Mark Hachman

The 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor will undoubtedly be a fixture of Apple CEO Steve Jobs keynote next weeks Worldwide Developers Conference. After all, its the basis of the companys workstation and server lines. But Mac professionals, and even Linux programmers, will be waiting for word of a mobile version. According to officials of IBM Corp., […]

IBM Corp.s PowerPC roadmap has narrowed in recent months. With IBMs sale of its embedded PowerPC 4XX family in April to Applied Micro Circuits Corp., analysts say the company is moving away from developing standard products entirely, chips used as storage and network controllers, to concentrate on developing custom solutions for a few key customers. […]

Intel has discovered a glitch involving some of the I/O controllers in the companys new “Grantsdale” chip set, which can cause a PC to fail to boot up or to freeze. Between 100,000 and 200,000 chip sets are affected, according to one Wall Street analyst, who published a report for his clients on Friday. Intel […]

As expected, the 802.11i standard was finalized Thursday, paving the way for improved security within wireless networks. Proponents of the standard said that the 802.11i specification could have an immediate impact on VPN infrastructure, which could be relegated to a lesser role inside a corporate network. The standard was ratified on Thursday at an IEEE […]

Industry sources said the IEEE 802.11i specification could be ratified this Thursday, adding a needed layer of security to the Wi-Fi standard. Sources said the draft specification is on the agenda to be ratified this week as part of an IEEE-SA standards committee meeting in Piscataway, N.J. One source said that although a vote on […]

Intel Corp. officially launched several new processors and its “Grantsdale” and “Alderwood” chipsets on Monday, ushering in a new generation of computing technology. Although the company officially disclosed the chipsets last week, Intel released prices for its new parts Sunday night. A host of PC makers launched products based on the new chips, but virtually […]

When PCs using Intels “Grantsdale” chip set launch next week, their ability to serve as a wireless access point wont be made broadly available until as late as the fourth quarter, Intel officials said Thursday. To enable the wireless access point, the Grantsdale chip set will require an Intel-specific PCI card that wont be available […]

Broadcom said Wednesday that it has acquired Zyray Wireless, which manufactures a coprocessor allowing 3G technologies to be added to mobile handsets. Zyrays SPINNER chip will be combined with Broadcom Corp.s single-chip EDGE/GPRS/GSM controllers, the company said. San Diego-based Zyray Wireless Inc. is also working on HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology, the next […]

Elpida Memory and Micron Technologys Japanese arm have persuaded Japans finance ministry to consider levying duties on the import of DRAM manufactured by Hynix Semiconductor, allegedly subsidized by the Korean government. Japans Ministry of Finance accepted the petition Wednesday morning, according to officials at Elpida Memory Inc. The petition covers all types of DRAM (dynamic […]

The white flag has come down on the DVD burner market. Industry executives say that the newest 16X DVD burners that will ship this fall will run into the same physical limits as CD-ROM drives, ending the “X race” of faster and faster speeds. Manufacturers will still have some leeway to charge higher prices for […]

Acacia Research has filed suit against many of the largest U.S. cable and satellite companies, asking them to pay it royalties to license its digital multimedia patents. The suit, filed Tuesday by the patent-holding company in a U.S. district court in San Francisco, names as defendants Comcast Corp., Charter Communications Inc., The DirectTV Group Inc., […]

The chip industrys trade association said Thursday that it expects sales of semiconductors to finally recover from the dot-com bust. But the group advised that the formation of a national center for nanoelectronics research is necessary to keep the industry on its growth path. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said it expects 2004 chip sales […]