• Intel's cunning server plans
  Time: 11:30A PST/ 2:30A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  PC customers and companies attempting to plan their server strategy over the next 18 months had better get their thinking caps on, judging from an Intel roadmap we viewed earlier on this week.

  IA-32 based Foster is the elder brother of Willamette, and earlier this year we were led to believe that it would arrive not long after the intro of the desktop processor.

  According to the Intel roadmap, Foster dual processing systems have now been "moved" from the end of this year to Q1 2001, while multiprocessing systems have been "moved" to late Q1, 2001.

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• Intel's view on double data rate memory...
  Time: 11:30A PST/ 2:30A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  The same roadmap we saw two days ago which revealed the price of Merced (Itanium) chips has also revealed Intel's view about double date rate memory (DDR).

  For quite some months, many in the PC industry have been puzzled as to why Intel is choosing DDR for the server market and Rambus is the memory technology of choice for the desktop. [Maybe they should read the contract between Rambus and Intel -- Ed]

  But Intel has quite clearly delineated its stance on DDR in the document we have seen, aimed at its OEMs but clearly excluding the Dell Corporation.

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• Intel Celeron to die Q1 next year
  Time: 11:30A PST/ 2:30A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  An Intel roadmap seen by The Register indicates that the Celeron processor will shuffle off its mortal coil towards the end of the first quarter next year, displaced by the system-on-the-chip solution codenamed Timna.

  But there's life in the old Celeron dog yet, according to the roadmap. As revealed here yesterday, the 633MHz and 666MHz Celerons will arrive at the end of the month, to be followed in Q3 by a 700MHz Celeron, and in Q4 by a 733MHz Cu128K.

  In the third and fourth quarters, the line between the Celeron Cu128K and the Timna, begin to get blurred, with a mixture of both product lines as Intel readies itself to kick the damned thing into touch in Q1 2001.

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• Intel launches 933MHz PIII
  Time: 11:30A PST/ 2:30A EST News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  New desktop chip completes PIII lineup. Intel Corp. took the wraps off of its 933MHz Pentium III chip for desktop PCs, Wednesday.

  The new chip, which will show up first in high-end desktop PCs, fills in the last gap in Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC) current Pentium III lineup. The company leaped from 800MHz to 1GHz (1,000MHz) in early March and later that month issued 800MHz and 866MHz desktop Pentium III chips.

  PC makers will offer the new chip first in high-end desktops. IBM, for example, is offering the chip in the new Aptiva 990 desktop. The new PC, priced at $2,109, includes the 933MHz chip, 128MB of synchronous dynamic RAM, a 40GB hard drive and a CD-rewriteable drive.

  The new processor for desktop PCs is priced at $744 in 1,000 unit quantities. Intel officials say it is available in quantity now.

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• Shortage: Palms are hard to come by
  Time: 11:30A PST/ 2:30A EST News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  A shortage of display and memory components is frustrating buyers looking to purchase Palm devices.

  Where have all the Palms gone? Many consumers hoping to buy a new Palm PDA are finding retailer's shelves bare and online shopping carts empty.

  The Palm shortage, the company says, results from a combination of high seasonal demand and a shortage of LCD panels and flash memory, two critical components used to construct the devices. (The same shortages, as reported by ZDNet, are also affecting cellular phone handset vendors.)

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• Intel, Mitsubishi coy on cellular devices
  Time: 10:00P PST/ 1:00A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Leo Nelson

  In an intriguing announcement Intel says it will work with Mitsubishi to produce chipsets for 3G mobile phones.

  The intrigue largely comes from what's left unsaid, rather than the commitments. Cellular manufacturer Mitsubishi stop short of saying will produce devices, committing more cautiously to marketing 'chipsets and software' in Japan as a result of the agreement.

  Nor is there any mention of StrongARM in the release, but it's obvious enough where a "high-performance, low-power" could come from. Mitsubishi was one of DEC's original licensees for StrongARM and has been a faithful licensee of ARM cores.

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• Nvidia selected for Linux based X-Box rival
  Time: 11:00P PST/ 2:00A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  What's good enough for Microsoft is good enough for Linux, if Indrema's decision to base its own games console on Nvidia's GeForce - just like Microsoft's X-Box - is anything to go by.

  Little-known Indrema was formed earlier this year, and is apparently hard at work on its L600 Entertainment System, a slim-line vertical - shades of PlayStation 2 there - Linux-based games console-cum-Net access device-cum-MP3 player. It's based on a 600MHz CPU of unknown provenance and bundles 100Mbps Ethernet for ADSL connections.

  Curiously, Indrema doesn't say which Nvidia processor it's going to use - but it will be a "future generation" one, at any rate. To be fair, the company isn't expecting to ship for some time - pre-production models aren't due to appear until "late summer 2000". By the time the L600 ships, Nvidia should be offering - based on its own six-month roll-out schedule - the GeForce 3. The L600's graphics engine will be built onto a daughtercard, allowing newer, more powerful 3D chips to be added later.

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• Xerox kicks out CEO
  Time: 11:00P PST/ 2:00A EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Xerox has kicked out its CEO after a year of profit disappointments and a failure to bring the company into the digital age.

  Rick Thoman resigned under pressure from the Xerox board yesterday after failing to transform the company from a humble photocopier manufacturer into a hi-tech or Internet player.

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• GeForce2 GTS Performance Investigated
  Time: 11:00P PST/ 2:00A EST News Source: HardwareCentral Posted By: Corey Gouker

  HardwareCentral writes up a great article, with a chart that lets you compare the GeForce2 GTS with some other new cards.

  In this article, we take an in-depth look at the performance of the GeForce2 GTS. We stack the GeForce2 GTS up against the Hercules Prophet DDR-DVI and explore issues such as CPU scaling, AGP 2X vs. AGP 4X, GeForce2 bottlenecks, overclocking and more.

  Nvidia is currently at the top of its game. Not only is its GeForce card the undisputed performance champion, but it has now released its successor, and it is also the first to market with its next generation part. Nvidia’s new GeForce2 GTS is an improved version of the original GeForce card.

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• Wireless Mobile LAN Gaming with Dell
  Time: 11:00P PST/ 2:00A EST News Source: Sharky Extreme Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Dell visited us recently to demonstrate gaming with their wireless networking technology...on notebooks! Yes, gaming on laptops is not quite as smooth as gaming with a DDR GeForce, but think of the possibilities when you add wireless LAN to the mix. Suppose your girlfriend drags you along to a chick feel good flick. Your girl could be crying over the emotional twists and turns of "You've Got Mail," meanwhile you've got game, truncheoning and tearing apart your buddy who's sitting in the parking lot playing Unreal Tournament with you. No wires? No problemo!

  Dell is currently shipping 11Mbps-capable wireless LAN cards, using the IEEE 802.11 standard, in PC Card format for laptops and PCI format for desktops. They demonstrated their technology for us using tweaked Dell Inspiron laptops (more on those later), and we have to say, the prospect of mobile wireless LAN play is extremely attractive.

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• Large corporations need 2GHz chips
  Time: 12:30P PST/ 3:30P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Intel has made available a white paper on its private dealer Web pages which suggests that IT buyers will need microprocessors of 1GHz and up to 2GHz in order to run Windows 2000.

  The report, from Competitive Systems Analysis, will bring tidings of good will to Intel Central at Santa Clara, which just loves it when Microsoft produces software that needs a mighty number cruncher to make it tick.

  According to the report, IT buyers are considering 1GHz PCs and above as they look to modernise their desktops. "A key catalyst has been the emergence of Windows 2000 Professional," the report says. "This next generation PC operating system has a voracious appetite for CPU cycle."

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• AMD Thunderbird hits mobo problem
  Time: 12:30P PST/ 3:30P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  A big welcome please, for... Thunderbirdgate. Or should that be ThunderVIAbirdgate?

  AMD users hoping to update to the next slot A version of Athlon, the Thunderbird, are in for a disappointment. Our friends at Tecchannel in Germany have a story here detailing timing problems with the Slot A version of the chip (the socket A version is OK, apparently) and VIA's KX-133.

  The upcoming KZ-133 and AMD's own Irongate chipsets are reported to work fine. More than 30 Slot A motherboards currently use the KX-133.

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• AMD's Thunderbird advances Athlon
  Time: 12:30P PST/ 3:30P EST News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Users will like the improved performance, but packaging alternatives could leave some customers frustrated.

  Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is planning a lightning fast conversion to its Thunderbird chip starting next month.

  However, the move could frustrate some leading-edge Athlon enthusiasts as the chip maker goes through a complex transition process to a new packaging technology, known as Socket A.

  Thunderbird, the code-name for the newest version of AMD's (NYSE: AMD) Athlon desktop PC processor, will be available from PC makers in June. But AMD will stagger the launch of Thunderbird based on two packaging options, sources said.

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• WinCE retail market share collapses
  Time: 12:00P PST/ 3:00P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Leo Nelson

  Microsoft's PocketPC launch couldn't have come sooner, according to a report by NPD Intelect. The US market research company's numbers, cited by All Net Devices, show retail sales of Windows CE devices have all but dried up.

  NPD Intelect's stats, derived from sales through US retail and mail order channels, show Palm held 87.3 per cent of the PDA market in February, an increase of over 20 per cent on its February 1999 share of 65.5 per cent. IBM, a Palm OS licensee, also experienced growth, seeing its share rise 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent between February 1999 and February 2000.

  On the CE side, of the main vendors, only Compaq saw a year-on-year market share gain, rising 1.1 per cent, from 0.4 per cent of the PDA market to 1.5 per cent. However, the other big CE vendors, Casio and Hewlett-Packard, saw their shares fall 7.3 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively. In February 1999, Casio held 12.2 per cent of the market; for the same month this year, it had only 4.9 per cent. HP, meanwhile, fell from 5.7 per cent to 2.7 per cent.

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• HP Win2K driver saga continues
  Time: 12:00P PST/ 3:00P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Leo Nelson

  It's not only HP printer owners who are up in arms about the company's inability to ship Win2K drivers for its products.

  Following our stories last week on the lack of delivers for the OfficeJet range of all-in-one printer/fax/scanners, several readers have written in pointing out that owners of Hewlett-Packard CD writers suffer from the same problem.

  Adding insult to injury, CDR drivers (which are still at least a month away) will cost as much as $25 plus shipping and can only be ordered by phone for delivery by snailmail (please allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery).

  An HP support page here lists the affected CDRs.

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Read more of the past months news in our News Archive for March and April News.

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