IT.NEWS WEEKLY

August 22, 2000, NO. 12

Welcome again to IT.NEWS - BlueCom's weekly newsletter for all players in the international IT Channel - vendors, distributors, resellers, dealers and brokers.

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THIS ISSUE:

1. Intel to Unveil Pentium 4 Details 2. Intel Expands Shanghai Chip-Assembly Plant 3. Compaq Launches New IPAQ Products 4. New Data Synchronization Standard 5. AMD to Unveil an Improved Athlon Microprocessor 6. Compaq Considers Transmeta Chips

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1. Intel to Unveil Pentium 4 Details Today Intel begins its hardware developers conference in Silicon Valley. At the conference Intel will unveil details of its next microprocessor chip, called Pentium 4. This chip would eventually replace its current Pentium III microprocessor in tens of millions of PCs worldwide. The Pentium 4 is designed to enable streaming media, 3D graphics and take advantage of Intel's peer-to-peer networking technology. This technology is similar to the peer-to-peer network at the centre of a high profile legal battle between the US music industry and Napster, the online music swapping website. Intel's latest microprocessor will be commercially available in the fourth quarter of this year and will be its fastest chip so far, running at 1.4 giga Hertz. Most desktop PCs sold today run at about half that speed.

2. Intel Expands Shanghai Chip-Assembly Plant In order to keep up with market growth, Intel Corp recently announced it will expand its flash memory chip assembly and testing site in Shanghai to 56,000 square metres. That it is nearly five times the size of an exciting facility. The expansion is faze two of Intel's site in the Pudong industrial zone, and it's expected to open for production in August 2001. The Shanghai site is Intel's first manufacturing site in China and the company's fourth final assembly and testing location in the world. The expansion will enable Intel to increase flash capacity as well as produce other chip products at the site in the future. Source: Electronic Buyers News

3. Compaq Launches New IPAQ Products Laying claim to a new market, Compaq Computer Corporation last week announced a line of Compaq iPAQ products and services aimed squarely at the power of the Internet. The new products include a personal audio player, a home Internet appliance with instant MSN web access, a port that offers wireless Internet access and home networking, and Black Berry handheld and wireless e-mail devices manufactured by Research in Motion Ltd. Source: Compaq

4. New Data Synchronization Standard The SyncML consortium, founded by Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Motorola, Nokia, Palm and Psion, has enlisted the support of 340 other companies and expects to finalize Version 1.0 of its data synchronization standard by the end of the year. Noel Poore, head of software technology at Psion, explains to ESN that SyncML is necessary because of the proliferation of mobile computing devices and products used to synchronize the data between these devices and corporate networks. He says, "All of these products work on different sets of devices, applications and data types... this creates islands of data that can only be synchronized by one particular product." Source: ESN

5. AMD to Unveil an Improved Athlon Microprocessor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is close to announcing a 1.2 GHz version of its Athlon microprocessor. The company is likely to disclose a more detailed timetable in the early fall. AMD has been jockeying with Intel for the bragging rights that come with being the speed leader. In March AMD beat its larger rival by being first to market with a 1GHz processor. In a couple of weeks AMD will launch a list of "major manufacturers" that plan to use the company's newest 1.1 GHz Athlon chip. Source: ZDNet News

6. Compaq Considers Transmeta Chips Compaq has confirmed that it is evaluating Transmeta's Crusoe chip, becoming the latest in a string of PC vendors who are considering using the low-power processor in mobile devices. Earlier this week, Sony said it would launch a new range of Vaio C1 notebooks housing the Crusoe chip later this year. IBM has also committed to launching a notebook based on based on the chip in the fourth quarter. Both products are described as ultra-portable, and the companies said Crusoe's lower power consumption and reduced heat generation are beneficial in these types of device. Source: Vnunet.com

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