Make your Xbox rock at 1.4GHz

A firm on the show floor at Computex is offering the chance to buy an Xbox that uses a Celeron 1.4GHz/256K cache chip rather than the feeble 733MHz Pentium III that ships with the console. "Friendtech is also offering a mod for the Xbox which provides S-Video and A/V output, 5.1 surround sound and a hard disk upgrade."

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Adaptec shows off SCSI over TCP/IP

At IDF this year, Adaptec had a nice stand, and was showing a lot of high end storage toys. Some were things you would recognize, others were more geared at high end applications that you most likely don't have much contact with. One of the more interesting ones was an iSCSI adaptor, and the associated support pieces. "For those of you who aren't up on cutting edge enterprise storage formats, iSCSI is basically SCSI over TCP/IP. You can connect your drives to your PC using TCP/IP as your signaling protocol. This allows you to have your drive array in a box beside your computer, across the room, down the hall, in the basement, or four countries away. Nice idea, and I hear it works well."

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SIS readies four channel RDRAM chipset

Sources told the INQ last week at the Computex show that Silicon Advanced Systems (SIS) is to make its first four channel RDRAM chipset available in the fourth quarter of this year. "The R659 chipset starts to be delivered during the fourth quarter of this year, while SIS is also readying a number of other cunning plans, it emerged."

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Intel ships 3.2GHz Mobile P4 with HT tech

Intel has rolled out four Mobile Pentium 4 processor that finally bring its HyperThreading technology to notebook computers, though the chips' frontside bus has yet to exceed an effective bit rate of 533MHz. It also shipped a new Celeron desktop chip, taking the family to 2.7GHz.

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Nvidia unveils nForce 3 for mobile, desktop Athlon 64

Nvidia this week expanded its AMD64-targeted nForce 3 chipset line from one part to three, adding mobile and desktop versions to the workstation chip announced in April. "Joining the Opteron-oriented nForce 3 Pro 150 is the vanilla nForce 3 150 for the Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX, and the nForce 3 Go 150 for the mobile version of that chip. The two new versions are now in "mass production" and will be available in "the coming weeks", said Nvidia's European marketing chief, Alain Tiquet."

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Nintendo to Offer Wireless Playing on Gameboy

Japanese video game company Nintendo Co Ltd said on Friday it plans early next year to offer a device that allows GameBoy Advance users to play games together without the use of cables. "The device will be included free of charge with the purchase of one of two "Pokemon" games, due to be released early next year, for Nintendo's hand-held game machine."

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Pentium V will launch with 64-bit Windows Elements

Details have emerged of the future design of Intel's Tejas/Pentium V processor, and of how the chip firm will present it to the world. "The chip will sample internally at Intel in January 2004 and will take between four to six months to get to market. The Pentium 6 will follow a very similar schedule."

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Sun Unveils New Superchip Technology

Sun Microsystems today unveiled details about a new method of laying down microchips that researchers say would process information 100 times faster than today's most sophisticated computers, revolutionizing all aspects of the technology industry.

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Sony to Sell Tiny Digital Tuner Chip for Mobiles

Consumer electronics maker Sony Corp said on Wednesday it planned to ship in December samples of a mini digital broadcast tuner module that would enable mobile phones to act as televisions. "The tuner module, which is smaller than a postage stamp, can be used in mobile applications such as cell phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs)."

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New Palm Tungstens debut on Web

Details of Palm's two new Tungsten PDAs have leaked out ahead of their official launch next week on 1 October. "The two models, the Tungsten T3 and E, have been anticipated for some time, but the leak fills in the missing details - and provides our first glimpse of the entry-level E."

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Intel invests $450M in memory maker Micron

Intel Corp. invested US$450 million in Micron Technology Inc. and said it would team with the memory chip maker to develop next-generation chips that work with future Intel products. "The investment by Intel's strategic investment program Intel Capital gives the Santa Clara, California, chip giant a 5.3 percent share in Micron, of Boise, Idaho, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday."

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Sony, CA build backup for laptops

Sony and Computer Associates International have jointly launched a backup product to help laptop owners do a better job of holding onto key documents and information. "The companies plan to release the StorStation Laptop Data Protection system, which backs up data on notebook computers automatically when they connect to a network. It combines Sony's 720GB StorStation FSV-M5 server with CA's Mobile Backup software."

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Fuel cells need some more gas

Firms that claim the appearance next year of micro fuel cells--touted as the next wave of long-lasting power for handhelds and mobile phones--are fostering hype, according to technology research firm Allied Business Intelligence (ABI). "Issues such as water management, volumetric energy density, and complete packaging need to be resolved before widespread use of micro fuel cells can be realized by 2004, ABI director of energy research Atakan Ozbek said in the statement."

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Microsoft to open Office doors early

Microsoft said Friday that it would allow some of its business customers to download its new Office desktop application bundle about two weeks sooner than originally planned. "The software giant said Office 2003 and Microsoft OneNote applications would be released Monday, to those signed up for its Enterprise Agreement and Software Assurance licensing plans. The company will also allow subscribers to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) to download the software."

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Want 50Mb per second? Forget fibre

Think fibre to the home is the future? Think again. Finnish company Teleste, a European supplier of network kit for cable operators, has signed a co-operation agreement with the second biggest Dutch cable operator Essent Kabelcom to develop and deploy a fast IP-based data access technology called Ethernet to the Home (ETTH). "ETTH offers speeds up to 10 Mb/s data speed to residential customers without the need of active consumer premise equipment, and up to 50Mb/s symmetrical data connectivity to business customers."

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Dell, Sony to launch Media Center PCs

Dell and Sony are both expected to launch their first Media Center PCs this fall, sources familiar with the companies' plans told CNET News.com. "The two companies did not offer computers using the initial version of the Windows XP Media Center operating system, but are expected to enter the market once Microsoft introduces a new version of the operating system later this month. Microsoft has scheduled events across the United States on Sept. 30 to unveil the next version of Media Center, code-named Harmony."

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Dell handhelds get glitch fix

Dell is ready to deliver a pair of software upgrades for its Axim X5 handheld, including a performance fix for some models and an optional operating system upgrade for others. "The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker began shipping on Thursday a free update CD that contains software to remedy a performance glitch that affects Axim X5 models shipped with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Software for Pocket PC before July 16, a company representative said."

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ViewSonic's New High Definition LCD TVs

ViewSonic today announced two LCD TVs that provide enhanced television and entertainment capabilities along with computer display functionality for home electronic systems. "These latest additions to the NextVision(tm) series, the 27-inch wide-screen N2700w and the 20-inch N2000, offer consumers stylish and versatile television options."

Read the entire press release here.

Realtek launches eight-channel AC97 audio codec

Taiwan-based IC designer Realtek Semiconductor today announced the launch of the ALC850, claiming it to be the world’s first eight-channel AC’97 Rev 2.3 audio codec.

More here at DigiTimes

'Tanglewood' to top Intel chip show

Intel plans to describe a new high-end Itanium chip code-named Tanglewood at its Developer Forum conference next month, sources close to the company said. The chip will include as many as 16 processors on a single slice of silicon. "So-called multicore designs that include several processors on the same chip are an increasingly popular way to use the ever-larger amounts of circuitry that advanced manufacturing processes permit, but other companies are slightly ahead of Intel in the multicore business."

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New Office locks down documents

As digital media publishers scramble to devise a foolproof method of copy protection, Microsoft is ready to push digital rights management into a whole new arena--your desktop. "Office 2003, the upcoming update of the company's market-dominating productivity package, for the first time will include tools for restricting access to documents created with the software. Office workers can specify who can read or alter a spreadsheet, block it from copying or printing, and set an expiration date."

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Laptop Fuel Cells - Ready for Takeoff?

Fuel cells that can run laptops for 10 hours or more without plug power have captured the imagination of computer junkies. But first, backers must prove that they are as safe to fly with as a cigarette lighter or a duty-free bottle of vodka.

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