Reg Hardware

5th February 2007 Archive

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  • World chip sales break record but miss industry forecast

    Growth driven by consumer electronics biz

    World chip sales totalled $247.7bn last year, the US-centric Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said late Friday. Alas that's below the SIA's own full-year sales forecast of $248.8bn, a prediction made only last November. Still, the actual figure represents an 8.9 per cent increase on 2005's total, $227.5bn. The issue …

    Bits 'n' Chips 5 Feb 2007, 10:33

  • Dell sued for chip kickbacks

    Class action case and management cuts

    Dell shareholders are suing the computer maker over allegations it took kickbacks from Intel to maintain an exclusive relationship with the chipmaker. The class action suit alleges Dell's profits were inflated by as much as $800m a year by the payments. The money was paid as long as Dell rejected chips from rival supplier AMD. …

    PCs 5 Feb 2007, 10:56

  • Intel readies x86 system-on-a-chip as XScale successor

    Pentium M for phones?

    Intel's plan to develop an x86-based system-on-a-chip line is well known - we reported on it way back in August 2005, for instance - but only now are details of the XScale replacement starting to emerge as the chip giant briefs potential customers. The part's codenamed 'Tolapai' and is based on the 32-bit Pentium M processing …

    Bits 'n' Chips 5 Feb 2007, 10:58

  • Mobile drives graphics chip market in Q4

    Nvidia and AMD both win share

    AMD grew its graphics market share in Q4 2006, despite a market that was largely static as a boom in mobile GPUs was effectively balanced by a slide in desktop products, figures from market watcher Jon Peddie Research (JPR) reveal. AMD ended up with 23 per cent of the market, up from 20.9 per cent in Q3. Intel's share went up …

    Bits 'n' Chips 5 Feb 2007, 11:20

  • Palm announces unlocked 'super 3G' Treo 750

    Palm will tomorrow begin selling an unlocked version of its Windows Mobile-based 3G smart phone, the Treo 750. Not only unlocked, but also HSDPA-capable, the company said today. The move brings carrier Vodafone's exclusive rights to sell the device, which it has marketed as the 750v since September 2006, to an end. The 750v …

    Phones 5 Feb 2007, 11:36

  • Sword-wielding robot smites by Wii Remote

    Fly-by-Wii

    Someone has adapted an industrial robot to allow it to be controlled using the remote controller that ships with Nintendo's Wii games console. A neat example of Wii Remote hackery, to be sure, but what'll happen when the robot gets to hold its own controller? The guys at the USB Mechatronics website used the robot, a Kuka …

    Consoles 5 Feb 2007, 12:16

  • Solwise PL-200AV 200Mbps powerline Ethernet adaptor

    Review The cure for wobbly Wi-Fi?

    Devolo's first HomePlug AV powerline Ethernet adaptor, the dLAN 200 AVdesk, wasn't a unit that plugs straight into a mains power socket, unlike Netgear's HDX101, which I reviewed last week and, for that matter, UK vendor Solwise's 200Mbps PL-200AV product. But while the HDX101 and the Solwise use much the same form-factor, they' …

    Networking and Wireless 5 Feb 2007, 13:02

  • WD ships eSATA external hard drive

    Western Digital has extended its My Book line of hardback-like external hard drive units with model incorporating an eSATA port alongside the customary USB 2.0 connector. It's all in the name of speed, of course. SATA is the new standard for connecting hard drives internally within a computer, but a fair few motherboards - …

    Storage 5 Feb 2007, 13:52

  • Apple settles with Apple

    Beatles label vs iPod maker

    Apple Inc, formerly known as Apple Computer, has settled its long running court action with the Beatles' record label Apple Corps. Apple, the computer maker, will now get all relevant logos and trademarks, but will license some back to Apple Corp - the music label. The ongoing court battle over trademarks will end and each …

    Media players 5 Feb 2007, 15:15

  • FTC sets Rambus DDR SDRAM royalty rate

    After three years, fee falls to zero

    The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has told Rambus how much the memory technology developer may levy in royalties on SDRAM and DDR SDRAM devices for the next three years, after which the company may not charge any royalties at all. Rambus said it was "disappointed" with the ruling and stated its plan to appeal against the …

    Bits 'n' Chips 5 Feb 2007, 15:21