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| Tech News for Wednesday August 16th 2000Big
Blue takes computing to the atomic level. Big Blue said the computer, which uses five atoms to work as its processor and memory, demonstrates for the first time the potential of such devices to solve certain problems at a rate remarkably faster than conventional computers. The experimental machine is considered the next step toward a new class of devices capable of superfast calculations. "A quantum computer could eventually be used for practical purposes such as database searches--for example, searching the Web could be sped up a great deal--but probably not for more mundane tasks such as word processing," said Isaac Chuang, the IBM researcher who led the team of scientists from IBM, Stanford University and the University of Calgary. A quantum computer could also be used for cryptography, or the making and breaking of codes. This has drawn the interest of the U.S. National Security Administration and the Department of Defense, which are funding Stanford's efforts to build the quantum computer. Debian
GNU/Linux 2.2 Released. Debian GNU/Linux version 2.2, aka Potato, has been deemed stable and released for public consumption. Version 2.2 brings to the table a new (and much needed) installation system, simplified X configurator, new Linux Kernel, 1200 new packages, and over 800 package updates. Debian 2.2 also features new networking management tools and better international support. Those interested may download the release from FTP mirrors or grab the CD images. As always, the easiest way to upgrade is to simply use apt. For more information about Debian 2.2, dedicated to developer Joel "Espy" Klecker, read the release notes. Agenda
Unveils Linux Handheld. LinuxWorld sees debut of monochrome model to ship in October starting at $149. SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- Agenda Computing is showing its handheld PC based on the Linux operating system to the open source programming community at the LinuxWorld trade show here. The demonstration of the Agenda VR3 is offered as a signal flare to attract Linux software developers before the product hits the market in October, says Roger Richards, president of Agenda. "We wanted to introduce this to the open source community. We believe we have months of time for this community to modify the thousands of Linux applications on PCs to work with the VR3," he says. "We believe that this handheld has the hardware and memory that [Linux] applications will need in the future."
The Agenda VR3 4-ounce portable computer uses a 2.25-by-3.25-inch (160-by-240-pixel) gray-scale LCD screen and a 66-MHz processor. It comes with 8MB of memory and from 2MB to 8MB of flash memory, depending on the model. A 33.6-kilobits-per-second modem is optional. The VR3 ranges in price from $149 to $249. 1.5GHz
Athlon slated for January. The speed rev is possible now, but AMD wants to ensure that it sells enough Athlons between now and Christmas to ensure its new tradition of posting profitable quarters continues unabated. Tech News for Tuesday August 15th 2000AT&T
selects Philips' TriMedia chip for cable box. AT&T Broadband, Englewood, Colo., signed a joint marketing agreement with Philips Digital Networks for the digital set-tops to be used by AT&T cable TV affiliates. AT&T itself will buy an undisclosed quantity of the Philips' units. Under the evolving transition to a retail market, the set-top boxes next year will also be sold directly to consumers. At the heart of the Philips' box is the TriMedia VLIW chip. The company developed the advanced processor in its Sunnyvale, Calif., chip subsidiary several years ago, and has been seeking design-ins with consumer electronics and multimedia product OEMs. The AT&T order respresents the largest win yet for the TriMedia. New
CD-RW Family from Hewlett-Packard. HP has announced a whole slew of new CD-RW drives. Here are some of the prices and quick specs:
Hewlett-Packard today
launched a family of high-performance HP CD-RW compact disc drives. The fall
product lineup provides a new design; faster write speeds (up to 12x) and
rewrite speeds (up to 8x); and a new, easy-to-use software bundle. Sony
confirms Transmeta chip for Vaio. Earlier this week Sony reported that it was going to drop Intel as a CPU provider for their laptops and now the choice has been made to move with Transmeta's "Crusoe" CPU. The new laptop will offer battery life extended by 50 percent and an onboard CCD camera. Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. on Tuesday confirmed it plans to use Transmeta Corp's Crusoe chip in a remodeled Vaio C1 notebook personal computer.Crusoe can extend battery life by 50 percent by using a hybrid of software and hardware and is expected to compete with chips made by U.S. giant Intel Corp. Compaq
Makes Linux Strategic OS. Compaq Computer Corp. will add its voice to the growing litany of support for the Linux operating system Tuesday, placing Linux among its "strategic" operating systems. Given that Compaq (stock: CPQ), Houston, sold more Linux servers than any other vendor during the fourth quarter, according to International Data Corp. Framingham, Mass., Compaq's support for Linux is unsurprising. However, the company sees Linux as both a strategic OS for servers and workstations, but also for its iPaq handheld and even desktop and notebook PCs. Rambus
Sues Infineon Over SDRAM Patents. After all the negative press surrounding Rambus the company is lashing out at the main competitor. It underscores the old saying: "If you can't beat them, sue them!". A major fight between Rambus and Infineon Technologies AG could ensue as Rambus last week filed a patent infringement suit against Infineon in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. "We filed suit after we thought negotiations with Infineon had broken down," said Avo Kanadjian, vice president of worldwide marketing for Rambus, Mountain View, Calif. "Since then negotiations have resumed and we are hopeful of reaching a settlement," he said in an interview late Friday afternoon. But Infineon (stock: IFX) is also reportedly considering its own lawsuit against Rambus to enforce its patent rights in synchronous memory technology. Sources said Infineon, Munich, Germany, had held off, fearing possible adverse reaction to a foreign chip giant attacking a smaller U.S. technology firm. But its concerns are now moot with Rambus taking it to court first. 1.1
GHz AMD Athlon Processor. On August 28th Advanced Micro Devices will begin selling its 1.1GHz Athlon processors in new computers around the globe. At a cost of $853 USD in thousand unit quantities, the newest Athlon comes just shortly after the one year anniversary of the shipment first Athlon processor. For more information visit AMD's Web site. GeForce2
Ultra prices. Yesterday nVidia released the GeForce2 Ultra video card and at first I was frustrated after just having purchased the previous model. The GeForce2 Ultra will be released in September for around $500. The price is incredibly costly and I'm not sure how many people are prepared to fork over $500 for a video card. Unless I make plenty of money over night I have no plans to upgrade. AMD
Athlon price cuts. I love competition: The war between AMD and Intel is always good news for PC consumers because we are able to pickup faster processors for less cash. Take a look at this clip from the AMD official press release on AMD Athlon pricing: The 1.1GHz, 1GHz, 950MHz, 900MHz, 850 MHz, and 800 MHz AMD Athlon processors are priced at $853, $612, $460, $350, $282, and $215 respectively, each in 1,000-unit quantities. The 700MHz, 650MHz, and 600MHz AMD Duron processors are priced at $138, $103, and $79 respectively, each in 1,000-unit quantities. Granted, the price cuts are noted in quantities of 1,000 units but the price cuts will still trickle down to the consumer. S3
exiting the audio business. Tech News for Monday August 14th 2000Yahoo!
banned in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia doesn't tolerate any Yahoos. The conservative Gulf Arab kingdom, in the news most recently for publicly beheading a convicted murderer, announced Sunday it is cutting its Internet users off from access to clubs hosted by Santa Clara-based online media giant Yahoo! One of the largest free forums for online discussion, "Yahoo! clubs" served more than 60,000 subscribers in Saudi Arabia before the shutdown, hosting everything from theology discussions to local sports talk. And, say Saudi officials, pornography. "The pornographic content of many of these clubs cannot be tolerated," says Eyad al-Hajery, head of the information security center at KACST, the supervising body in Saudi Arabia responsible for monitoring the Internet there. "(KACST) determined that blocking the whole club service would be the easiest and most successful thing we could do." AMD,
Intel draw 64-bit battle lines. AMD this week released detailed Sledgehammer specs for software developers, two weeks before Intel is slated to unload its own technical data at the Intel Developer Forum in San Jose. AMD again touted its “bottom-up” strategy of expanding its 32-bit Athlon core by adding 64-bit capability. Both Sledgehammer and Itanium run 32-bit software seamlessly in hardware, using separate compatibility modes. The difference is, AMD is engaged in a more evolutionary and inclusive migration of its X86 architecture to 64-bit processing, while Intel is optimizing its 64-bit mode while omitting some top-of-the-line features of the 32-bit Pentium 4, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight64, Saratoga, Calif. Start-up
taps swapping tech to ease Web bottlenecks. vTrails has developed a technology that distributes Internet content by replicating it across thousands of personal computers, which in turn dispense it to others in a massive "daisy chain." vTrails' technology is similar to Napster, Gnutella and other so-called peer-to-peer networking technologies in that it uses a loose collection of desktop PCs to act as servers to distribute content. vTrails may be among the first to tap into a new trend. Start-ups inspired by the success of Napster may begin morphing the basic peer-to-peer concepts for other uses. The year-old company is seeking a U.S. patent for its Full Duplex Packet Cascading (FDPC) technology, introduced earlier this week. But the technology is still in the early stages and continues to be tested in the company's labs, executives said. The technology represents a unique approach to alleviating Net congestion, the company says, a problem that has grown worse as streaming media technologies gain popularity. Many live "Webcasts," including the first Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show, the John Glenn space launch, and the videotaped deposition of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, have been hugely popular. But the resulting Net congestion has given viewers sluggish performance and, in some cases, no ability to connect to the Webcasts. Streaming media and Webcasting technology use is expected to grow as more consumers use the Net and as additional uses are developed to easily transmit live audio and video online. But most people will not tolerate poor-quality video, slow connections or other maladies for long. NVIDIA
GeForce2 Ultra Announced. AAARGH!!! I just purchased a GeForce2 and now nVidia announces a newer updated version. I had better check the 30day return policy. Read the full review here over at SharkyExtreme. NVIDIA announced today the most powerful 3D graphics processing unit (GPU) ever produced, the GeForce2 Ultra(TM). Once again, NVIDIA sets new standards for performance and quality by combining the award-winning GeForce2 architecture with its fully compatible driver architecture and its cutting-edge memory subsystem to deliver the industry's fastest GPU. The previous leader was NVIDIA's GeForce2 GTS(TM). `The GeForce2 Ultra has been in volume production for over 30 days. The first GeForce2 Ultra-based add-in cards will be available from Creative Labs in September. Other companies shipping GeForce2 Ultra-based boards include: ELSA, Guillemot, and Hercules, with more add-in-card manufacturers and tier one OEM announcements to come soon.Significant 3D features of the GeForce2 Ultra include:
nVidia
Detonator 3.0 drivers released. nVidia video card owners may want to take note of the big release of the new "Detonator" reference video drivers. nVidia claims a 50% performance gain but real-world benchmarks show roughly 10% which is very impressive. To download and for more details visit the web site. |
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