• 800MHz Athlon games systems to launch next month
  Time: 06:54 EDT/11:54 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  High end games hardware specialist GamePC has added Athlon machines to its range, and is promising Kryotech cooled versions overclocked to 800MHz in early October. The company, which offers off the shelf or build to order high-powered PC gaming systems, is currently offering the Titan system, based on a 600MHz Athlon,and the Disrupter, a 550MHz version.

   
• Merced Tru64 next on Compaq's death list?
  Time: 06:52 EDT/11:52 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Compaq's next move in the OS shootout will be to put a couple of rounds into the IA-64 version of Tru64, according to US reports (which we suspect of being spread around by our good friend Terry Shannon of Shannon Knows Compaq). Our take is that it's virtually certain to happen, and that it's just a matter of timing.

  Compaq has already terminated its twin track Intel-Alpha software development by stopping development of Alpha Windows 2000, and consequently ringing the curtain down on Microsoft operating systems on Alpha. That move was justified because of the relatively low level of sales of NT on Alpha - there was absolutely no way sales could, could ever, justify development costs.

  But turn it around the other way and it's not entirely clear that there's going to be much of a market for Tru64 on IA-64. Compaq is officially committed to doing it, but Compaq officials currently seem reluctant to reaffirm that commitment with any degree of enthusiasm.

   

• AMD suffers further Gateway blow
  Time: 06:50 EDT/11:50 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Chip manufacturer AMD suffered a further setback over the weekend after Gateway said it would shift to an Intel-only policy. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, it will begin to phase out K6-2s and K6-IIIs from its platform.

  Earlier this year, Gateway declined to use AMD's Athlon K7 in its products. That is believed to have happened after Intel offered Gateway more favorable deals on its microprocessors, estimated to be worth a cool $20 million.

• 3dfx to take on S3 texture comp. in open source move
  Time: 04:50 EDT/09:50 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  3dfx this week unveiled the latest new technology to be added to its upcoming Voodoo 3D graphics chip, codenamed Napalm. In a move set to tackle rival graphics specialist S3 head on, 3dfx announced its own texture compression technology, FXT1.

  And in a bid to grab mindshare from S3's S3TC, the company said it will release the spec. and code the powers FXT1 under an open source licence.

  FXT1 can squeeze textures down by a ratio as high as 8:1, 3dfx claimed. The scheme uses multiple compression algorithms, mixing and matching the best techniques not only for given textures but for given elements within the overall texture.

   
• Athlon price cuts confirmed for 4 October
  Time: 04:48 EDT/09:48 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  We have now had independent confirmation from a number of PC manufacturers that AMD will, as we reported yesterday, cut its Athlon prices on 4 October.

  But the cuts this time are from a position of strength, rather than weakness, according to independent vendors of the products. Athlon products are selling well, in Europe at least. While AMD was forced in the past to cut prices in order to sell products as a result of aggressive pricing strategies by Intel, this price move is part of AMD's long term strategy, we are given to understand.

   
• AMD takeover rumors re-emerge
  Time: 04:47 EDT/09:47 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Rumors are circulating in Germany that AMD may be snapped up by giant conglomerate Siemens. But AMD has said "it has no knowledge of such a move" and we think it's highly unlikely too.

  According to the speculation, Siemens is preparing to offer as much as $40 a share for AMD stock. That is double its current share value on the New York trading floors.

   

• Motorola already touting next generation G5
  Time: 04:46 EDT/09:46 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  Motorola already touting next generation G5 It just recently introduced the PowerPC 7400 processor -- aka the G4. But Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT), its creator, is already touting its successor chip, the G5, and even though it's still two years away. Will Swearingen, PowerPC marketing director at Motorola's Networks and Computing Systems Group in Austin, Texas, is claiming that the G5, which is properly known as the PowerPC 7500, should more than match Intel Corp.'s forthcoming 64-bit processor code-named Merced.

   
• What's next for Palm?
  Time: 04:44 EDT/09:44 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  What's next for Palm Computing now that 3Com Corp. is spinning it off? As an independent entity, Palm's focus will be less on hardware and more on Internet services, enterprise computing partners and licensing its handheld operating system, according to Palm president Alan Kessler, who will keep his post at the Santa Clara, Calif., company even after Palm hires a new CEO.

   

• Jilted again! Amiga scraps PC plan
  Time: 04:42 EDT/09:42 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  Users of the Amiga PC -- the computer industry's equivalent of the perennially disappointed Chicago Cubs fans -- have again seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

  Amiga, a unit of Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW), notified its customers via a murky announcement on the Amiga Web site that it is changing its strategy yet again, and will not bring to market a much-anticipated multimedia computer.

• Savage 3D or Savage 4 Users: Hate the drivers? Sign Savage News' Petition
  Time: 16:34 EDT/21:35 GMT Source: E-Mail Posted By: Dennis

  We have received information that Savage 3D and Savage 4 users are not satistified with their service.  Here's a quote of the petition to give you an idea of what they mean:

  "We, the undersigned, are users of your Savage3D or Savage4 chipsets.
  The quality of currently available drivers for both the Savage3D and Savage4 based cards leaves much to be desired.
  Not only do they not match the promised features listed on your site, we face incompatibilities and bugs almost on a daily basis.
  Looking at the history of these drivers, we see little or no progress and the loss of features and performance.
  The availability of recent drivers is also an issue. Your site doesn't update very often, and most of the time the drivers listed there
  are much older then drivers obtained via other sources.
  We also request a list of fixes and modifications with each set of drivers.
  We would like a quick response to these issues."

   

• Compaq aims for simpler, wireless PC
  Time: 10:15 EDT/15:15 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Compaq Computer is gearing up for a complete redefinition of the PC and working on alliances to produce simpler, redesigned devices with wireless links, its chief executive said today.

  "Our goal should be to build really cool stuff," Michael Capellas, the computer maker's newly hired president and chief executive, told a news briefing as he completed a European tour aimed at outlining strategy for the company.

  Houston-based Compaq's direction has been blurred since predecessor CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer was forced out in April by a board unhappy with repeated sales problems and slow progress in expanding beyond PCs.

  Capellas told a conference organized by research group International Data Corporation that he believed one key outcome from the Internet explosion would be a dramatic change in what the PC is.

  "The new wave says how do we make these machines simpler and simpler--with specialized functions. Wireless connectivity becomes the actual baseline," he said.

  Asked if this focus meant fresh alliances, he said: "You can assume we are aggressively pursuing that, and no, I won't say who." He added that Compaq aimed to have established "close relations with somebody before the end of the year."

   
• Handspring Visor Somersaults Over Palm
  Time: 10:11 EDT/15:11 GMT Source: PC World Posted By: Alex H

  Handspring's Visor is the best personal digital assistant to come down the pike since the Palm itself--not much of a surprise since the team behind the original PalmPilot created this sleek, new shirt-pocket device.

  Not only does the Visor mimic the Palm's size and shape, but it's based on the Palm operating system, so right out of the box it can run hundreds of Palm applications. On the preproduction unit I tested, I was able to HotSync my contacts, datebook, and other data using the same IntelliSync software that works with my Palm IIIx.

  Where the Visor differs from the Palm is that it almost always outdoes its predecessor. The datebook offers three views the Palm doesn't provide (weekly, annual, and appointment list), the calculator adds several advanced functions, and the HotSync cradle's Universal Serial Bus connection moves data approximately four times faster than the Palm's serial hookup.

   
• A Full-Size Keyboard That Fits in Your Palm
  Time: 10:11 EDT/15:11 GMT Source: PC World Posted By: Alex H

  The nifty stylus and graffiti writing system of the PalmPilot let even those of us with illegible handwriting input addresses and e-mails. Still, it's not the easiest way to take notes or send faxes. What about a portable keyboard?

  On Tuesday, Think Outside announced the Stowaway portable keyboard for the Palm V; it folds out to become a full-size notebook keyboard.

  Think Outside is not the first company to develop keyboards for the Palm. But other vendors who have introduced minikeyboards, such as Landware's GoType, reduced the size and number of keys, leaving you with yet another adjustment to make in order to use your Palm.

   
• Palm Beyond the Pilot
  Time: 10:09 EDT/15:09 GMT Source: PC World Posted By: Alex H

  Trying to stay ahead of Microsoft's Windows CE handheld devices, Palm Computing has begun to license its platform to other device manufacturers. One of the first licensees, Handspring, develops expandable handhelds and was founded by none other than PalmPilot creators Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky.

  On Tuesday, Handspring will add its new twist to the Palm world with the introduction of the Handspring Visor Solo ($149), Visor ($179), Visor Deluxe ($249), and the Springboard expansion platform.

  Based on and supporting applications for the Palm Computing platform, the low-price Visor devices are designed to introduce consumers to handhelds, and to offer uncommon expandability. The Visor offers all you'd expect from the $229 Palm III, plus connection to Springboard modules such as phones, remote Internet access products, MP3 audio players, digital cameras, and smart card readers.

   
• Imeron Ships Intensor fx Gaming Seat
  Time: 10:01 EDT/15:01 GMT Source: Press Release Posted By: Alex H

  Imeron Inc., creators of the Intensor Sensory Gaming Chair, today announced that the Intensor fx, a portable game seat developed to provide immersive audio and tactile feedback for the 8-15 year old console gamer, has shipped to stores nationwide. The Intensor fx carries a suggested retail price of $89.

  The Intensor fx provides stereo sound with tactile feedback for console games, such as Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, and can also be used with personal computers, Macintosh computers, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and home audio systems. Whereas the original Intensor's sound and feedback came from the base and back of the chair, the Intensor fx's sound and tactile feedback emanates from the unit's seat. The product is much smaller and lighter than the original Intensor, allowing it to be placed on chairs, sofas, and the floor.

  "This new version of the Intensor makes immersive gaming audio more portable and more accessible than ever before," said Bill Beres, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Imeron, Inc. "Editorial and industry reception thus far has been tremendous, with reviews crediting the Intensor fx with taking video gaming to a new bone-rattling level. We expect an equally enthusiastic response from consumers."

  The Intensor fx's volume and tactile feedback is controlled by two slide bars located on the side of the seat. The unit also has a headphone feature that mutes the on-board speakers while maintaining the tactile feedback. The Intensor fx will have a built in handle for easy transport, making the unit available to be used anywhere an electrical outlet is found.

   

• ATI slumps on Compaq loss
  Time: 09:55 EDT/14:55 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Another day, another stock market disaster for ATI, the graphics card market leader. Its share price slumped 8.55 per cent to $C16.55 and more than 5.4 million shares were traded yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange on news that it had lost a supply contract with Compaq. Could there be any connection with the supply win for Compaq Presarios announced yesterday by 3dfx?

   

• Pentium II dead as dodo as famine strikes Intel chip parts
  Time: 09:53 EDT/14:53 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Intel has told its distributors and dealers that there is limited availability on some of its range of server and desktop microprocessors. The parts affected are the 500MHz Pentium III, but the famine is at its worst on the soon-to-be killed Pentium II family. There are shortages on both the 400MHz SECC2 and the 400MHz SECC chips, as well as the 350MHz Pentium II, which we have reported earlier. Intel told its customers about the shortages at the end of last week.

   

• AMD ships Athlon 700s in volume
  Time: 09:51 EDT/14:51 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  An OEM close to AMD's plans has told The Register that it has started to receive supplies of the Athlon 700MHz microprocessor in volume.

  That means that AMD has exceeded its target in ramping up the processor frequency of the Athlon K7, and means machines are likely to be available in a matter of weeks.

  The German OEM, who declined to be named, said that he had already received sufficient stock of Athlon 700s to start building machines. Further volume stocks are on their way to him, he confirmed.

• Intel confirms PIII/Celeron price cuts
  Time: 17:05 EDT/22:05 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  As revealed here earlier, Intel has cut prices on members of its Pentium III and Celeron processor family.  The company confirmed the following adjustments, on OEM prices of 1000 processors. The PIII/600 drops to $615 and the 550MHz to $423. New Celeron prices are as follows: The 500MHz part drops to $153, the 466 to $99, the 433MHz to $79 snd the 400MHz part to $64.

   
• No Pentium IV re-name on way -- Intel
  Time: 17:03 EDT/22:03 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Rumours circulating on bulletin boards worldwide that Intel will rename its .18 micron Coppermine processor that debut next month to the Pentium IV were discounted by the firm today.

  An Intel representative said that as far as he was aware, there were no plans to change the name when the chips debut next month.

  Be that as it may, there is a marchitecture move afoot. Intel never silkscreened its new and shiny Pentium !!! logo onto Slot 1 packaging. The company, as revealed here earlier, wants to move Coppermine to Socket 370 and confine Slot 1 for desktops to its gulag.

   
• Is Palm ready for the handheld challenge?
  Time: 17:01 EDT/22:01 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  As Palm readies itself to operate as an independent company, industry observers wonder if it can handle the heat from a string of new personal digital assistant competitors.

  3Com's announcement today that it plans to spin off its Palm Computing subsidiary into an independent publicly traded company heightens the scrutiny of Palm's relationship with Handspring--its highest-profile licensee and competitor--which coincidentally is set to release its first product tomorrow.

  Handspring, founded by Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins--both former co-founders of 3Com's Palm line--is set to release its first products based upon the Palm operating system tomorrow. Handspring's Visor combines the popular Palm operating system and third-party software capabilities with a lower price and attention-getting add-ons like an MP3 player, cell phone, and game cartridges.

   

• Sony Playstation 2 Officially Announced
  Time: 09:27 EDT/14:27 GMT Source: Press Release Posted By: Byron

  Heralding in a new age of digital entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. today announced the launch details of its revolutionary computer entertainment system, PlayStation2. Building on the success of the worldwide best-selling PlayStation game console with hardware shipments exceeding 60 million units, PlayStation2 is designed to bring together movies, music and games to form a new world of computer entertainment.

• IBM readies new high-end server products
  Time: 13:14 EDT/18:14 GMT Source: CNet News Posted By: Alex H

  In a new salvo in the server wars, IBM will extend its Unix server line with two new products on Monday, including a high-end machine that can run up to 24 processors.

  The new products--the high-end S80, code-named "Condor," and the low-end B50, code-named "Pizzazz"--will mark a substantial improvement to the RS/6000 line of Unix-based servers, say sources familiar with the coming announcement. The Condor in particular should put IBM's RS/6000 line close in terms of performance to Sun Microsystems' successful E10000 server.

• AMD Cuts Chip Prices
  Time: 22:05 EDT/03:05 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Dennis

  Advanced Micro Devices Inc., keeping the heat on Intel Corp., has reduced prices on certain clock speeds of its desktop K6-2 and K6-III processors by up to 25 percent.

  AMD's K6-2 475MHz desktop chip received the largest cut, falling 25 percent from $152 to $114. The K6-2 450MHz was reduced 17 percent from $112 to $93. The price of AMD's K6-2 400MHz chip was also cut by 11 percent, moving it from $82 to $73, company officials said on Friday.

   
• Intel burns desktop prices again
  Time: 18:42 EDT/23:42 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  As revealed here earlier this week, Intel will cut desktop prices of its Pentium IIIs and Celerons in the run up to the introduction of the 533B and the 600B, which support a 133MHz FSB, on 27th of September.

  We now have those price details, detailed below. Intel cut prices on several of these parts only one month ago, indicating an aggressive ramp up in the face of AMD competition.

   

• AMD may trash Intel's Merced on price/performance
  Time: 18:40 EDT/23:40 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Intel's AL460GX chipset may not match the power of AMD's Irongate D4 chipset, which will appear in motherboards in late Q1, next year.

  Last week, Intel unveiled the Merced chipset at its Developer Forum in Palm Springs, but no details were given on whether its claim of 4.2Gb/s throughput on dual memory buses was for the total throughput, or referred to each bus, giving a total of 8.4GB/s.

  Sources close to AMD's plans say that if the first case is true, then Intel's expensive chipset is "no better" than the Irongate D4 chipset announced at the Hot Chips conference last month.

• Pixela's new DVD-RAM drive with USB interface
  Time: 17:17 EDT/22:17 GMT Source: USB Workshop Posted By: Alex H

  Pixela Corporation is going to be the world's first company releasing PX-DVRM/UI USB compatible DVD-RAM drive by the end of this November. The easy-to-use USB interface works with both Macintosh & Windows and eliminates the hassle of SCSI interface. Again, this product supports Hot Plug or Plug & Play, and it is another feature to superior to SCSI interface. This new unit has high-speed data transfer offering DVD-VIDEO replay. The DVD-RAM drive adopted to the internal device is a product of Matsushita Electronics, a leading Japanese company that also works with PD format (Record Play) or CD format (Play) as well as DVD-RAM(5.2GB for double sided 2.6GB for single sided).

   
• World's first USB KVM switch from Black Box Corp.
  Time: 17:15 EDT/22:15 GMT Source: USB Workshop Posted By: Alex H

  Black Box Corporation today introduced the world's first Universal Serial Bus (USB) enabled keyboard, video, and mouse switch, the ServSwitch USB. The Company will demonstrate this ground-breaking new product at Booth 567 at the Networld + Interop Trade Show in Atlanta on September 14 through 16, 1999.

  Black Box released its world's first USB-enabled ServSwitch for keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM). The ServSwitch product line provides access to and control of multiple computers through a single monitor, keyboard, and mouse, eliminating the need of monitor, keyboard, and mouse for each computer. The new USB ServSwitch that is fully compatible with any USB-compliant computer or peripheral is available in both 2 and 4 port versions. The USB ServSwitch also provides a built-in peripheral sharing and switching function. With built-in peripheral sharing, multiple computers -- even of different platforms -- can share a single USB printer, scanner, camera, storage device, or other USB peripheral.

   
• Intel talks performance desktop talk
  Time: 17:12 EDT/22:12 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  The Intel Developers Forum ran a series of tracks on designing the next generation performance desktop system.

  Richard Malinowski, engineering director of the personal computer group at Intel, talked the talk about the i820 chipset and the sort of bottlenecks Intel hoped to address. He was also keen to promote AGP 4X.

  Malinowski claimed the next generation of AGP 4X graphics will deliver up to 1GB/sec transfer rate, twice the rate of AGP 2X, and has broad industry support from ATI, Matrox, Nvidia, S3 and 3DFX.

  IO bottlenecks, he said, included a PCI arbitration overhead. That protocol is asynchronous based, with no guaranteed quality of service.

   
• DRAM price hike dead handy for Intel (and Rambus)
  Time: 17:10 EDT/22:10 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Life is full of little coincidences and sometimes companies, just like individuals, are subject to lucky strokes of fate.

  Take Chipzilla, for instance. Not so long ago, it looked like it had a big struggle on its hands to seed Rambus-designed RDRAM quickly into the market. One problem to overcome with cost-neurotic OEMs was the 30 per cent price premium command by Rambus over conventional DRAM.

  Now with rising SDRAM prices, that price premium might not look so hefty -- especially if Intel can persuade the Seven Dramurai™ backing Rambus, to resist the urge to mark up RDRAM accordingly.

   
• Acer Labs pumps Nvidia TNT2 into Aladdin chipset
  Time: 17:08 EDT/22:08 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  A new product from chip maker Acer Labs Inc (ALi), is attracting mixed comments from industry watchers in the run up to the company's over-the-counter stock listing.

  "ALi definitely have the right product at the right moment," said Andrew Lin, an analyst at Jardine Fleming Taiwan. ALi's Aladdin TNT2 chipset combines the Taiwanese company's chipset technology with graphics expertise from Nvidia. The US company's TNT graphics chip is recognised as one of the most powerful low-cost 3D graphics chips. "This is definitely the direction to go," Lin concluded, "Their local competitors, SiS and VIA, are doing similar things.

  Arthur Hsieh, downstream electronics analyst at Taiwan Securities was less certain about the product. "Although they're announcing it now, it will still take some time to mass produce," he said, "but their competitors have products available now. Although Nvidia is pretty good in this field, how to integrate their technology into the core logic chipset is another barrier they have to overcome."

• Palm creators prep faster, cheaper Visor
  Time: 03:35 EDT/08:35 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  Handspring Inc. will turn the Palm world on its ear next Tuesday when it releases Visor -- a cheaper, faster and more expandable Palm operating system-based handheld device.

  The San Mateo, Calif., company -- founded by the ex-Palm Computing duo Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins -- has developed the device based around the Palm OS, version 3.1.

  According to sources, there will be three Visor models:

  - The Visor Solo for $149.

  - The Visor for $179.

  - And the Visor Deluxe for $249.

  By way of comparison, 3Com's lowest-price Palm, the IIIe, is priced at $199.

   
• Sega's Dreamcast takes a cue from PCs
  Time: 03:35 EDT/08:35 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Sega has a dream for its new high-end gaming machine.

  Equipped with a high-powered 128-bit chip, modem, and computer-like features such as email and Internet capabilities, Sega's Dreamcast--like other gaming machines coming to market--can ostensibly duplicate, and even improve upon, many of the core functions of home PCs. The question, therefore, is whether these consoles will begin to displace the PC, or merely live on as game machines.

  Aside from goblins and ghouls in the gaming world, Sega will have to fight the good fight in the market for gaming products. The company has faltered in past product launches, and now faces stronger competitors such as Sony and Nintendo, which will begin to ship their own high-end gaming units to the United States next year.

  By releasing Dreamcast now, Sega will grab the lead in the market, but it is uncertain whether gaming fans will flock to this new platform that could take the PC to task.

   
• Merced: How do you boot Linux fast on a Merced?
  Time: 03:33 EDT/08:33 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Maybe some of our readers were wondering exactly how you boot Linux fast on a big Merced beastie without an x.86 style BIOS. Here is Mindy Murdock's answer. Mindy is Intel's ISV programme manager and at the track last week it seemed to have a lot of suggestions.

  Never forget that Intel is OS agnostic, despite the fact it has undoubted software skill, for example building many answers into Microsoft Windows 98, as reported here earlier this year.

   

• Two i820 mobos up Intel sleeves...
  Time: 03:31 EDT/08:31 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Sources at Intel Israel told The Register early this morning that the chip giant will ship at least two versions of i820 Caminos when info is released on the 27 September next.

  Intel is readying both the Vancouver VC820 and another mobo believed to be called the Fairbanks, the CC820, and also based on the Camino chip set.

  The chip giant is hedging its memory bets, said Intel Israel. One allows people to move quickly from the BX set to the 820, while the other is intended to satisfy wide demand for the PC-133 SDRAM standard.

  Last week, at the Intel Developer Forum, the chip giant hedged its bets on future DRAM technology, as reported here.

• Bell Microproducts signs distribution agreement with AMD
  Time: 07:48 EDT/12:48 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Bell Microproducts (Nasdaq: BELM) announced today the signing of an agreement with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) to supply their complete range of the AMD-K6-2(R), AMD-K6-III and AMD Athlon(TM) microprocessors.

  "We are pleased to add Bell Microproducts as an AMD Authorized Distributor for our PC Processor Products," said Jeff Erhart, director of worldwide distributor operations at AMD. "Bell Microproducts has done an outstanding job penetrating the commercial marketplace. Their position in the market, combined with their size and flexibility, give AMD a strong business partner who can adapt to the ever-changing PC market."

  AMD-K6 family processors remain a top choice in the U.S. retail desktop PC market, where AMD consistently garners strong market share. The next-generation 650 Mhz AMD Athlon processor delivers the ultimate computing experience and outperforms any existing Windows compatible x86 processor. With the introduction of the AMD Athlon processor, AMD processors with 3DNow!(TM) technology can now enable system products that span the complete range of desktop and mobile computing, from sub-$1,000 and mainstream consumer PCs to high-performance laptops and high-end desktop systems for small-business and enterprise users and PC enthusiasts.

  "We are excited about adding the AMD-K6-2, AMD-K6-III and AMD Athlon microprocessors to our line card because they clearly represent important leading edge technology," said Ron Mabry, senior vice president semiconductor marketing of Bell Microproducts. "The ability of AMD to develop and deliver high-end microprocessors, combined with Bell Microproducts' customer service and market reach, will benefit customers looking for state-of-the-art microprocessor products."

   

• Intel says only small number of notebook chips duff
  Time: 07:45 EDT/12:45 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Chip giant Intel has now confirmed there was a problem with some mobile parts but said the problem was in the substrate and not the silicon. A UK representative said: "It wasn't a silicon issue, it was a substrate packaging issue with one of our suppliers. It is, by no means, a recall." The problem is restricted to a relatively small batch of parts, he said, although he did not say how many were affected.

   

• Intel 533B and 600B parts reason for 12 September price cuts
  Time: 05:50 EDT/10:50 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Intel will once more slash prices on the 12th September next to make way for the introduction of 533(B)MHz and 600(B)MHz parts, it has emerged. These B parts will support 133MHz front side buses (FSBs), we are given to understand. Over the weekend we reported that a fresh tranche of price cuts on Pentium IIIs and Celerons was in the offing. The 27th of September is the release date for Intel's i820 Camino chipset.

   
• Intel cutting notebook chip prices
  Time: 05:48 EDT/10:48 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  More megahertz to the people. Intel Corp. this week will reduce prices by up to 43 percent on mobile Celeron and Pentium II processors. The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker is preparing several new mobile offerings, including a 433MHz Celeron chip and its first Mobile Pentium III chips, which will ship this fall. The price cuts, which are usually planned well in advance, are designed in part to help move OEMs and customers to those new chips.

  "If manufacturing is strong, in combination with new technology on the horizon, it allows us to be aggressive with prices," said Seth Walker, an Intel spokesman.

  Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) reduced prices on its mobile Pentium II chips with ball grid array packaging by up to 41 percent. The 400MHz Pentium II chip was reduced from $530 to $358 or about 32 percent. The largest Pentium II price cut came on the 366MHz chip, which was lowered 41 percent from $316 to $187.

   

• Sun looks toward a new dawn in thin clients
  Time: 05:46 EDT/10:46 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Sun Microsystems hopes to usher in a new dawn in computer systems that some say could save customers money and improve efficiency. Tomorrow, Sun will unveil the Sun Ray, a desktop computer unit designed to encourage companies to abandon traditional PCs in favor of cheap, simple "thin clients" that shove most of the heavy lifting to centralized server computers.

  Thin clients save money and improve efficiency, say advocates, although customers have remained lukewarm about the new product. Sun's first thin client computer, the JavaStation, flopped quite publicly two years ago, hampered by dropping PC prices, numerous product delays, and slow Java performance, the programming language used by the computer.

• 1.6GHz Alpha to be fastest Quake chip on planet
  Time: 16:37 EDT/21:37 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Compaq and API are readying a 1.6GHz Alpha 21364 which will include a version of SIMD 3D instructions and support for Rambus without the latency penalties that seem to dog the x.86 platform.

  A 1.6 GHz 21364 using the EV7 platform, is likely to belt out 6.4 single precision Gflops, according to sources.

  This would beat Merced hands down in ultraparallel single precision floating point.

  The processor will have a 128-bit 800MHz Rambus channels, and will load an entire 128-bit cache depth at the first transfer. Eight 16-bit Rambus channels make up the 128 bits.

  That compares with Intel's i820 chipset which, with one 16-bit Rambus channel, needs four transfers to fill the first 64-bit cache word.

   

• AMD to intro K8 at Microprocessor Forum
  Time: 16:35 EDT/21:35 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Fresh from the successful hype of its K7 (Athlon) family, AMD is now gearing up for the K8, its 64-bit follow-up.

  The company goes public on the K8 at, next month's Microprocessor Forum -- we understand. But the clone chip firm refuses to confirm or deny such a chip is on the cards.

  AMD reckons it's piling the pressure on Intel with the K7. And a quick introduction of the K8 would certainly give something for Chipzilla to think about.

  AMD aims turn up the heat by launching its next generation of (64-bit) processors within months -- and it has enlisted top chip engineer Dirk Meyer (a former Alpha male)to make it happen.

  The step up from 32-bit Athlon K7 to a 64-bit K8 (Octathlon?) chip is relatively trivial to achieve, we are led to understand, from sources close to the company's plans.

  So the 64-bit chip scene could look fairly crowded next year, with competing flavours from Compaq, Intel -- and now AMD.

• CD-RW and DVD-RAM Drives Hit Higher Speeds
  Time: 14:34 EDT/19:34 GMT Source: PC World Posted By: Alex H

  Those CD-Rewritable and DVD-RAM drives you've always wanted might be coming your way faster than you thought.

  Have you been waiting for CD-RW drives to become faster and cheaper, and for those long-awaited DVD-RAM (rewritable DVD) drives to become more available? If so, you'll want to hear about Creative Labs' latest generation of drives, announced this week.

  The company says both the Blaster CD-RW 6424 drive and Blaster PC-DVD RAM will be available by the end of September. Prices remain high: an estimated street price of $249.95 for the CD-RW and $599.99 for the DVD-RAM.

   

• Intel to cut Celeron, PIII prices 12th September
  Time: 14:34 EDT/19:34 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Only three weeks after it slashed prices on its desktop Pentium III and Celeron processors, Intel is to cut prices yet again. Distributors have received notice from Intel that the price cuts will come the week of the 12th of September, on selected members of the Pentium III and Celeron desktop family.

  At the same time, Intel quietly lowered the price of its 366MHz in the PPGA packaging on the 29th of August.

  The move must be seen as attacking AMD's products, and at the same time paving the way for the introduction of CuMine technology in October and Camino i820 introductions in late September.

• DRAM price hikes to propel Samsung profit past $2bn
  Time: 15:11 EDT/20:11 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Samsung today said that it expects rising DRAM prices to push its profits for the current fiscal year up to $2.5 billion.

  "The 64Mb DRAM price rose across $10 yesterday on the spot market and [that] would give a considerable boost to our profit for the coming period," a Samsung spokesman, James Chung, told the Reuters newsagency.

  Chung said the company expects its 1999 after-tax profit to be aorunf $2.3 billion, a near ninefold increase on last year's $266 million.

  "A $1 rise in the price usually raises our profit by about $300 million, said Chung.

   

• New notebook Celerons, price cuts coming
  Time: 15:11 EDT/20:11 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Intel is prepping Celeron chips for notebook computers running at 433 MHz and will cut prices on its existing line of Celeron and Pentium II notebook chips. The price cuts will lead to more and cheaper notebooks for the back-to-school season, as well as pave the way for the release of Pentium III-based notebooks due later this fall, sources said.

• New Business PCs Are Smaller, Simpler, Easier to Service
  Time: 15:11 EDT/20:11 GMT Source: PC World Posted By: Alex H

  Call it the latest space race: PC makers are competing to build a new breed of corporate desktops small enough to fit into the coziest of cubicles and yet so easy to service that you won't need a rocket scientist on your staff. We're not just talking about cases that are compact or that open without tools. Designers have been rethinking and reworking the interiors of these computers from top to bottom, eliminating cables, increasing drive accessibility, and relocating PCI slots in a pop-out tray.

  Slim, serviceable cases are appearing across this fall's corporate desktop lines. To illustrate, here's a peek inside a Celeron-500 system from Gateway and Pentium III-500 PCs from Compaq and Dell.

  Who's to thank for the current interest in system design? Apple. The success of its iMac and G3 desktops convinced PC vendors that looks matter, even to business customers. Unlike standard desktops, the G3 is housed in a colorful, eye-catching case that opens easily, making the motherboard and other key components very accessible. Corporate PC designers have been thinking critically about the relationship between function and end-user costs, too; as a result, the new desktops save you money in two different ways.

   
• Sun poised to ship 64-bit Solaris for Merced
  Time: 15:08 EDT/20:08 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Sun will turn up the heat on Microsoft this autumn by shipping key developers an early access release of Solaris for Intel's IA-64 simulator. Although Intel has now demonstrated Merced silicon in action, for the near future much software development will still be carried out on the simulator.

  Sun is demonstrating 64-bit Intel Solaris at this week's Intel Developer Forum, and the company has already made it clear that it intends to use 64-bitness as a stick to beat Microsoft. The latter's Win64 for Merced was demonstrated earlier this week, but the company isn't planning a first beta until the first half of next year, giving rivals from Sun, SCO and the Linux developers a chance to run with the 64-bit ball earlier.

   
• Big Blue leaps into networking fray
  Time: 15:06 EDT/20:06 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  IBM Corp. on Thursday will unveil a new family of network processor chips and related strategies as part of a bid to become the world's top supplier of communications microelectronics by 2003, IBM officials said. IBM, the world's largest computer maker, is looking to boost its role as a supplier of technology parts in hot demand by computer, communications and consumer electronic makers, reaching beyond its roots as a supplier of entire computers.

  The Armonk, N.Y.-based company will introduce Thursday a new family of programmable communications chips for data networking products like routers, hubs and switches that can be enhanced using software rather than costly hardware upgrades.

  "We feel we will be in the No. 1 or No. 2 position by 2002 and no. 1 by 2003 in wired communications," Christine King, vice president for wired communications at IBM's Microelectronics division, said in an interview.

   

• Compaq has copper Alphas working
  Time: 15:04 EDT/20:04 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Conversations in newsgroup COMP.ARCH have revealed that samples of Alphas using copper and SOI technology are already up and running. The reports come after yesterday's claim by Intel's John Miner that its IA-64 processors will outperform any Risc platform. According to a user on the thread, he is already achieving clock speeds of 833MHz using Tru64 Unix on a UP2000 motherboard.

  He said: "So what would you expect from a sped-up 0.18 um copper SOI part with much faster cache bandwidth than today (a 667 MHz EV-67 used in recent XP1000 SPEC results runs a 1/3 speed 222 MHz cache; what do you get when you increase the clock rat 2.2 times, and cache throughput 4.5 times - and double the cache size (and improve main mem bus speed?"

   
• Intel: PC price limbo is over
  Time: 15:02 EDT/20:02 GMT Source: ZDNet Posted By: Alex H

  Can PC prices go much lower? With some full-fledged PCs now selling for as little as $400, Intel doesn't think so. Prices may be able to come down by another $50, said Pat Gelsinger, an Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) vice president and general manager of the company's Desktop Products Group. But a full-fledged, Windows-based $199 PC, without a rebate or discount, is unlikely to appear in the near future, he said.

  Some vendors, including Microworkz and GlobalPC, have broken the $399 barrier, with their low-end computers. They do so by utilizing non-Windows operating systems, such as Be and Linux, or older components along the lines of GlobalPC's 486 processor.

   
• Intel move to PC-133 mere lip service
  Time: 15:00 EDT/20:00 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  A press conference at the forum has revealed that Intel's commitment to PC-133 is essentially a lack of commitment. (Earlier story: Intel in full cunning strategic retreat from PC-133)

  The upcoming i820 Camino chipset will not have PC-133 support, and Intel appears to be saying that it will introduce a special chipset sometime next year which will only support PC-100 and PC-133. That is despite the fact that i820 has SDRAM support for PC-100 and Taiwanese mobo makers have successfully made PC-133 run with chipsets, such as Via's, which compete with Intel. Intel is in litigation with Via over alleged violation of its patents.

   

• Intel concedes memory issue, as expected
  Time: 14:58 EDT/19:58 GMT Source: News.com Posted By: Alex H

  Bowing to pressure from computer makers and memory manufacturers, Intel formally committed to producing more chipsets that will work with standard computer memory, a move that could further stem the rush toward Rambus.

  Until today, Intel's position has been that all of its future chipsets would support Rambus memory, which limited the horizon for using standard memory, or SDRAM, in Intel-based PCs. The change had been expected.

  Intel will now come out with a chipset that will work with 133-MHz SDRAM, said Pete MacWilliams, an Intel fellow, at the Intel Developer's Forum.

• Intel acquires another firm as IXA mycelium spreads
  Time: 15:09 EDT/20:09 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Intel announced this morning it has brought another networking company, Netboost, as part of its move to become a leader in the networking market.

  At the same time, Intel will roll out its IXA architecture and proudly announce its network chip, the IXP 1200. These details were leaked out by two US publications at the end of last week, and Chipzilla is furious about this. Netboost specialises in infrastructure including VPNs (virtual private networks) and RMON.

   
• 3dfx, S3 merger talks still on
  Time: 15:07 EDT/20:07 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  Register sources reckon 3dfx's subtle plan to take control of the 3D graphics industry and more is still a runner. The plan, which emerged back in June, has 3dfx launching a bid to buy rival 3D graphics specialist S3.

  Since details of the scheme emerged, of course, S3 announced its decision to buy Diamond Multimedia through a $175 million share trade. The Diamond acquisition, which still needs shareholder approval, would give S3 access to Diamond's home networking, digital music technology and, more importantly, its board manufacturing operation.

  The S3/Diamond deal is due to go before Diamond shareholders on 20 September. The Diamond board has recommended the deal.

   
• Merced could be a great games machine
  Time: 15:02 EDT/20:02 GMT Source: The Register Posted By: Alex H

  When the Merced, with 4Mb of on die cache, and at speeds of 750MHz on a .18 micron process, and a set of slightly different Screaming Cindy extensions, starts to appear in volume next year, it could be the perfect gamer's machine.

  The microprocessor is being positioned as a heavyweight beast for the corporate server marketplace, but with tweaking could run the fastest Quake on the planet, it has emerged.

  Although Intel is still publicly denying that it will eventually replace the IA32 platform, it's likely that clever mobo manufacturers may turn out models to do the business for the lucrative games market.

   
• Belkin Components launches revolutionary USB hub configuration system
  Time: 04:46 EDT/09:46 GMT Source: USB Workshop Posted By: Alex H

  In what is being recognized as the most exciting new USB product introduction in the company's extensive lineup, Belkin Components Tuesday launched its highly innovative BusStation(TM).

  Its modular patented industrial design is composed of two major components -- the modules and the station itself. The modules will be available as USB-to-Ethernet (No. F5U111), USB Serial Adapter (No. F5U103, No. F5U103-MAC), USB SCSI Adapter for Macintosh® (No. F5U115-MAC) and as 4-Port USB Hubs (No. F5U101, No. F5U101-MAC).

  Each separate module also works as a stand-alone unit and is highly compact and attractively designed to stack together to take up minimum work space.

   
• Hewlett Packard unveils its first USB CD-RW drive
  Time: 04:44 EDT/09:44 GMT Source: USB Workshop Posted By: Alex H

  Hewlett-Packard Company today introduced two new series of CD-RW drives with SCSI and USB interfaces -- the HP CD-Writer Plus 9200i series and the HP CD-Writer Plus 8200e series, respectively. With the addition of these drives, HP offers users a wide range of connection options, including SCSI, USB and IDE interfaces.

  The HP CD-Writer Plus 9200i series is HP's leading-edge CD-RW drive. HP's first SCSI-solution writes at up to 8X transfer speed and reads data at up to 32X transfer speed. Designed for the performance-conscious customer, this drive offers read speeds faster than many CD-ROM drives.

  The new plug-and-play HP CD-Writer Plus 8200e series has a USB connection that writes data at up to 4X transfer speed and reads data at up to 6X transfer speed. This offers users a cost-effective option that is easy to use and allows customers to move the drive between PCs.

   

• USB 2.0 speed got a boost!
  Time: 04:40 EDT/09:40 GMT Source: USB Workshop Posted By: Alex H

  A group of PC industry leaders announced today that the speed target of Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 is two to three times faster than what was disclosed at the Intel Developer Forum in February.

  Earlier this year, the USB 2.0 Promoter Group, consisting of Compaq, HP, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, NEC and Philips, announced an early speed estimate of USB 2.0 being 120 to 240 Megabits per second (Mbs), or 10 to 20 times faster than USB 1.1. This latest increase in the speed target puts the rate now at 360-480 Mbs, or 30 to 40 times faster than USB 1.1.

Read more of the past months news in our News Archive for Previous August News.