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Tech News for Friday May 19th 2000.Site
News Update. Well, the old look is back after receiving several emails. I also started to miss the old classic look. WinRAR
2.70. WinRAR has released version 2.70 of their popular file archiver. This compression utility offers slightly better compression ratios that WinZIP and allows file spanning across any sized device you choose. Download 2.70 here. AMD's
largest chip launch ever? For those of you (including myself) who did not purchase AMD stock about six months ago when it was under $20/share have another reason to cry. AMD will be releasing 10 new processors on June 5th which should make their stock fly and it would be hard not to believe that the stock will be well over $100/share by July. My next system will definitely AMD based. The company could launch 10 new processors as soon as June 5, sources said. AMD (NYSE: AMD) has said it will launch its new Duron processor, code-named Spitfire, along with its forthcoming Athlon chip, code-named Thunderbird, in June. It now appears the chips will debut on the same day. The new chips target both the high-end and low-cost PC markets. The Thunderbird chips will raise the bar for top-end performance, whereas the Duron will offer AMD's first Athlon-based processor as a lower-cost alternative. Sources said the Duron chip will begin shipping at 600MHz, 650MHz and 700MHz in early June -- possibly as soon June 5. A 750MHz version of the chip will come later, sources said. The Thunderbird chip, meanwhile, will be available in 50MHz increments, ranging from 700MHz to 1GHz (1,000MHz), sources said. The chips, which retain AMD's current 200MHz system bus, are currently being evaluated by PC makers. Thunderbird's most important feature is its 256KB Level 2 cache. The cache, which will be integrated into the chip itself, increases the chip's overall performance by making data meant for processing accessible at much higher speeds than the non-integrated 512KB cache of the current Athlon chip. New
virus seen as smarter than "Love". Take heed to this news article. There is a new virus on the loose that destroy all the files on your system. This is nothing to laugh at so make sure you download your latest virus definition updates. The new virus, dubbed "VBS.LoveLetter.FW.A" by Symantec and "VBS/NewLove-A" by English antivirus firm Sophos, is currently not very widespread. Symantec heard reports from one U.S. firm and two in Israel. Trend Micro, a competing antivirus firm, said one corporate customer reported that all 5,000 of its desktops received the virus, but the company didn't know how many of those actually opened it Antivirus firms monitoring the new outbreak say only a handful of instances so far have been reported to them. But they caution that the virus has the potential to spread rapidly and cause even more damage than its recent predecessor. "Everything on the computer is destroyed," said Vincent Weafer, director of Symantec's antivirus research center. Perhaps even more disquieting than the destructive payload is the fact that the virus alters itself to sneak around traditional virus scanners. This meaner, smarter bug comes on the heels of the so-called Love Bug virus that wreaked havoc and caused billions of dollars in damage earlier this month. The new one threatens not only to overwrite files on victims' computers but to destroy data, programs and crucial operating software on them as well. Netscape
Secure Socket Layer Security Hole. A
flaw in Netscape browsers doesn't validate a site with its secure certificate,
allowing malicious users to impersonate a secure site. An update is available. This security hole has the potential of exposing e-commerce customers' sensitive data to a malicious Web site operator. With the help of testing from KeyLabs, BugNet was able to validate the security hole as well as Netscape's recently released security update for that hole. D-Link
DHN-910 Phoneline Network Review. The thought of tearing of the house to add ethernet cabling is rather disturbing and time consuming. If you have phone jacks in most of the rooms in your house then you could consider using a phoneline networking system. Simply install special network cards into your PC's, connect them to the phone jack on the wall and you have a LAN at 10mb/sec. Quantum 9 reviews the D-Link DHN-910 phoneline network system and walks you through the setup and testing. Overall score is a 9/10 for $129. If you’re looking to setup a network fast cheap and easy, and you don’t feel like, or can’t, wire you’re home or office with Cat5 cables, then I whole heartedly recommend the DHN-910 Phoneline Network. However, if you’ve already got a fully wired facility, or your computers are close enough, you’re probably better off with the DFE-910 Site News
Update. Thank you for all the feedback regarding the new look. Most readers responded favorably and the most common suggestion was to increase the font size on the news highlights. I'm not sure that the new look is what I've been looking for so you may see more tweaks over the next couple of days. Please keep forwarding me your suggestions. I would like to keep this site as graphic free as possible to speed up load times and to stick to the point of delivering news. Tech News for Thursday May 18th 2000.Hitechbits:
A new look. As you can tell if you are not a first time visitor that the site has changed color. Please let me know what you think or if your prefer the old look. The news archives pages have not been completed yet so some of the pages may be difficult to read. Red Hat releases 64-bit
Itanium Linux. On May 17, Red Hat Inc. released an alpha version of a complete IA-64 Linux distribution to developers. This edition, built within the Trillian Project, is the first alpha public code release of a full IA-64 Linux from kernel to drivers to such popular applications as Apache. The package also contains IA-64 development compilers and libraries. This release--combined with Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) release of the Itanium Processor Microarchitecture Reference, a complete reference to the chip's architecture--gives software developers the down and dirty information they need to start serious Itanium development. Indeed, even if you don't have preproduction IA-64 systems in hand, you could start developing with confidence for Itanium on 32-bit systems. Sybase Goes Wireless. Sybase is getting a facelift as it moves into the wireless mobile business space. A wholly owned subsidiary, iAnywhere Solutions, will be devoted to the mobile and wireless computing solutions Sybase (stock: SYBS) is developing. IAnywhere Solutions will include the iAnywhere Wireless Server, which will enable enterprise businesses to develop Web- and enterprise-based solutions and applications for wireless devices. Development partners include Palm (stock: PALM); Symbian; BellSouth (stock: BLS); and Research In Motion (RIM) (stock: RIMM), maker of the Blackberry operating system. DOJ rejects Microsoft's
proposal. Several web sites reported this morning that the DOJ basically turned down Microsoft's proposals to remedy the anti-trust filing. Here's on such article I found over at Electic: The U.S. government on Wednesday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O) offer to change its business practices, saying it would fail to stop the firm's violations of antitrust law, and defended its own proposal to break up the company.``What remedy does Microsoft propose to undo the damage to competition caused by its past illegal conduct?'' the government said in a 70-page brief filed in U.S. District Court. In the next sentence it answered its own question: ``Nothing.'' IBM 75GB 75GXP
DTLA-307045 review. Storage Review takes IBM's latest 75GB (yes, it's 75GB - not a error!) for a test drive. At an estimated $349 the drive is very affordable. The 75GXP, however, delivers performance matching the Fireball Plus LM in capacities that easily exceed the maximum provided by Quantum's line. Further, it manages to do so while operating a touch more quietly DDR vs. Dual
Channel RDRAM. Ah, finally someone with enough financial capital available to test these new memory technologies head-to-head. DDR (Double-Data Rate) RAM is currently only available on high end video cards such as nVidia's GeForce and RDRAM is Intel's new RAMBUS memory. The conclusion speaks for itself: In the
overwhelming majority of cases, DDR exceeds the performance of dual channel
RDRAM, at times by a very substantial margin. There are several cases where
there is very little difference, and finally a few where the 840 pulls ahead by
a small margin. Not to mention that DDRAM is significantly cheaper and it should be available on the next generation motherboard chipsets. AT&T
Wireless Debuts Free Wireless Internet. Once broadband Internet access becomes the norm in households like televisions and telephones you can be rest assured that voice-over-IP technologies will make significant inroads into traditional phone services. AT&T Wireless Group this week introduced its Digital PocketNet service designed to provide unlimited wireless access to over 40 stripped-down Web sites. The division of AT&T
Corp. AT&T Wireless Services is diving into the booming wireless Internet market segment looking to overshadow rivals by offering twice as as many Web destinations than its competitors. AT&T Wireless Services customers may also opt for adding other wireless capabilities, including e-mail access, personal organizer services and access to the Internet portal Excite. Fresh from its well-received initial stock offing, John D. Zeglis, AT&T Wireless Group chairman and chief executive officer, said the service launch it part of AT&T plan to dominate wireless Internet services in the U.S. 'Fast Boot'
Option in Windows ME. One of the new features included in the upcoming release of Windows Millennium is a "Fast Boot" feature. According the eFront article it appears that you require specific hardware to support this feature. To read all about this new "fast boot" feature see this article on Microsoft's tech page. Microsoft
announced earlier today that they would be implementing the 'fast boot' option
into their upcoming OS - Windows ME. The feature utilizes 'fast boot'-optimized
hardware, such as the Dell Dimension PC to quicken the system's startup time.
Aside from the option, the Microsoft team is working with partners to improve
overall boot time on new PCs. Removal of real mode, registry improvements and
faster device initialization are just a few methods that will be used to quicken
ME's pace. Intel tries
to "sell" RAMBUS memory. With all the lack-luster support for the overpriced and over hyped RAMBUS memory, Intel called an emergency meeting with the company "big-wigs" to gauge the market response to the new memory. From reading this article it appears as if Intel is trying to figure out how to "casually" help resellers into supporting RAMBUS more readily. Intel Corp. has called what sources say is an emergency meeting to gauge the commitment of the industry's top DRAM suppliers to Direct Rambus DRAM memory production.The two-day meeting, under way at Intel's Chandler, Ariz., campus, was called by high-level company executives, who are concerned that insufficient support for the new memory interface could undermine Intel's high-end microprocessors, which are designed to operate with the architecture. According to sources, Intel is using the occasion to encourage DRAM suppliers to accelerate their transition from mainstay SDRAM to Direct RDRAM devices and guarantee adequate supplies of the memory ICs to support Intel's own chip plans. Intel could not be reached immediately to comment on the meeting. Transmeta chips expected
in devices next month. Several months back Transmeta announced a new series of low-power CPU's called "Crusoe". Expect to see various portable devices sporting these new low-cost/low-power CPU's over the next month or so. The new CPU is not designed to go after AMD or Intel but may take a significant bite out of the low-end CPU market in laptops/PDA's. The first announcements of hotly anticipated products using Transmeta's low-power Crusoe chip could come next month, chief executive David Ditzel said today."The logical place to look for systems would be at PC Expo," the June convention in New York where tech firms show off upcoming products, Ditzel said in an interview with CNET News.com. The comments came after his speech at PricewaterhouseCooper's Technology Forecast: 2000 in Santa Clara, Calif. Ditzel said it's not yet clear whether the first Crusoe devices will be full-featured notebook computers or "Webpad"-style Internet appliances. "It's a horse race between the pad guys and the notebook guys," he said. Transmeta was launched with much fanfare in January, when the chip start-up unveiled two processors--the Crusoe 3120 and 5400. Combined with special software from Transmeta, the Crusoe system requires much less power than existing designs. The chips are expected to arrive first in lightweight laptop computers and stripped-down Webpads that could run all day on a single battery charge. Site News
Update. I'm planning on changing the look for this web site over the next 48 hours so if you see some color variations that are rather unusual - please bare with me. Tech News for Thursday May 18th 2000.DDR
vs. Dual Channel RDRAM. Ah, finally someone with enough financial capital available to test these new memory technologies head-to-head. DDR (Double-Data Rate) RAM is currently only available on high end video cards such as nVidia's GeForce and RDRAM is Intel's new RAMBUS memory. The conclusion speaks for itself: In the overwhelming majority of
cases, DDR exceeds the performance of dual channel RDRAM, at times by a very
substantial margin. There are several cases where there is very little
difference, and finally a few where the 840 pulls ahead by a small margin. Not to mention that DDRAM is significantly cheaper and it should be available on the next generation motherboard chipsets. AT&T
Wireless Debuts Free Wireless Internet. Once broadband Internet access becomes the norm in households like televisions and telephones you can be rest assured that voice-over-IP technologies will make significant inroads into traditional phone services. AT&T Wireless Group this week introduced its Digital PocketNet service designed to provide unlimited wireless access to over 40 stripped-down Web sites. The division of AT&T
Corp. AT&T Wireless Services is diving into the booming wireless Internet market segment looking to overshadow rivals by offering twice as as many Web destinations than its competitors. AT&T Wireless Services customers may also opt for adding other wireless capabilities, including e-mail access, personal organizer services and access to the Internet portal Excite. Fresh from its well-received initial stock offing, John D. Zeglis, AT&T Wireless Group chairman and chief executive officer, said the service launch it part of AT&T plan to dominate wireless Internet services in the U.S. 'Fast
Boot' Option in Windows ME. One of the new features included in the upcoming release of Windows Millennium is a "Fast Boot" feature. According the eFront article it appears that you require specific hardware to support this feature. To read all about this new "fast boot" feature see this article on Microsoft's tech page. Microsoft announced earlier
today that they would be implementing the 'fast boot' option into their upcoming
OS - Windows ME. The feature utilizes 'fast boot'-optimized hardware, such as
the Dell Dimension PC to quicken the system's startup time. Aside from the
option, the Microsoft team is working with partners to improve overall boot time
on new PCs. Removal of real mode, registry improvements and faster device
initialization are just a few methods that will be used to quicken ME's pace. Intel
tries to "sell" RAMBUS memory. With all the lack-luster support for the overpriced and over hyped RAMBUS memory, Intel called an emergency meeting with the company "big-wigs" to gauge the market response to the new memory. From reading this article it appears as if Intel is trying to figure out how to "casually" help resellers into supporting RAMBUS more readily. Intel Corp. has called what sources say is an emergency meeting to gauge the commitment of the industry's top DRAM suppliers to Direct Rambus DRAM memory production.The two-day meeting, under way at Intel's Chandler, Ariz., campus, was called by high-level company executives, who are concerned that insufficient support for the new memory interface could undermine Intel's high-end microprocessors, which are designed to operate with the architecture. According to sources, Intel is using the occasion to encourage DRAM suppliers to accelerate their transition from mainstay SDRAM to Direct RDRAM devices and guarantee adequate supplies of the memory ICs to support Intel's own chip plans. Intel could not be reached immediately to comment on the meeting. Transmeta
chips expected in devices next month. Several months back Transmeta announced a new series of low-power CPU's called "Crusoe". Expect to see various portable devices sporting these new low-cost/low-power CPU's over the next month or so. The new CPU is not designed to go after AMD or Intel but may take a significant bite out of the low-end CPU market in laptops/PDA's. The first announcements of hotly anticipated products using Transmeta's low-power Crusoe chip could come next month, chief executive David Ditzel said today."The logical place to look for systems would be at PC Expo," the June convention in New York where tech firms show off upcoming products, Ditzel said in an interview with CNET News.com. The comments came after his speech at PricewaterhouseCooper's Technology Forecast: 2000 in Santa Clara, Calif. Ditzel said it's not yet clear whether the first Crusoe devices will be full-featured notebook computers or "Webpad"-style Internet appliances. "It's a horse race between the pad guys and the notebook guys," he said. Transmeta was launched with much fanfare in January, when the chip start-up unveiled two processors--the Crusoe 3120 and 5400. Combined with special software from Transmeta, the Crusoe system requires much less power than existing designs. The chips are expected to arrive first in lightweight laptop computers and stripped-down Webpads that could run all day on a single battery charge. Site
News Update. I'm planning on changing the look for this web site over the next 48 hours so if you see some color variations that are rather unusual - please bare with me. Tech News for Wednesday May 17th 2000.IBM
mainframe comes Linux-ready. The move was the latest in IBM's (NYSE: IBM) strategy to make all of its major computer product lines Linux-ready, brings together ponytailed "open-source" programmers, who share and publish new software developments, and the buttoned-down corporate world of jealously guarded mainframe technology. Silicon
Graphics Releases Linux Workstations. It introduced a line of Intel-based workstations that will support Linux and said it will drop all development work on proprietary operating systems, except for its high-end IRIX systems. The moves will help SGI (stock: SGI) take advantage of industry standards andsave development costs, the company said. The workstation line also supports Windows NT. SGI, Mountain View, Calif., wants to build on its success with Linux servers by moving to Linux workstations, said Ujesh Desai, the company's IA-32 workstation line manager. Leading EDA vendors have already started to port their tools to Linux to meet growing demand in the engineering community, the company said. Qwest
In Internet Access Deal With Microsoft. DENVER-Qwest Communications International Inc. has agreed to be a major provider of local dial-up Internet access to subscribers of Microsoft's MSN Internet portal, the company said Wednesday. The agreement, the total value of which was not immediately available, represents ``a multi-year,multimillion dollar'' commitment, Qwest said in a statement. Qwest, Denver, is the fourth largest long-distance provider in the United States. Qwest, which is set to buy U S West Inc., said separately that it is supplying high-speed dedicated Internet access links to Microsoft Internet data centers, through KPNQwest , its European joint venture with Dutch company KPN Telecom NV . The direct links to Qwest's nationwide Internet-Protocol (IP) network and KPNQwest's pan-European IP network will provide Internet connections not only for MSN subscribers but also any Internet users accessing MSN and Microsoft-owned Web content, Qwest said. Qwest will provide MSN with round-the-clock
operational management services for the network and its equipment, as well as
customer service related to network operations, the company said. Oracle
Unveils Internet File System. Every time Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle) opens his mouth he acts like a child who just had their candy stolen - just my observations..... During the first day of the database giant's iDevelop2000conference series, Oracle (stock: ORCL) chairman and CEO Larry Ellison said the Internet File System (iFS) is the first file system designed for the Internet, with an interface identical to Microsoft's file system. "Microsoft has been beavering away at improving its file system," Ellison said. "As far as we know, the great innovations [are] unlimited length file names and the recycle bin." He said Microsoft's treasure trove of data is not in its SQL Server 7.0 database, but in its file system. "If this thing is so crummy, why does everyone use it?" Ellison said. "Because it's simple and familiar. It's really easy to use, and that's kind of cool." Oracle's iFS is distributed as a feature of its Oracle 8i database, and developers can download it for free from the Oracle Technology Network website. "We wanted to give you all the power of the Oracle database with the ease of use of the file system," Ellison said. "If you move from Microsoft's file system to Oracle's file system, you won't be able to tell. It's identical." The difference is iFS can manage all content -- which is scattered across PC desktops, document management systems, and websites -- in a single repository, he said. It supports the storage and management of more than 150 different file types, including documents created using XML. Ellison said iFS breaks the link between the file system and the operating system in much the same way the Web browser freed applications. Files can be accessed from any computer through a Web browser. "The user interface is not part of the operating system," he said. "The user interface should be part of your browser." Microsoft
Issues Patch For Outlook In Wake Of Love Bug. While the update does not seem to apply to Microsoft Outlook Express you can be assured Internet Explorer 5.5 should have this update. The new Microsoft Outlook patch helps protect the email client from the latest batch of "ILOVEYOU" viruses. The download can be obtained here. Number
9 closes shop. Most of you have probably never heard of Number 9 which was a video card manufacturer that had only minor success in the industry. The company has shut-down and only email tech-support will be available. Number Nine Visual Technology has ceased operation. But in an effort to assist Number Nine customers, technical support and driver updates are still available via the Support area of the web site. Please note that this is the
only means of support - telephone technical support is no longer available. AMD's
Mustang versus Intel's Willamette. This is one of the more unusual web sites on the internet. If you visit Chip-Architect you will only see one single link on the main page: The link to a PDF file comparing AMD's new Mustang CPU and Intel's upcoming Willamette CPU. You can download the PDF file by clicking on this link. If you are not familiar with PDF files there are Adobe Acrobat files. Physical
Home Networking. If you are planning on wiring your house for internet/LAN access you should read this article over at Ars-Technica on how to get started. I'm going to have ADSL installed this summer and I need to rewire the house to allow internet access from most rooms in the house. After all wiring the closet seems a little overkill :) The article reviews everything you need to get started such as the components needed. Of course, the best way to physically network a home is to do it while the home is still under construction. Unfortunately, most of us don't have that luxury. The good news is that, if you can knock holes in your walls and have access to an attic or basement, it's completely possible to run cable by means of "fishing". So, that's where we'll start. Then we move on to the nitty-gritty of getting those cables to look like actual network jacks. First
Cordless Optical Trackball: Cordless TrackMan Wheel. Cordless TrackMan Wheel features a gently curved design with a thumb-operated ball for fast, precise cursor control, plus two buttons and a scroll wheel that also functions as a third mouse button. In addition to easy scrolling, the scroll wheel provides access to Logitech’s innovative WebWheel™ software, which puts browsing commands and web sites at the user’s fingertips. The product’s "dotted" red ball, a widely recognized signature of the company’s optical trackball line, and its sleek metallic color, first introduced by Logitech in its premium mouse line, are becoming industry standards as peripherals vendors realize the importance of pleasing design and colors on the desktop. Logitech’s first optical trackball, TrackMan Marble, made its debut in 1995 and quickly captured a major share of the growing trackball market due to the popularity of the Marble technology, developed by the company’s engineers over a period of four years. Today, all of Logitech’s trackballs are optical, ensuring a high level of precision and reliability, while requiring virtually no maintenance due to the lack of moving parts. Since the introduction of the original product, Logitech optical trackballs have won numerous awards worldwide for design and technology, including the prestigious Industry Forum Design award in two consecutive years. To date, the company has sold more than four million trackballs and currently holds a 70-percent market share. Logitech has also been a pioneer in bringing cordless peripherals to the retail market ever since launching the first radio-based cordless mouse in 1992. To date, the company has sold more than six million cordless products, including cordless mice, keyboards and presentation controllers. Cordless TrackMan Wheel is the latest addition to this growing family of cordless solutions that use Logitech’s reliable digital radio technology. Like the others, it requires no line-of-sight to function and works anywhere within a six-foot radius of its receiver, using one AA battery that lasts up to six months, depending on use. To guarantee continuous operation, a battery indicator warns the user when the battery is low. Because Cordless TrackMan Wheel’s receiver uses the USB port to interface with the computer, it is compatible with USB-enabled Macintosh systems as well. It carries a five-year warranty. "Cordless TrackMan Wheel underscores Logitech’s commitment to bringing high-quality, innovative pointing devices to the market by combining two of our historic strengths – optical and cordless – in a trackball device that looks great while offering advanced functionality through powerful software," said Wolfgang Hausen, senior vice president and general manger of the company’s Control Devices Division. Tech News for Tuesday May 16th 2000.Fed
raises key rates 50 basis points. U.S. stocks fell off their highs in mid-afternoon trading Tuesday after the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates by an aggressive 50 basis points, meeting Wall Street's expectations. But the central bank suggested it was intent on increasing borrowing costs further in months ahead, squashing investors' hopes that the Fed's campaign would be tempered going forward. -- Reuters Lycos,
Terra close to $10 billion deal. Isn't it amazing how every business transaction is measured in billions these days? When they start getting into the trillions then it will be even more absurd. MADRID--Terra Networks is close to agreeing to buy Lycos for more than $10 billion in stock to marry one of the world's top Web search services to its Internet access business, a person familiar with the situation said. An agreement between Terra, Europe's second-largest publicly traded Internet service provider, and Waltham, Mass.-based Lycos may be announced as soon as today, the person said. The companies have reached tentative agreement on a price, the person said, though details must be worked out. Next
cable-TV protocol to use MPEG-4. EETimes reports on a story that cable-TV companies are forming an alliance on the next-generation transmission protocol based on MPEG-4 codec compression. NEW ORLEANS—The U.S. cable industry, with a nod to cost and design constraints, appears to be casting its allegiance toward the MPEG-4 standard in the battle over streaming media, where proprietary codecs from RealNetworks, Microsoft Corp. and Apple Computer have been slugging it out. Major players in the sector threw at least partial support behind MPEG-4 this week at the industry's annual National Cable Television Association convention here. Interest has become so intense that Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs), an R&D arm of major cable network operators in the United States, has scheduled an MPEG-4 workshop for its members next month, said Christopher Lammers, CableLabs executive vice president and chief operating officer. At issue are many elements that differentiate the business of interactive video in the cable world from that in the PC world. Whereas the PC can handle as many downloadable, plug-in streaming media codecs as creators can throw at it, cable boxes can't, for economic and architectural reasons. PC-150
SDRAM Out Soon. This is very good news for power-hungry PC consumers. As I've mentioned at least 50 times that the RAM is slowest component on your system (besides mechanical devices) - any speed increase in RAM is very helpful. Currently the speeds we have is 133mhz SDRAM but most PC's still ship with 100mhz RAM. I would love to test the over clocking potential of 150mhz RAM since I'm currently running my 133mhz RAM at 145mhz. Kingmax will soon launch the PC-150 SDRAM using Tiny BGA DRAM Modules. The new PC-150 SDRAM use the normal 168pin DIMM and can support 150Mhz FSB. This is indeed a great news for all overclockers who plan to get their system running stabily over 150Mhz FSB when their PC-133 SDRAM can't achieve. If a PC-133 can achieve 150Mhz+ that means this new PC-150 SDRAM can achieve 170Mhz+. TinyBGA is a unique DRAM packaging size used in conjunction with advanced DRAM module technology that allows for greater memory capacity for the fast-growing market of compact and miniature products. With the TinyBGA (Ball Grid Array), the DRAM module pins fit onto motherboards in total compliance with industry standards. However, the TinyBGA employs a proprietary low-profile, high-density Chip Scale Package (CSP) architecture that creates up to a 50 percent reduction in the module’s physical size compared to conventional TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package) assembly.Napster
Updates Its Beta. Napster has quietly released an updated Napster 2.0 Beta 6 upgrade of its controversial digital music swapping software. It adds a host of community features and support for copyright-friendly Windows Media Audio files, not just the popular MP3 format. The newest Napster, posted Sunday, also comes with an instant messaging client. This lets you easily exchange messages with those with whom you're sharing music files. Another feature lets you automatically begin listening to music files as they are downloaded onto your computer. Napster declines comment on the upgrade, which can be found at its home page and in PCWorld.com's FileWorld section. Industry watchers suggest this beta is an attempt by Napster to position its product as a community network, not a digital music piracy tool. Release
schedule postponed for new Mac OS. Not sure if you have heard but the highly marketed Mac OS X launch date is being rescheduled for until Q1 of 2001. SAN JOSE, Calif.--A final version of Apple Computer's Mac OS X won't come out until early next year, although the effect of an apparent delay to the release schedule will be minimal, according to analysts.Chief executive Steve Jobs said at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference here today that Apple will release a "public beta" of its next operating system for desktops this summer containing a futuristic interface called "Aqua," with a final version to arrive early in 2001. This appears to represent a postponement of a final version of the OS by approximately six months, although the schedule will allow users to gain access to upcoming technology. In January, Jobs said Apple would release a commercial version of Mac OS X by the middle of this year. Windows
Millennium Preview. Microsoft's replacement/upgrade to Windows 98SE should be out sometime middle June and it will offer some much needed upgrades/changes/fixes. For one, the OS no longer has the underlying DOS layer which means your machine boots faster and is more reliable. I've been using release-candidate for about a week now without any major problems. Simply use your old Windows 98 drivers with Millennium and it works flawlessly. Are you curious as to what Microsoft's next operating system will be? Maybe you've heard of it and maybe you haven't. It looks like Windows Me, which according to the rumors was called Millennium, will soon be on the shelves. A released candidate has already been sent out to beta testers, which shows that they are that much closer to the final version. Usually a release candidate comes after the third beta has been released. Which in essence means they are close to working out most of the bugs. Windows 2000 made it to release candidate number three before it was sent off to the manufactures so it can be burned onto CDs. At the time of this article Microsoft plans to release their new OS on June 13th 2000. Sound
Blaster Optical Digital I/O 2 review. 3DsoundSurge takes Creative Lab's digital add-on device for the SoundBlaster Live! series sound cards for a test drive. In a nutshell the add-on adapter card offers:
All for $60. Not bad if you require these additions. In conclusion: If you have a Live card and need more connectivity than what you already have, and want to stick to products from Creative Labs, then Digital I/O 2 card is a fairly inexpensive way to get additional digital and analog connections. Compared to the original full Live you only gain the optical in/out, SPDIF bypass and the Line-In. While it costs about the same a coaxial to optical converter, you get the benefit of SPDIF bypass and the Live!Ware 3.0 CD. If you own the Live!Value then the upgrade is more significant. While the bypass and Line-In 2 features don’t work, you gain both the optical and coaxial in/out, and, in case for some reason you can’t get the DIN bracket board by other means, you also gain the DIN connection. This would of course only be important if you use a DIN compatible speaker system from Cambridge SoundWorks. Weekly
CPU prices. Take a look at this weeks CPU prices over at Tech-Review. Nothing overly exciting other than the introduction of the Pentium III 933mhz at a staggering $1260.00. Tech News for Monday May 15th 2000.Beta
of MS Office 10 on the way. As Microsoft gets ready to prepare Office 10 or Office 2001 for Macintosh, the company is getting ready to ship early beta version for Windows. On the heels of showing off a preview of Office 2001 for the Macintosh, Microsoft has begun soliciting beta testers for Office 10, the next release of the Windows version of its flagship desktop office suite.Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is telling testers the first beta of Office 10 will debut in July. In the interim, the company is fixing and patching Office 2000 and its individual components, such as Outlook 2000. Company officials declined to provide a tentative commercial ship date for Office 10, but Microsoft has been revving the product approximately every 18 to 24 months. Office 2000 shipped in June of 1999, which would make summer of 2001 the approximate time when a new version of Office for Windows could be expected. Microsoft is expected to make some fairly major revisions to Office with Version 10. It's unclear if Microsoft will rearchitect the base Office 10 product to be more readily hostable, or if the company will use the Office Online product, which is in pilot test, as a separate platform for developing future hosted versions of Office. Company officials declined to comment on Office 10. AOL
Hit With $3.5 Million Accounting Fine. With the amount of revenue AOL makes in a year this is literally "peanuts". The Securities and Exchange Commission slapped America Online with a $3.5 million fine on Monday for financial reporting violations in the way it accounted for advertising costs to attract new customers. AOL (stock: AOL) reported profits in fiscal 1995 and 1996 when it would have shown losses. The SEC brought civil and administrative charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the world's largest Internet provider. Without admitting or denying the charges, AOL, Dulles, Va., agreed to pay the $3.5 million penalty. "This action reflects the commission's close scrutiny of accounting practices in the technology industry to make certain that the financial disclosure of companies in this area reflect present reality, not hopes about the future," said SEC director of enforcement Richard Walker. Microsoft
Adds New Security Features To Outlook. Microsoft said Monday it will offer new security features for its Outlook e-mail program in the wake of the destructive "Love" virus. The Outlook Email Security Update, scheduled to be available for free download the week of May 22, will offer three security features designed to combat viruses. One prevents users from accessing several file types when sent as e-mail attachments, including executables and batch files that contain executable code used to spread viruses. Another feature prompts customers with a dialog box when an external program tries to access their Outlook address books or send e-mail on their behalf. The third increases the default Internet security zone setting within Outlook from "trusted" to "restricted," which disables most automatic scripting and ActiveX Controls from opening without the user's permission. Microsoft (stock: Site
News Update. Apologies for the lack of news today. My laptop decided to quit and I lost everything on my drive including the news posts for the day. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back in business.
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