Mark Hachman

Following a quiet agreement on a joint IEEE mesh networking standard in March, companies like Motorola are announcing plans to move the technology into their own products. The Intel-and Firetide-led SEE Mesh, which had put forward a proposal to compete with Nortels Wi-Mesh Alliance, resolved their differences and moved forward with a joint proposal that […]

IBM said on March 30 that it has learned how to better control magnetic fields at the atomic level, a technique that it could use in the future to help design next-generation storage elements. In Science Express, Science magazines online journal for time-sensitive papers, IBM researchers will detail how they aligned chains of up to […]

Nvidia, in a partnership with AMD, has set out to oust Intel from the SMB channel. Nvidia has quietly contacted many of the top channel vendors and tier-2 and tier-3 system builders, attempting to put in place an Nvidia Business Platform that will certify new machines and put in place a stable image process that […]

Dell confirmed on March 22 that it had acquired boutique PC vendor Alienware, a move that will add some zing to the companys image. Although Dells acquisition was widely anticipated, Alienware CEO Nelson Gonzalez said that his company will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell, continuing its own brand, design, sales and marketing, and support. […]

Both Dell and Alienware havent quite quashed rumors that the PC giant is out to purchase the boutique computer maker. Representatives of both companies contacted March 14 and early March 15 declined to comment on any potential transactions, however. Reports linking the two surfaced earlier this month. On March 1, VoodooPC chief Rahul Sood, a […]

IBM researchers said Feb. 6 that they have created a low-power chip set that will compete with Ultra-Wideband technology, offering data rates at around 630M bps. The chip set conforms to the IEEE 802.15.3c specification, which IBM refers to as “millimeter wave” or “mmWave” technology. Using unlicensed spectrum around the 60GHz range in the United […]

Apple Computer has applied for a patent on several methods of applying gestures to touch-sensitive input devices, possibly implying a touch-pad- or touch-screen-enabled product is in the companys future. The companys patent, “Gestures for touch sensitive input devices,” features a large illustration of a hand making the “dialing” motion that controls an iPod on a […]

Unable to resolve a deadlock between two competing proposals, the IEEE working group responsible for the ultrawideband technology threw in the towel Thursday. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.3a task group (TG3a), which oversaw the formation of the UWB standard agreed to withdraw the Jan. 2003 project authorization request that formed the […]

On Thursday, Hewlett-Packard Co.s original semiconductor business will have a go of it yet again. Avago Technologies, which spun out of Agilent Technologies, which in turn spun out of HP in 1999, began operations on Thursday as the worlds largest privately held fabless chip company. The firm will employ 6,500 employees worldwide, with headquarters on […]

Micron and Intel said Monday that they would form a new company dedicated to manufacturing NAND flash memory, of which a “significant portion” will be shipped to Apple Computer. The venture, which will be 51 percent owned by Micron Technology Inc., will be named IM Flash Technologies LLC. Micron will list IM Flash as a […]

Sony and NEC agreed to merge the optical disk-drive operations of both companies on Thursday, a move that will combine members of the two opposing next-generation DVD camps. Beginning in April 2006, the two companies will combine their optical-storage component operations under Sony Corp.s leadership, which will own 55 percent of the combined operations and […]

IBM researchers have developed a method to ensure consumer privacy while using RFID tags that imitate scratch-off lottery tickets and perforated clothing labels. While the RFID device would remain on the shirt, can or package itself, IBMs idea is attach a partially destructible RFID antenna so that the consumer can remove it after purchase. IBM […]