlon XP 3000+ will be introduced on February 10 and the Athlon  XP 3200+ processor is expected mid-2003.  AMD Execs Still Vague On Athlon 64 Launch.

Could IBM Be the Next Computer Chip King? Despite its strength in the mainframe chip and integrated circuit markets, IBM has never entered the PC processor fray. Since the announcement of the PowerPC 970 last October, however, that may be changing.

Nanoscale Waveguides Provide View of single Molecules. Researchers at Cornell University perforated a chip with two million "holes" that serve as nanoscale waveguides, allowing them to film individual molecules during chemical reactions. "We call it a zero-mode waveguide," quipped postdoctoral fellow Michael Levene (shown).

The Internet is Cutting Into TV Time. Television executives have more to fear than a future filled with gross-out reality shows. The Internet is rapidly eroding television viewing hours and emerging as a powerful information medium in its own right, according to a study being released today by the University of California-Los Angeles.

FireWire Vs. USB 2.0. Which is the best standard for connecting your peripherals?

Experts Say Microsoft Security Effort Failing. Computer security experts said on Thursday the recent "SQL Slammer" worm, the worst in more than a year, is evidence that Microsoft year-old security push is not working.

US Rejoins International Fusion Project

Human Chess Blunder Hands Win to Computer Program

University Students Admit to Using Cell Phones to Cheat

eBay Selling Iraq

Thursday, 30 January 2003

AOL TW Posts Loss of Nearly $100 Billion. AOL Time Warner Inc. on Wednesday posted a 2002 net loss of nearly $100 billion -- the largest annual loss in U.S. corporate history -- and in a sign of further turmoil, media mogul Ted Turner said he would step down as vice chairman.

Smile, You're On Cell Phone Camera! Take quick snaps and e-mail them with these wireless phones, but don't count on the photos to be keepers.

Why Voice Over IP Is on Hold. Slow adoption of devices that allow users to place calls over the open Internet is due partly to technical problems -- packet jitter, missing and dropped packets, and compression hurdles -- and partly to security concerns.

Expert Weighs Code Release After Slammer. "Loose lips sink ships."

Slammer Finds Different Routes? Other companies' products that use the flawed Microsoft database software could have amplified the SQL worm's impact, say researchers.

Rambus Wins Appeal on fraud, Infringment Ruling. A federal appeals court reversed a lower court decision that Rambus had committed fraud in its dealings with a JEDEC standards committee. It also reinstated Rambus' claim that Infineon had infringed upon its patents. FTC Likely to Ignore Rambus Court Victory. Appeals court reverses fraud conviction, FTC proceeding with antitrust case.

Seeing SPOTs: Microsoft Uses FM in New Generation of gadgets. When Microsoft researchers wanted to know how to bring the Internet to everyday devices like the wristwatch, they turned to the sleepy technology of FM radio.  Suunto Watches.

Researcher Ponders the Next Killer App. Thinking machines and robotic devices that replace human assistants are among the potential killer applications that could transform the electronics industry.

Red Light, Green Light: A 2-Tone L.E.D. to Simplify Screens. With O.L.E.D.'s (organic light-emitting diodes) you can roll up your display and put it in your pocket and it weighs an ounce, not a pound.

Steam Fires Underwater Jet Engine. A revolutionary new steam engine may soon be powering speedboats more efficiently, cleanly and safely than conventional outboard motors.

Zenith Recalls 80,000 Large-Screen, Analog TVs. About 80,000 large-screen, analog Zenith Electronics Corp. televisions are being recalled for repair because they may be a fire hazard.

Physicists Teleport Quantum Bits Over Long Distance

Scientists Uncover How Brain Perceives Color

Clues to Origins of Universe

PC Connection Beats 4Q Expectations

Wednesday, 29 January 2003

IT Certifications and What They're Really Worth. Do these programs actually benefit IT employees, or are they merely expensive pieces of paper?

Samsung Rolls-out World’s Fastest DDR3 SRAM. Samsung Electronics today announced the development of what it calls the world’s fastest DDR3 SRAM technology.

Apple Announces New Power Macs, 20-inch Display. The company announced speedbumped Power Macs this morning as well as a new 20-inch display and price cuts to the rest of the display line.

Microsoft Extends Support Period for Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft yesterday confirmed that it will extend pay-per-incident and premier support for Windows NT Server 4.0 through 2004.

Geologists Show Homer Got it Right

Tuesday, 28 January 2003

Pushing the PDA Limits. The new Sony Clié PEG-NZ90 is busting out of the handheld category—and probably anything else that tries to contain it.

Worm Gets Under Microsoft's Skin. E-mails show that even the company's servers weren't protected from SQL Slammer.

Retailers Explore Java POS Systems. Retailers are beginning to check out platform-neutral Java-based system as they revamp their point-of-sale operations.

D-Link to Launch World’s first 802.11a/g WLAN Products Next Month. Shortly after its launch of 802.11g-standard products two weeks ago, D-Link will release the world’s first WLAN routers and network interface cards (NICs) supporting the 802.11a and 802.11g standards next month.

Xanoptix Stacks Chips to Create Hybrid ICs. Startup Xanoptix Inc. has developed a wafer-scale manufacturing process that allows silicon die, optical semiconductors and compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide chips to be stacked into three-dimensional structures to create hybrid ICs.

Voice-Enabled Cable MODEMs Using TI´s Silicon and Software Recieve PacketCable 1.0 Certification

Monday, 27 January 2003

Internet Recovering From Slammer Attack. After slowing or halting Web traffic around the world this weekend, the Internet is recovering Monday from the attack of the Slammer worm, even as some networks reported a new wave of disruptions Monday morning.

Infineon Moves to Stop DRAM Production at Promos
In a move that could bring production of memory chips to a halt at one of Taiwan's largest memory makers and bring about a shortage of PC memory chips, German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG announced Monday it was immediately terminating a technology licensing deal with Promos Technologies Inc.

Cisco Automates Setup for IP Voice. Enhancements to the operating systems of Cisco switches and routers should make it easier to use data networks for voice calls and multimedia, a move that could cut costs and open the door to new capabilities.

The Apache of the Future. The Apache Web server is the rock-solid foundation that powers approximately two-thirds of all Web sites on the Internet, but the Apache Project, which is in charge of the software's development, has found migration to version 2.0 slow going. What does the future hold for the world's most popular Web server?

Developers Turn to Linux, Stunt Microsoft Growth.  Microsoft still owns about 42 percent of the market, but Linux is gradually gaining speed with 26 percent of all servers being shipped with the free software. Unix has about 12 percent.

NEC Launches World’s Thinnest and Lightest Tablet PC. NEC’s new Tablet PC, measuring 15mm (0.6 inches) thick and weighing 999 grams (2.2 pounds), is the world’s thinnest and lightest Tablet PC.

DVD Audio to Deliver Seven Hours of Music. The fidelity of the new standard will be far better than current CD and minidisc recordings...

Top 10 Laser Printers

Sunday, 26 January 2003

Computer Worm Slows Global Net Traffic. Experts called it the most damaging attack on the Internet in 18 months as networks across Asia, Europe and America were effectively shut down for hours Saturday afternoon.

Friday, 24 January 2003

Server shipments Up 4 Percent in 2002. Dataquests says sales are picking up steam.

DRAM Bulletin: PC Recovery Seems Far Off as Prices Plummet. The combination of weak demand from PC OEMs and a spate of inventory reductions by memory traders and distributors sent DRAM prices down dramatically on the U.S. spot market this week.

Guitar Maker Preps Digital Network Platform. If all goes well for a small band of engineers at Gibson Labs in Sunnyvale, Calif., this will be the year they put commercial electric guitars on an Ethernet network for the first time.

Senate Kills Funding for Pentagon Data Mining Program. Amendment to budget bill would stop all funding until military can prove to Congress the controversial program does not violate privacy rights of Americans.

VHS to DVD—No Card Required. A first look at the Adaptec VideOh! DVD and Dazzle Digital Video Creator 150—two solutions that can help turn VHS videos into DVDs.

Credit Card-Size Hard Drive Can Hold 5GB. Cheap, thin, flexible StorCard expected to become available this year.  Storcard web site.

Exercise Like a Drug in Heart Disease, Study Finds

Thursday, 23 January 2003

Japanese manufacturers back off proprietary OSes. Sony and Matsushita will no longer support their respective homegrown operating systems as they begin work on a consumer electronics version of Linux.

Samsung Rolls-out Industry’s First 4GB DDR Memory Module. The DIMM encompasses thirty-six 1Gbit DDR components.

VIA Aims to Free Future Processors of Sockets. Responding to growing demand for small form factor and low-price PCs, VIA will move towards developing low-power and socket-free processors.

AMD Said to Gain Market Share in Fourth Quarter. AMD's share jumped from 13.6% in terms of units for the third quarter of 2002, to 17% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Can the Mac Become the Unix Workstation of Choice? At the recent Macworld gathering, Apple announced it is officially working on X11 for Mac OS X.

New SuSE Linux Boasts MS Office Compatibility. Linux vendor SuSE has released software that enables Linux desktop users to run Microsoft Office programs.

EpoX RElease Another nForce2-based  Motherboard. The EP-8RGA+ has built-in VGA with GeForce4 MX graphics core.  Specs.

Microsoft Issues First Security Bulletins of 2003. Bug in network service rated 'critical.'

China Overtakes Japan as Second Biggest PC Market

Nuclear Fusion Could Power NASA Spacecraft.  Travel to Mars in six weeks...

Tuesday, 21 January 2003

Linux Goes Corporate. As the LinuxWorld expo kicks off today in New York, it's increasingly clear that corporate America has bought into the open-source movement.

Beyond the Safari Hype. Apple's new Safari Web browser has taken off faster than a brushfire on the Serengeti Plain.  When asked to list his favorite Safari features, Adam Engst, publisher of the TidBits newsletter and contributing editor at Macworld, told NewsFactor: "Speed.

2003, Adding New Antar Line. According to company sources, VIA Technologies expects to sell six million processors, up from nearly two million in 2002, and turn profitable this year.

Security Chip Market Comes Of Age. Cavium signs a deal to put security chips on ABIT motherboards in the first of a wave of deals that are expected to be unveiled in coming months.

Bill Gates Is Waiting for the Perfect PC. The desire to fulfill his original vision for the PC is what keeps him from retiring, Gates said.

Monday, 20 January 2003

Several Key Products Launch This Eeek at LinuxWorld. IBM, SuSE and The SCO Group are planning to make some noise this week at the LinuxWorld show in New York.

Microsoft Unveils New CD Copy Protection. The software giant announces new digital rights software aimed at helping music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, one of the biggest thorns in the ailing industry's side.

Major Labels Bring Back Net Music Giveaway. Major music and technology companies announced on Monday they will bring back a promotion they tried six months ago involving the give-away of free music to attract customers to their nascent Internet music businesses.

Friday, 17 January 2003

Battle of the Open Source Databases. Of these two leading contenders, MySQL and PostgreSQL, is one right for your company?  If so, which one?

HP Wrestles Top Spot From Dell. Hewlett-Packard regains its position as the world's largest PC maker in the fourth quarter; the industry also reports an increase of shipments for the quarter and for 2002.

Earnings Roundup: Microsoft, IBM, Sun. Three bellwethers of the tech industry reported earnings today, with Microsoft and IBM posting gains, and Sun reporting a quarterly loss.

IBM Posts Q4 Revenue Growth, but Income Drops. Including $405 million in charges, IBM reported fourth-quarter income from continuing operations of $1.9 billion, down from $2.6 billion in 2001's fourth quarter.

AMD Reports Greater-Than-Expected Loss. AMD reported sales of $686,430,000 and a net loss of $854,740,000 for the quarter ended December 29, 2002. The net loss amounted to $2.49 per share.  In the fourth quarter of 2001, AMD reported sales of $951,873,000 and a net loss of $15,842,000, or $0.05 per share.  Press Release.

Fairchild Reports Loss for 2002 as Prices Erode. For 2002, the South Portland, Maine, semiconductor supplier lost $2.5 million, or 2 cents per share, on sales of $1.41 billion, compared to a loss of $41.7 million, or 42 cents per share, on sales of $1.40 billion in 2001.

Microsoft to Pay Dividend; Earnings Better than Expected. After resisting the idea of giving cash back to shareholders even as its coffers swelled, Microsoft on Thursday announced its first dividend... two-for-one stock split.

Giant Electromagnets to Moor Ships

Defenseless Banana 'Will be Extinct in 10 Years'

Thursday, 16 January 2003

New Program Lets Most U.S. Taxpayers File Returns for Free on Internet. The Free File government partnership with private tax filing services will make a range of tax software available to at least 60 percent, or 78 million, taxpayers through the April 15 deadline.

K8 Said to Make Debut in April. 64-bit Opteron processors from AMD are expected to be launched in April.

Microsoft Told to Ship Java in 120 days. A federal judge orders the software giant to begin shipping Sun's Java with Windows within 120 days, after the companies battle over implementing a ruling he made last month.

MandrakeSoft Files for Bankruptcy. French Linux distributor sinks under financial woes.

Samsung's Profit Soared 160% in 2002

Wednesday, 15 January 2003

Intel's Profits and Sales Rose in Fourth Quarter. Fourth-quarter revenue was $7.2 billion, up 10% sequentially and up 3% year-over-year.

Microsoft Lets Governments Review Windows Code. Microsoft will give governments and international organizations access to the programming code underlying several versions of its Windows operating system to allay security concerns.

VIA, SiS to Introduce New Serial ATA-supporting Chips. With the Serial ATA (SATA) standard is expected to enter the market mainstream with Intel’s introduction of its Springdale platform in the second quarter, Taiwanese chipset designers VIA Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) are planning to launch chips supporting the standard.

Top 10 DVD Drives

The Wheel Thing

Tuesday, 14 January 2003

Transmeta Designs Security in a Chip. Transmet plans to offer a processor with embedded security features, as it races against much-larger rival Intel in the mobile computing market.

The Case of the Incredible Shrinking PCs. Two new multimedia-focused computers are also space savers.

A Comparison of 34 Coolers for the AMD Athlon XP. The launch of the Thoroughbred B cores means that the demands on processor cooling units have also increased...

Sobig Worm Getting Bigger. Virus uses shared network folders to infect Windows machines.

Positive Signs for the Ad Industry. The U.S. ad market should experience a 6 percent increase in 2003.

Monday, 13 January 2003

Dell Seeks to Cash-in With Retailers. The PC maker says it will enter the market for retail point-of-sale equipment with a new line of electronic cash registers. It'll be up against IBM and NCR.

Microsoft Reaches $1.1 Billion Settlement With California Consumers. Proceeds of the settlement with consumers in California, who accused the software giant of violating the state's antitrust and unfair competition laws, will be distributed in the form of vouchers redeemable for computers and software products.

CES 2003: Picks and Pans.  From neat digital home gear to bizarre celebrity sightings, here are the best, worst, and silliest of consumer electronics.

Linux Set to Challenge Windows on Desktop. Bought the latest whiz-bang personal computer, but don't know what to do with your older, fully functional PC? One option would be to try breathing new life into it with Linux...

Top 15 Notebook PCs

Taiwan TFT LCD Producers Doubled Sales Last Year

Friday, 10 January 2003

Gateway Reinvents Its Destination. The Gateway Media Center PC's giant plasma display is one of the best values on the market, since other plasma TVs go for about the same price—without the PC.

Massive Data Storage in Tiny Devices. A fast emerging trend is the development of smart, digital data devices. Cell phones already can capture and send digital photos wirelessly, for example. To cram a mountain of data into ever-smaller units, companies are developing novel -- and tiny -- storage devices.

TiVo Gets Networked. Owners of TiVo's Series 2 Digital Video Recorders will soon be able to add their unit to a home network, so they can share content among PCs, Macs, and other networked TiVo units in the home.

S3 Sets Sights on High-end Desktop Graphics. DeltaChrome, unveiled at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, forms the core of a family of graphics processors S3 plans to roll out this year.

Red Hat Linux 8.1 To Ship in April, Corporate Desktop Due In Late 2003. Red Hat plans to fortify its desktop Linux lineup by shipping Red Hat Linux 8.1 in April, a 32-bit technical workstation this quarter and a full-fledged corporate desktop in the next six to 12 months.

Thursday, 9 January 2003

2003 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jan. 9-12. Gates Unveils Smart Wristwatches. Bill Gates kicked off the CES Wednesday evening by unveiling the first products based on a futuristic technology that can turn everyday items into "smart objects" that receive information through the airwaves. Inside the Biggest Electronics Show in the World. Sony, Toshiba, D-Link and many more are making major product announcements at this huge and super-hot show.  HP, Sony Link PC to Stereo and TV. Both have launched products that turn a PC into a server of music and images for the home stereo and TV, suggesting that information technology (IT) may yet converge with consumer electronics.  CES Preview: From Tiny Storage to Giant TVs. Wireless wonders, awesome audio, digicam dreams, and ways to keep it all running fill annual event.

'Gadget Printer' Promises Industrial Revolution. Ink-jet printing technology that prints fully assembled electric and electronic gadgets in one go could signal the end of assembly lines... The idea of printing a light bulb may seem bizarre, but US engineers are now developing an ink-jet printing technology to do just that...

New Worm, Lirva, is Spreading. Lures victims with a mention of plucky Canadian singer Avril Lavigne, then steals Microsoft Windows passwords and sends them to e-mail addresses in Russia.

DDR Memory Spot Prices Drop Under $6. DDR spot prices for 256Mbit products plunged below US$6 for the first time in five months, reaching US$5.80-5.90 on January.

IBM and AMD to Collaborate in Chip Technology. The companies will develop processes based on silicon-on-insulator transistors, copper interconnects and improved "low-k dielectric" insulation. The agreement includes collaboration on 65 and 45nm technologies to be implemented on 300mm silicon wafers.

Apple 'Switch' Campaign Shifts to UNIX Crowd. Apple Computer this week targeted UNIX users (in addition to Microsoft Windows users) in its drive to "switch" non-Mac users to its OS X platform.  Switching OS X to the user's hardware may be a better idea.

Scam Artists Make Hay on Online Auction Sites

No Way for Segways? More Cities May Ban Scooter

Wednesday, 8 January 2003

Pioneer projects its DVD recorder shipments to grow four-fold next fiscal year. Pioneer projects shipping 700,000 DVD recorders in fiscal year 2003 (April 2003-March 2004), up from an estimated 170,000 units this fiscal year.

DRAM Industry to Grow 20% in 2003, Report Says. After dipping in early 2003, a surge in PC shipments will see the DRAM market reach $18.5 billion in 2003.

Microsoft 'Smart Displays' Begin Shipping. Microsoft's plan to let people access their PCs from wireless "Smart Displays" located about the home draws closer to reality this week.

Apple Laptops Get Jumbo Screen.  Jobs wows Macworld attendees with his 17-inche screen.

Gateway Sharply Lowers Expectations For Fourth Quarter

Tuesday, 7 January 2003

NVIDIA and Shuttle Announce Small Form-Factor PC. Shuttle’s new XPC SN41G2, is a shoebox-sized, barebone PC based on the NVIDIA nForce2 motherboard chipset.

Microsoft Launches New and Improved Media Player. Updated versions of Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker may be available for non-Windows operating systems. Download after 12:00 PST.

LCD Monitor, TV Shipments Grew in 2002. LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor shipments grew to a record high and demand for LCD TVs surged last year.

System Permits Long-distance Manipulation of Image Files. Sandia National Labs is developing a system that allows an image to be viewed and manipulated over the Internet while remaining stored on a secure server far away.

Feds may shake up broadband market. U.S. regulators plan a major overhaul in telecom policy that could strengthen the hand of local phone monopolies.

Macworld Expo Keynote Coverage. Jobs says that 2003 is "the year of the notebook for Apple."

Monday, 6 January 2003

Nforce2 Motherboard Smackdown. It's quite impressive how the Athlon XP 2700+, running at roughly 2.17GHz, keeps up with the Pentium 4 in quite a number of applications... The point here is that the boards just run. It's very reminiscent of installing motherboards with Intel core logic. You install them, set up the BIOS once, and go. The boards are stable, fast and we never witnessed any serious system crashes.

MicronPC Ships Serial ATA PC TO Customers. Offering up to 120 Gbytes of Seagate Serial ATA storage, the Millenia 910i can be configured with up to two Seagate hard drives for Serial ATA RAID 1, 0.

World's Smallest Hard Drive Now Bigger: 4GB on a One-inch Disk. The 4GB Microdrive is expected to be available in the Fall of 2003.

Double-digit Growth Forecast for Chip Industry. The worldwide semiconductor, electronic equipment and component markets will return to robust growth in 2003 after two poor years, according to the latest forecasts from iSuppli Corp.

Microsoft Releases Titanium Beta 2; Official Name To Be Exchange Server 2003. Exchange Server 2003 will offer significant performance improvements, enhancements to the user interface in Outlook 11...

First Look: Sanyo Delivers Combo Camera/Phone

MAC Q&A. How to record streaming audio off the Internet.

Friday, 3 January 2003

DRAM Supply to Exceed Demand by 7.3%, Says Nikkei MA. DRAM output will swell 66% to 816,900 terabits due to more advanced technology.  PC shipments will grow 10%...

PC Spies at the Gate. Use of software that monitors Internet activity without a user's knowledge is on the rise...

Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 4 Percent in 2003. Study shows Linux, outsourcing, wireless sales will be strong.  Tech Spending May Not Recover This Year. Contrary to other upbeat views for a near-term recovery in the battered sector, a Goldman Sachs survey showed technology buyers surveyed at the end of 2002 were more frugal than they had been earlier in the year.

Linux Continues Desktop March. The good news for Linux as an operating system for the desktop could become No. 2 behind Windows as early as next year, but advocates believe its growth is slower than expected.

Antique Attic -- Significant Historical Artifacts from IBM's Collection. IBM has helped to chronicle and contribute to the 400-year history of mechanized calculation by collecting a number of significant counting and reckoning tools and devices -- including abacuses, slide rules, calculators, arithmometers and tabulators...

Hitachi and IBM Complete Hard Disk Drive Agreement. No More IBM HDDs...

Thursday, 2 January 2003

Holiday PC Sales Good Enough. Desktop sales were weak, but notebooks were strong.

Philips' EL Material to Generate Brighter Displays. Unlike today's electroluminescent materials which can emit light of one color only, the new material can switch the emitted light between two colors depending on the direction of the applied current flow.

EDA vendors Brace for 90-nm challenge in 2003. The ramp-up to 90-nanometer chips will give the electronic design automation industry a strong focus in 2003.

Yaha Virus Lingers into the New Year. Although the spread of the virus appears to be slowing, it is still ranked as a "medium risk" to both home and corporate users.

Index