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Tech News for Wednesday May 31st 2000.Official
nVidia Detonator 2 drivers v5.22. NVIDIA's Detonator 2 reference driver
provides full functionality for the following NVIDIA chipsets: NVIDIA TNT,
NVIDIA TNT2, NVIDIA TNT2 Pro, NVIDIA TNT2 Ultra, NVIDIA Vanta, NVIDIA TNT2 Model
64, Aladdin TNT2, GeForce 256, GeForce DDR, Quadro, and GeForce2 GTS Download the drivers here. Sun
acquires technology for high-speed connections. Sun will acquire personnel and intellectual property relating to InfiniBand, a technology being developed by Sun, Intel, Compaq, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Microsoft and others. Sony's
Latest Digital Device: A $999 PC. Sony Electronics, the U.S. arm
of the world's No. 2 consumer electronics company, plans to step up its push
into the desktop computer market with a $999 line of entertainment PCs due for
release in June. Intel
Delays New Chipset. Intel seems to have problems
with chipsets starting with the number 8.Their Solano--aka 815--was originally
slated for a June 5 debut, but the native PC133 SDRAM chipset has been delayed
two weeks. Palm
buys online calendar service. AnyDay.com, based in Cambridge, Mass., develops online calendar and organization software for the Palm platform. More than a million users have downloaded the software from the company's site, according to AnyDay officials Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) intends to add a services component to the product, developing a wireless services portal so that customers can get real-time calendar access no matter where they are. (Current AnyDay offerings require a desktop cradle for synching.)AnyDay software also enables users to share information with other AnyDay users. Taking this feature wireless would make it easier for mobile employees to arrange conference calls, meetings and the like. Prank
puts @Home page on DSL rival's domain. Web surfers
going to www.pacificbell.com would
expect to find information about the products and services offered by the local
phone company that operates primarily on the West Coast. Instead, potential
Pacific Bell customers are greeted with a fully operational Web page for Excite@Home,
which markets high-speed Net access over cable TV systems. Palm
Delivers HotSync Server. Synchronization involves transferring data from your PC such as schedules, various documents, and programs for the mini-system, onto the PDA for use and easy portability. Until now, a solid solution for transferring corporate databases did not exist. Now Palm has Palm HotSync Server to make things easier. According to Palm, Inc., HotServer allows the synchronization of handheld data with existing corporate databases and "mission-critical applications" such as Lotus Notes. The devices can now be treated like any other network machine. Apple
discusses the future of QuickTime. Yahoo has posted information regarding Apple's upcoming QuickTime V5.0. Some new features are cross-platform support for MPEG-1 (on which the MP3 format is based) and MPEG-2 (on which the DVD standard is based). Asus
A7V Motherboard Specifications. This looks to be a very powerful new AMD K7 Athlon motherboard by Asus. I humbly admit that I had no idea someone had a UltraDMA/100 IDE controller in the works. Insane hardware has posted the full specifications on the A7V motherboard right here. ATI
Response to Radeon Preview. There is such a big race on the Internet to be the first with just about everything. Every now and again someone crosses the line and reviews a product that is incomplete (as in Beta) and compares it to a final competitors product. Not only does this plant false information on the internet but also could sway potential buyers who feel that the early previews on any given product are final and thus disappointing. Chip Online reviewed a beta version of ATI's upcoming Radeon video card and benchmarked it against the current retail speed king - the GeForce2. Not to surprising the benchmarks were rather disappointing considering the test version was several hardware revisions old and was using beta drivers. ATI has the following official response:
It is best to wait until testers compare retail versions of products and not try to drum up hits for their web site. This is in poor taste. Tech News for Tuesday May 30th 2000.Gnutella
VS. Napster. Over the last several weeks Napster has been in the press because of copyright issues and has thus moved into the spotlight for being the number one program to share files. However, Gnutella is gaining momentum rather rapidly because it not only allows you to share MP3's but also other file formats. Most notably - Gnutella does not route the files transferred through a sever but directly links the sender and receiver directly. This means that nobody can track the file types/usage on Gnutella. Tech-Extreme takes a look at both Gnutella and Napster for you right here. ATI
company problems. Video processor manufacturer ATI is having serious financial difficulties. The company has been plagued with late releases, over-hyped products and driver problems that will most surely have contributed to their quarterly loss. I hope that the company pulls out of the red and becomes a viable competitor to nVidia, Matrox and 3dfx. ATI, still graphics-chip world leader, is the latest tech stock to taste the unforgiving mood of the markets. Upon hearing that the current quarter's earnings per share will look more like a 6-cent loss than the analysts' 14-cent win, the market emptied a full clip into the stock, dropping its price almost 40% to about $9.50. Analysts were tripping over themselves to shut the barn door after the horse. They downgraded the stock, in typical knee-jerk fashion, to a ``hold'' -- Wall Street code for sell. Component shortages -- a worldwide phenomenon, not just an ATI dilemma -- and an inventory graphics-chip blowout by S3 (Nasdaq:SIII - news), combined to pummel ATI. There is no doubt that these events have cost ATI possibly a year of growth. Brokers such as CSFB have lowered estimates on earnings per share for 2000 to 12 cents from 72 cents and its 2001 earnings estimate to 72 cents from 94 cents. But is this opportunity or disaster? Put me in the former camp. Even after the downgrade, CSFB allowed that long-term investors might want to have a look at the bombed-out shares. While the torpedo hit the ship, it missed the ammo magazine. MP3.com
prepares to pipe music into retail outlets. This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that!". MP3.com plans to stream audio into retail stores. SAN DIEGO--Embattled online music service MP3.com said today that it has formed a retail music licensing division that aims to supply businesses such as grocery stores, shopping malls and restaurants with music.Subscribers to the service will be able to choose from 424,000 songs and audio files and 67,000 artists through an online account and have the songs delivered over the Internet, the company said in a statement. 3dfx
RECALLS Voodoo5 5500 AGP Video Card. Another problem with 3dfx as the company scrambles to release the Voodoo5 It appears that 3dfx , after careful consideration, has decided to bring back all the Voodoo5 5500 cards that initially shipped to test them for defects. The boards, which were originally shipped to just a handful of distributors under the well-oiled hands of 3dfx’s machinations, have been returned home for further testing. The problem, while being described in the vaguest terms, seems to operate incorrectly (fail) under certain conditions. 3dfx claims that the problem was located by its own quality assurance department using their standard testing practices at its own manufacturing facility. This delay may consume yet another one to two weeks before consumers will actually see them on local store shelves. Access
Granted - Congress Online. After a year of development, and wiring congressional hearing rooms at a pricey $750,000 USD each, Hearingroom.com is completing the final touches on a service unlike that of any other in the world. Aiming for a launch next month, visitors to the site will be granted text and audio access to the hearing rooms on Capitol Hill. Text transcripts will be available, and an archive of the hearings will be created, so you can double check that "I don't recall" testimony. This service comes at quite a price however, costing as much as $15,000 a year depending on the subscription. Visit Hearingroom.com for more information. Gateway
Picks Transmeta Chips For AOL Devices. SAN DIEGO - Gateway Inc., the second-largest U.S. direct seller of personal computers, will use a processor from chip designer Transmeta Corp. to power Internet appliances it is developing with Web service provider America Online Inc., the company said Tuesday. Gateway said in a statement that it was picking the Transmeta processor because of its longer battery life, smaller size and lower operating temperatures. Gateway also has picked Transmeta's Mobile Linux as the operating system for the products. The move is a break by Gateway and AOL from the so-called ``Wintel duopoly'' grouping Intel Corp. hardware and Microsoft Corp. software. Cisco
Takes Wraps Off VoIP LAN Switch. Cisco is definitely up to something with all the latest mergers. Prepare for more announcements over the next couple of weeks: Cisco (stock: CSCO) on Tuesday took the wraps off a VoIP LAN switch for midsize businesses. The Catalyst 3524 PWR XL features inline power, which keeps IP phones operating in the event of an electrical malfunction. Cisco also rolled out enhanced software for the Catalyst 3500 and 2900 switches, providing enhanced quality of service, high availability, and integrated management capabilities. DVD
Genie v3.50 A new DVD Genie is out. DVD Genie allows you to modify the region code for popular software-based DVD Players such as Software Cinemaster, PowerDVD and WinDVD (among a few). It also allows you to tweak these programs with undocumented features to better fit your system. DVD Genie will also allow you to select which program runs when a DVD Disc is inserted into the drive and contains support for fullscreen Zooming on widescreen movies with certain players. You can download DVD Genie v3.50 from here. HP
Jornada 545 Color PocketPC review. 3D Accelerated takes HP latest palm 545 PocketPC for a test drive. For $450 with a color screen, 16MB of RAM and 133mhz CPU they are very attractive. The problem is software support. Last I heard was the Palm Computing has over 90% of the handheld market with more software than you can install being release daily. I have a older Jornada which runs on Windows CE 2.0 and there is virtually no software available. Though many subtle differences existed between PalmOS and Windows CE, one thing hindered both--ugly monochrome displays. Then came the latest generation of palm-sized organizers--the Palm IIIc representing PalmOS, and the Jornada and Cassiopeia series representing Windows CE. Today we take a look at the Jornada 545, sporting a 12 bit color display, 16MB of memory, and full upgradeability. In this review, we will discuss whether upgrading from a previous PDA is worth the money, and whether its time for you to finally pick one up. Tech News for Monday May 29th 2000.Microsoft
Issues Patch, Squashes Two Security Bugs. Microsoft has released a patch which corrects two securituy vulnerabilities in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. According to Microsoft, "Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 implement the CIFS Computer Browser protocol. Two vulnerabilities exist because of the inability of administrators to limit whether Master Browsers respond to certain frames." Microsoft will not issue patches for Windows 9x or NT 4.0 Terminal Server, because they are rarely used as Master Browsers. For more information and patch download locations, visit Microsoft TechNet Security. Government
prepares final order to split Microsoft. WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The government put final touches Friday on its plan to split Microsoft in two because it violated U.S. antitrust laws. The proposed order was to be filed by day's end with District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who ruled last month that Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) violated antitrust law by abusing monopoly power. The trial suddenly moved into high gear earlier this week, at what Microsoft lawyers expected to be the first of many routine hearings on a remedy. Instead, Jackson surprised all sides by probing and exploring possible ways to break up the company -- at one point considering a three-way breakup -- before telling the government to get a final order ready for him. ``How long will it take the plaintiffs to present me with a clean copy of a form of final judgment which would reflect proceedings here today?'' Jackson said. The stunning statement set the stage for the government to file papers that Jackson could sign unchanged. 'Resume'
Worms Its Way Into Corporate E-mail. A new variant of the Melissa virus arrived in e-mail boxes late Friday afternoon as a message labeled "Resume -- Janet Simons." The attachment unleashed the "Resume.A" worm on the PCs of at least five Fortune 500 companies and several consumers, antivirus software publishers said. Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee.com all reported customers affected by the "resume" worm. Trend Micro said eight corporate sites, or 20,000 mailboxes, were hit by 4 p.m. PDT. Symantec and McAfee.com were reporting smaller numbers. They declined to name the affected companies. Symantec cautioned that the worm could reach many more PC users. Carey Nachenberg, chief researcher at Symantec AntiVirus Research Center, said that the "resume" worm's ability to spread is "really high" and rated it a 4 out of 5 on his alert scale. According to the antivirus companies, the worm is hidden in the e-mail's attachment. When a user opens the attachment, it forwards a copy of itself to everyone in the user's address book. When a user closes the attachment, it deletes files from the PC's hard drive and any other drive networked to the machine. The attachment is labeled with one of three names: "resume.doc," "resume1.doc" or "Explorer.doc." |
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