15th February 2006 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site. Or try the full archive of all our sister sites.

Sun hopes open equals interest with GPLed chip

Give us your tired, poor and SPARCless masses

Sun Microsystems has published specifications for its UltraSPARC T1 processor, open sourcing its latest chip, while issuing a challenge to IBM and Intel. Sun on Tuesday released the specifications for the UltraSPARC processor architecture 2005 and its HyperVisor API under the General Public License (GPL) 2.0. The architecture …

Bits 'n' Chips 15 Feb 2006, 00:40
Apple posts Mac OS X 10.4.5 update

Intel and PowerPC versions tweaked

Apple has updated Mac OS X for both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs, bumping its operating system up to version 10.4.5. The patch incorporates a number of fixes and improvements for the OS itself, along with a number of compatibility tweaks for third-party and Apple-branded applications. It also includes Apple's most recent …

Mac 15 Feb 2006, 10:09
AMD slashes Opteron prices by over 50%

Way paved for DDR 2-supporting successors

AMD has taken the axe to prices across its desktop, mobile and server processor line-ups with particular emphasis on the Opteron range: server chip prices were this week cut by up to 54.2 per cent, some older models were dropped and new dual-core 2xx and 8xx series parts added to the range. Among the chips added to AMD's …

Bits 'n' Chips 15 Feb 2006, 11:10
Skype goes 3G

3GSM Star-VoIP and Hutch

Skype has clinched a deal with Hutchinson that paves the way for cheaper VoIP calls to be offered on the Hutchison 3G networks. Limited trials, which have begun in Sweden, are expected to precede a wider launch in Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK and Italy by the end of the year. In an effort to scope user demand …

Phones 15 Feb 2006, 11:14
Intel looks to SIM cards for universal wireless access

Diplomatically ignores WiMAX in 3G-oriented press statement

Intel has backed an initiative to equip future notebooks with a SIM card slot, the better to integrate support for 3G mobile phone network connectivity into the machines. The scheme, launched this week by the GSM Association (GSMA), has the goal of making GSM, GPRS and 3G connectivity as ubiquitous in tomorrow's laptops as Wi-Fi …

PCs 15 Feb 2006, 11:30
ATI R590 said to ship next month

Pre-CeBIT debut?

ATI will launch its R590 chip early next month as the Radeon X1800 GTO with support for 256MB of graphics memory, according to internal roadmap information surreptitiously slipped to website DailyTech. The data suggests the part is an X1900 with a lower clock speed and an unknown set of features disabled. X1800 GTO boards …

Channel Register 15 Feb 2006, 11:48
Microsoft testing 'Core Duo power drain bug' fix

BIOS update and patch in the pipeline

Microsoft has pledged to post a patch that will fix the power drain bug that has hit some Core Duo-based notebooks when they're connected to USB 2.0 devices. Separately, it has been claimed Intel has also finished a fix, though at this stage it remains unclear when one or both solutions will ship to users. The bug, which sees …

Bits 'n' Chips 15 Feb 2006, 12:45
Patch posted to run Mac OS X 10.4.4 on 'generic PC'

A work in progress

A utility has been released that will allow the Intel-oriented version of Apple's Mac OS X operating systems to be run on machines other than the company's own iMac and MacBook Pro. However, the coder behind the patch, Maxxuss, warned that the software is a work in progress and that there's "still a lot of work to do". That …

Mac 15 Feb 2006, 13:16
Apple pushes MacBook Pro ship dates back to March

Exclusive Shipping slipping?

Apple's decision to ship faster processors with its first MacBook Pro models will certainly please its customers, but the move may mean many of them don't get their machines quite as quickly as they might have hoped. After announcing yesterday that it will this week begin shipping the new Intel-based notebooks, Apple quietly …

Mac 15 Feb 2006, 17:17