• Athlon Software L2 Tweak Utility?
  Time:16:00 EST/21:00 GMT News Source: AMD Zone Posted By: anthonyS

  According to Daiki there will soon be an utility that will allow you to tweak the Athlon's L2 cache divider. If this is true then finally there will be no need to break out the soldering gun to fully tweak the Athlon!

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• DVD biz steps up action against DeCSS
  Time:16:00 EST/21:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: anthonyS

  The movie industry this week stepped up its efforts to stem the spread of DeCSS, a utility that allows files stored on DVDs to be copied to PC hard drives, with a barrage of legal threats against Web sites offering the software.

  The move, which targets 72 US-based DeCSS-hosting sites follows actions launched in Europe earlier this month against other Web sites from which the utility could be downloaded.

  The US suit was filed on Monday by the DVD Copy Control Association (DCCA), a body that appears to have been formed specifically to act against the distribution of DeCSS. Previous anti-DeCSS actions have been made on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.

  The latest suit demands the removal of DeCSS from the named sites, but the DCCA is also seeking a broader restraint to prevent sites from linking to servers on which the utility is stored.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• AMD revs up Athlon chipset
  Time:16:00 EST/21:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: anthonyS

  While people have been stuffing themselves with Christmas pud and wassailing away at innocent apple trees across the rural idyll which is today's England, AMD has been applying its virtual screwdrivers to its 750 chipset. So says Tom's Hardware Guide in this piece.

  It could be argued that one reason AMD has done so well this year is that it took note of the large overclocking community -- a set of people one chip distributor described to us as the Mad Power Nutcases.

  Intel, on the other hand, did not seem to want to encourage people to mess around with their machines, despite the fact that if people blow up their processors, they'll just have to buy another one. Now, Overclockin has posted a look at the infamous gold fingers on the AMD Athlon and this piece says overclocking is just a piece of cake....

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Creative launches new drivers for their Annhilator cards!
  Time:12:30 EST/17:30 GMT News Source: Creative Labs Posted By: anthonyS

  Creative Labs has released new drivers for their Annhilator and Annhilator Pro ge-Force cards. THis brings the driver revision to v. 2.04

  Rumor has it, from William Ball over at the Creative Labs NG, that these drivers are based on the 3.62 Nvidia reference drivers (Athlon compatible)

  For those of you experiencing problems, make sure you read the readme that comes with these drivers:

  Ensure that you have the following suggested settings in your system BIOS setup:

  1. Enable "Assign IRQ to VGA" if possible.

  2. Disable "VGA Palette Snoop".

  3. Disable "Video BIOS Cache" and "Video BIOS Shadow".

  4. Disable "C800-CBFFF Shadow" or similar options.

  5. Set AGP Aperture Size to about half the size of system RAM size.

  a.) If you have an older LX series motherboard and are experiencing problems, check with your system vendor to udate your system BIOS.

  b.) If you are overclocking your CPU, you might want to revert back to the original clock settings.

  c.) The following motherboards were found to have problems working with the Creative CT6941 and CT6971 cards. Please contact the motherboard manufacturer for an update. Asus P2L97-DS v1.03 (might need motherboard hardware patch), Gigabyte GA-6BXC rev 1.7, FIC CL31-A, Elite P6LX- A and Elite P6LX-A+.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Athlon 850/900 will work at 1.7V
  Time:12:30 EST/17:30 GMT News Source: Ace's Hardware Posted By: anthonyS

  To increase the yields of the K75 (Athlon .18 µ core), AMD management has decided to increase the voltage of the higher clocked Athlons from 1.6V to 1.7V.

  That way, almost any .18µ Athlon should reach 800 MHz and it is possible that the 850 and 900 MHz Athlon will be introduced much sooner. It is clear that AMD is feeling the pressure of Intel too and wants to stay ahead in the race.

  If you already got a Slot A motherboard, you shouldn't worry: the Athlon core regulate voltages internally. AMD representatives reassured us that it is "plug and play" : ).

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Hubble telescope gets Intel 486 upgrade
  Time:12:30 EST/17:30 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: anthonyS

  The Space Shuttle machine that will end later on today has achieved one of its prime objectives and upgraded the microprocessor that is the "brains" of the high tech device.

  Astronauts Steve Smith and John Grunsfeld successfully upgraded the 386 chip that was driving the telescope to a 486 processor over the last few days.

  That means that Hubble now has the power of Intel Inside. The introduction of the 486 coincided with the introduction of the contentious Intel Inside campaign.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Intel closes in on 1,000MHz chip
  Time: 05:40P PST/08:40P EST News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  1GHz: It's the next major milestone for microprocessor speed. Intel plans to update the industry on its efforts to develop a 1,000MHz chip at a conference in February, with possible shipment by the end of 2000.

  Coming closer to breaking the next major chip barrier, Intel Corp. plans to disclose plans for a 1,000MHz Pentium III chip in February.

  The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker will present a paper on the 1,000MHz, or 1GHz, Pentium III, which is based on its current Pentium III design, code-named Coppermine, at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on Feb. 7.

  Intel first showed off a Pentium III running at about 1GHz early this year at its developer forum in Palm Springs, Calif. The demonstration, however, used a cooling technology to allow the chip to reach 1GHz. The Pentium III design to be talked about at the conference would run at 1GHz at normal room temperature.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Gateway stealth-launches Athlon PCs...
  Time: 05:40P PST/08:40P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Even though neither Gateway nor AMD have yet confirmed they're in a little huddle about Athlon microprocessors, information on the former's Web site seems to confirm that the deal is on.

  Two weeks ago we were told by a highly placed source at Gateway that it was sending out samples of PCs using the microprocessor.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Serial laptop mugger faces slammer
  Time: 05:40P PST/08:40P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  A vicious mugger who hunted down businessmen carrying laptops was this week warned he faced years in prison. Neville Smicle, 23, left two of his five victims with fractured skills, while almost severing the ear of another.

  Isleworth Crown Court heard on Tuesday how the man struck on three separate evenings in Ealing, Hammersmith and Richmond. His victims were all carrying laptops, Metro newspaper reported.

  Tim Perkins, a graphic designer, described how he was attacked whilst walking home in April. "A lad appeared beside me and very quickly asked me the time. I looked at my watch and I was hit in the face by something incredibly hard." Perkins said he was then hit twice more on the back of the head.

  Second victim Andrew Swinton suffered a similar attack just two hours later, where he was also hit on the head with a bottle. Another of the men, Vivek Soman, was attacked on his own doorstep, and suffered a fractured cheekbone.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• First mobile RIMMs not expected until Q2
  Time: 05:40P PST/08:40P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  While Intel is still robustly in denial over the collapse of its Rambus strategy for notebook PCs, reliable sources have said that mobile RIMMs will not arrive in quantity until the second half of next year.

  According to a close Intel partner, companies will still manufacture SO-RIMMs for notebook machines, but technical and marketing issues are preventing the ramp from happening until later next year.

  As already reported here, Intel's notebook strategy is in considerable disarray, with volumes of many of the mobile Coppermine processors not expected to reach the channel until the end of Q1 at the earliest.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Intel to Push 800MHz
  Time: 02:45P PST/05:45P EST News Source: PCWorld Posted By: Corey Gouker

  With Pentium III-750 systems in the wings, Intel prepares to leap past AMD again.

  Intel escalates its speed war with Advanced Microprocessor Devices next week, when the chip giant is expected to announce not only a 750-MHz Pentium III CPU that matches AMD's latest Athlon, but also an 800-MHz PIII.

  The debut occurs about three weeks in advance of Intel's original target date for announcing the 750-MHz PIII, and months ahead of the expected release of the 800-MHz PIII, sources say. Intel declined comment on the expected announcement.

  AMD managed a similar feat when it announced its 750-MHz Athlon processor on November 29--nearly two weeks earlier than expected. That processor is currently the fastest in the market, having snatched the top spot from Intel's PIII-733 announced on October 25.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• A Remote Control for the Web
  Time: 02:45P PST/05:45P EST News Source: PCWorld Posted By: Corey Gouker

  eGoPad offers one-click (or one-swipe) access to your favorite sites.

  Imagine a remote control with 40-odd buttons and a card reader that can take you to your favorite Web sites with one click or swipe. No more searching through a long list of bookmarks or having to type in a URL from memory.

  PlanetPortal's eGoPad was designed on the premise that users are sick of having to remember and type in URLs or find them in disorganized lists of bookmarks.

  The device offers two new ways to access Web sites. Users can push buttons on the remote for default or programmed sites. Or users can slide cards with embedded URLs into a reader on the side of the device.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Palm IPO Plan Boosts Platform's Support
  Time: 02:45P PST/05:45P EST News Source: PCWorld Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Partners from IBM and Motorola to Nokia and Handspring plan Palm extensions.

  3Com's move this week to spin out part of its Palm Computing subsidiary was met with enthusiasm from some large and new partners, suggesting that Palm's software platform may appear in a bevy of devices in the coming months.

  3Com announced yesterday it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

  "The spin-off has been expected all year. It's a natural move for 3Com and Palm, and it continues their momentum," says Diana Hwang, handheld PC analyst for International Data Corporation.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Taiwanese OEMs lose out in Dell rejig
  Time: 02:45P PST/05:45P EST News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Dell is to make more of its own notebook PCs and cut back on the amount of outsourcing going to its Taiwanese partners.

  Moving away from the general trend in the industry, Dell said notebook contract orders would see just 20 per cent growth in 2000, down on the 50 per cent average over the past two years.

  Its two main Taiwan contractors -- Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics -- are expected to be hit hardest. Dell previously accounted for 40 per cent of the two companies' shipments. The direct PC vendor bought an estimated $2 billion of goods from Taiwan this year.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Enter the Third Dimension
  Time: 03:00 EST/08:00 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Tucked inside a nondescript building in Manhattan's Silicon Alley, a group of engineers is thinking outside the box. Literally. Dimensional Media Associates is working on a 3-D display. No big deal, except that viewers don't have to wear geeky glasses or goggles.

  The technology may enable employees to teleconference in 3-D, consumers to "touch" goods for sale on the Web, and medical researchers to visualize protein-folding models. A visit to the company's research lab isn't for the faint of heart. Walk inside and you hear an amplified heartbeat. The heart--actually a high-resolution 3-D image of it--is suspended a few inches in front of one of the prototype display stations. A set of surgeon's calipers attached to a force-feedback contraption is nearby. A tug on one of the vessels pulls it slightly, and you feel the twitch of the muscle in response. (A "stiffness" parameter is built into the software.) Enough cardiac surgery for today.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• HardwareCentral - Reviews - Intel's New Coppermine
  Time: 03:00 EST/08:00 GMT News Source: HardwareCentral Posted By: Corey Gouker

  The new .18 micron Intel Pentium III processor, codename Coppermine, is the latest member of the Intel P6 family. A family that started off with the Intel Pentium Pro a few years ago, and which has been the foundation of a whole new family of Intel CPU's. Originally targeted at the server market, the Pentium Pro came in a wide variety of clockspeeds and L2 cache configurations. It's well known successor, the Intel Pentium II, was the logical follow up as it added MMX technology to the P6 core as well as an external L2 cache running at half the clockspeed of the CPU. To be able to keep the CPU and the external cache as close together as possible, Intel moved away from the traditional socket approach for interfacing the CPU with the motherboard and chose a cartridge design, Slot 1, that mounted the CPU and the external cache onto a PCB which interfaced with the motherboard using the Slot 1 connector.

  The original Intel Pentium III, manufactured in a .25 micron process wasn't that much different from the Intel Pentium II either. It added a few enhancements to the CPU core, such as SSE, Streaming SIMD Extensions for enhanced floating point and 3D application performance. Which basically meant that some geometrical or integer intensive calculations could be handled more efficiently and thus be processed faster by using these instructions. As well as the Intel Processor Serial Number, a feature that remains a topic of much controversy as it allows the user to be identified by the serial number of its CPU.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Intel confirms Coppermine price change details
  Time: 03:00 EST/08:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  We now have details of the changes in prices of Intel's .18 Coppermine processors, which the company notified to its PC vendors and channel partners late yesterday, and which we predicted many weeks ago.

  As we thought, the price adjustments are not massive, and that's because Intel is holding its horses for a mammoth cut in January next year.

  The list does not include packages using the flip chip Socket 370 configuration, but our Intel representative is attempting to clarify the position on these parts, and we will update the story when we receive further information.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Coppermine notebooks: trickle starts
  Time: 03:00 EST/08:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Intel announced that it would introduce a whole family of mobile Coppermine processors on October 25th last, and lulled a lot of manufacturers into a false sense of security.

  Compaq announced it would introduce machines using the mobile Coppermine technology that day but most of the big names did not follow suit.

  Now, Dell has announced it has a couple of the portables up for sale, only a week or so after Toshiba did the same thing.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Aureal defeats Creative patent infringement case
  Time: 03:00 EST/08:00 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Aureal has won its legal battle with arch-rival Creative technology when a US jury threw out Creative's claim that Aureal Vortex sound processor chip violated Creative intellectual property.

  The suit in question -- just one of many the two companies have been throwing at each other over the last few years -- was launched back in February 1998. Creative said the Vortex infringed on one of its patents, 5342990 to be precise, assigned to its subsidiary Emu Systems.

  The highly technical patent covers a "digital sampling instrument employing cache memory" and centres on the waveform audio signals can be interpolated into multiple channels. It was filed in 1992 and granted in 1994. It will expire in 2009: "the term of this patent subsequent to 12 May 2009 has been disclaimed", it says.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Intel Leaks 800MHz Pentium III
  Time: 03:47 EDT/08:47 GMT News Source: Maximum PC Posted By: Corey Gouker

  At this week's International Electron Devices Meeting, a top Intel engineer let loose that a fab process breakthrough has allowed the company to create 800MHz versions of their Pentium III chip and some have already shipped.

  The breakthrough-known as the Notched-Poly process--is a refinement of previous CMOS technology. Intel's 1.8-micron process previously produced 0.13-micron gates, but the new technique reduces gate length to 0.1-micron for reduced capacitance, requiring lower voltage with less current leakage.

  The announcement of the chips breaks tradition, which normally dictates that technology announced in papers at IEDM aren't implemented until much later, often years later, at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

   

• Waitt to step down as CEO of Gateway
  Time: 03:47 EDT/08:47 GMT News Source: ZDNet Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Co-founder Ted Waitt will turn over the reins to Jeff Weitzen as computer giant faces new future.

  The PC industry just lost one of its most creative lights, at a time when his vision might have helped drive it forward.

  Ted Waitt, who stepped aside as CEO of Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) Wednesday, was a billionaire businessman with a ponytail, a risk-taker who frequently broke with convention.

  And in the process, he changed the way PCs were marketed, helped legitimize direct sales of high-tech products and built a multibillion-dollar PC maker far from Silicon anywhere.

  Waitt will remain chairman of the company he founded in South Dakota in 1985. But effective Jan. 1, Gateway President Jeff Weitzen will add the CEO role to his responsibilities.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Gateway Unveils First Server Appliance
  Time: 03:47 EDT/08:47 GMT News Source: PCWorld Posted By: Corey Gouker

  Micro Server installs in as little as 30 minutes and starts at $1299.

  Gateway jumped into the PC server appliance market on Tuesday, announcing a pair of Linux-based devices that can handle Internet access, e-mail, and file sharing for small businesses and franchises or branch offices of larger companies.

  The Gateway Micro Server models run off of an embedded 64-bit RISC processor made by MIPS Computer Systems and can be installed in as little as 30 minutes, Gateway said. The Linux operating system is hidden from end users, who only see the built-in Internet and e-mail applications. The devices start at $1299 and are intended to support up to 100 users, although Gateway said more could be handled for simple e-mail uses.

  Al Gillen, an analyst at International Data Corporation, said Gateway appears to be one of the first vendors to come out with server appliances built around Linux.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Voquette Puts Web Tunes on Tape
  Time: 03:47 EDT/08:47 GMT News Source: PCWorld Posted By: Corey Gouker

  High-tech digital Internet audio meets low-cost analog portability with Voquette's release Tuesday of its NetRecorder package.

  The $99 bundle combines a Philips cassette tape recorder with Voquette's NetLink Adapter and Media Manager software. It lets you move Web audio such as MP3 and RealAudio from your PC to regular, inexpensive cassette tapes that you can use in any standard player.

  NetRecorder will appeal to anyone who enjoys Web audio, but who doesn't want to buy a pricey MP3 player that uses expensive flash memory, says Rotem Skurnik, Voquette's marketing director. Also, many people have cassette players in their cars, so they can listen to their favorite Web audio during the daily commute.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

• Quantum the quietest Hard drive?
  Time: 18:25 EST/23:25 GMT News Source: The Register Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Quantum has hauled in a "renowned independent acoustical consulting firm" to confirm that it has the world's quietest desktop hard drive in the form of the Fireball lct.
  The vendor bases its claims on sound benchmarking tests conducted by Charles M Salter Associates (CSA) of San Francisco on 5400rpm drives from Quantum, Fujitsu, IBM, Maxtor, Samsung, Seagate, and Western Digital.
  When the Fireball lct is idle, the average decibel reading is 28 (presumably the power's switched on), the same level as someone whispering and around the same as the noise level of a "typical quiet living room" (which comes in at 30 decibels).
  In read and write mode the Fireball lct's average decibel level is 32 decibels. According to Quantum, it's nearest rival measured 32 decibels when idle and 35 decibels when active. The average PC hard drive produces 36-48 decibels when in use.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

   

• AMD Athlon 750 Review
  Time: 18:25 EST/23:25 GMT News Source: Sharky Extreme Posted By: Dennis Gregory

  Sharky Extreme has posted their AMD Athlon 750 review... I don't think anyone would mind getting that for christmas...  Here's a snippet:

  Over the past four months over 20 brand new CPUs have been released on the market from Intel and AMD.This is a blistering pace as processor introductions go, and it certainly won't be maintained in the year 2000 as clock speeds creep upward to the 1GHz level and beyond. While somewhat reminiscent of the 60's automotive scene in the USA, where car manufacturers continually tried to out-horsepower each other with new models introduced at a faster rate than normal, the CPU horsepower game has risen dramatically upward the past few months and is now getting close to knocking on 1GHz's front door.
  

   

• Mutating Virus Spreads via IRC
  Time: 08:00 EDT/13:00 GMT News Source: ABC News Posted By: anthonyS

  This virus primarily affects home computers and spreads through Microsoft software used for chat rooms. The virus, W95.Babylonia, comes disguised as a Y2K fix, making it the sixth known virus preying on the Year 2000 glitch.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

   

• Intel Goes Blue
  Time: 08:00 EDT/13:00 GMT News Source: Maximum PC Posted By: anthonyS

  Intel today showed two notebook computer systems using wireless technology to synch data using Intel's new Bluetooth radio module.

  Bluetooth is the codename for a technology specification developed for small form factor, low-cost, short-range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones and other portable devices.

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

   

• It's Intel's Itanium
  Time: 08:00 EDT/13:00 GMT News Source: Maximum PC Posted By: anthonyS

  Intel is shipping its first 64-bit processor, Itanium, to hardware and software makers for debugging. Formerly known as Merced, it will be able to deal with much larger databases and much larger amounts of memory than today's 32-bit Intel chips.

  The 64-bit chip family, called IA-64, will also be based around a completely new architecture. Over the last few months, companies such as IBM, HP and Sun had success in porting their operating systems to Itanium processors.

  Windows and Linux were the first two OSes that successfully ran on the chip.

  

  [Submit News]  [Return To Headlines]

This site is not related to the Microsoft Corporation in any way. Windows and the Windows logo are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. ActiveWindows is an independent site. The information and sources here are obtained from series of hard work & research.