John G. Spooner

AMD is offering businesses a new deal. The chip maker on Tuesday launched a program under which it has pledged to assist in locking down the hardware inside business PCs based on its chips for 15 months at a time. Holding a PC lines components steady helps avoid software changes. Those changes can cause headaches […]

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Intel Corp. continue making moves to increase the performance of their processors while controlling the amount of power they consume. AMD, of Sunnyvale, Calif., this week is rolling out dual-core Opteron chips with a higher frequency than current chips. The chip maker is releasing the 180, 280 and 880 models—for […]

Intel is funding a new twist on virtualization. The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker on Monday announced a partnership with Virtual Iron Software Inc., an Acton, Mass., startup whose product offers data center-level virtualization. Intel Corp. also said that its Intel Capital arm, along with other investors, granted $8.5 million in venture capital to Virtual […]

Dual-core processor notebooks are mustering to take over the world of portable PCs. The transition—a move that began in desktops and servers earlier this year—will get under way in January when dual-core processors forthcoming from Intel Corp. begin arriving in systems. Computer makers, who are at the moment designing and testing notebooks with dual-core Intel […]

Intel Corp. plans to begin cutting the power consumption of its chips right at the factory. The chip giant will on Tuesday unveil a plan to create an alternate version of its manufacturing process technology—the means by which it knits together the transistors that make up the circuits inside its chips—designed to yield more power-efficient […]

Laptops are acquiring long distance communications skills. PC makers Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. are moving to offer their corporate notebooks with wireless broadband. The companies have partnered separately with Verizon Wireless and on Monday announced plans to bundle the hardware necessary to offer the wireless providers Evolution-Data Optimized or EV-DO network […]

Dell wants to ride the wave of color—both in photos and corporate documents such as brochures—to greater market share in printers. The Round Rock, Texas, company, which has been making a run at the printer market since 2003, will emphasize the photo-handling capabilities of its all-in-one inkjet photo printer line for consumers, this holiday season. […]

Sun is adding more spark to its Sun Fire servers. Beginning next week, the San Jose, Calif.-based hardware maker will add its UltraSPARC VI+ processor to its line of mid-range and high-end Sun Fire machines, sources familiar with its plans said. The chip, which offers improvements over Sun Microsystems Inc.s current UltraSPARC IV chip, including […]

Dell is doing its own little ditty. This holiday coming season, Dell Inc. plans to offer three new Dell DJ portable music players, starting with a tiny, flash memory-based model called the Dell DJ Ditty, sources familiar with the companys plans said. The Round Rock, Texas, company is likely extending its Dell DJ line in […]

The rise of the Media Center PC may finally be at hand. The music and video-oriented PCs, which are based on Microsoft Corp.s Windows XP Media Center Edition, are showing signs of life, thanks to efforts by Microsoft and PC makers such as Dell Inc.—which will roll out several new Media Center models later this […]

Lenovo plans to equip its notebooks with a roll cage, in a small step toward its larger goal of becoming a bigger player in the world PC market. The PC maker, whose executives on Tuesday briefed reporters on its progress since acquiring IBMs PC group in May, has designed a magnesium alloy skeleton to stiffen […]

Intel Corp. is moving on multiple fronts to help keep businesses one step ahead of worms and viruses. The chipmakers research arm has stepped up its security focus of late. Earlier this week, Intel researchers released to open source an early version of software called Autograph that helps to quickly identify Internet worms and curb […]