AMD announced the addition of three new low power AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors to its embedded product roadmap. The new AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processor Models 3400e, 3600+ and 4200+ deliver greater levels of performance in the same low-power envelopes of 22, 35, and 35W maximum thermal design power, respectively.

Offering continued platform stability, the new additions are AM2 socket-compatible to help embedded system designers easily upgrade from single-core or use their existing AM2 board designs to address new markets with reduced time-to-market and development costs. The new processors are designed to be paired with the AMD M690E chipset, offering embedded customers a ready-to-implement, stable and reliable commercial embedded platform. They can also be combined with other industry-leading chipsets including the Broadcom HT-2100 and HT-1000 chipsets for performance-hungry yet energy-efficient designs. Availability is expected in the second quarter of 2008 with embedded industry-standard component longevity of 5 years.

Asustek Computer has filed suit against IBM over alleged infringement of two patents, just a few months after IBM filed a similar action against the Taiwanese company earlier this year. Asustek filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California last week. In the filing, Asustek asked the court for relief from the alleged IBM infringements as well as monetary damages.

One of the Asustek patents is for a method for providing remote storage for Internet appliances, while the other relates to servers. Asustek alleges the patents have been infringed by IBM in components, software, and hardware related to storage area networking equipment and servers.

The EU executive will harmonize a pan-European framework for mobile communications on aircraft so passengers can make and receive calls, text messages and use email with their own mobile phone, a Commission source said. The aim is to provide a regulatory “one-stop shop” and avoid a patchwork of approaches emerging as in-flight calls using personal mobile phones start to take off, the source added.

There are no plans to cap the price of in-flight calls but Reding is set to say she will keep a close eye on how the market develops, the source said. Her measures will harmonize and simplify the technical requirements for using mobile phones and the way EU states will grant national licenses to airlines.

With Acer planning to launch two low-cost PC series, the 8.9-inch Aspire and 12.1-inch Slim Gemstone Aspire, the company is expected to see total low-cost PCs shipments of 6-6.5 million in the second half of 2008, according to sources at notebook ODMs.

Acer ordered one million 12.1-inch entry-level panels from AU Optoelectronics (AUO) in March this year. The panels are said to be priced around US$40-50 lower than same sized high-end panels. Acer's 8.9-inch models are expected to see shipments of 5-5.5 million units in the second half of 2008, according to the sources.

With full six-direction tilt functionality and vibration support, the Zero is fully compatible with all PS3 software and control schemes. The Zero is powered by an included NiMH rechargeable battery that provides up to 25 hours of wireless gameplay. The Zero is the first controller to feature LED back-lit action buttons, heat dissipating aluminum panels and a hybrid metal-resin design. This is a PS3 controller that stands out from the crowd!

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday indicated that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year, far ahead of the development schedule previously indicated by the software maker.

In response to a question about Windows Vista, Gates, speaking before the Inter-American Development Bank here, said: “Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version.” Referring to Windows 7, the code name for the next full release of Windows client software, Gates said: “I'm super-enthused about what it will do in lots of ways.”

Verizon Communications Inc said on Friday it would use the airwaves it acquired in a government auction last month for its next generation of high-speed wireless services, expected to debut around 2010.

In a telephone conference with analysts the company said the $9.36 billion worth of new 700 megahertz spectrum would give Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, enough resources to build a faster wireless data network. The newly acquired spectrum would be used for a network Verizon Wireless plans to build based on an emerging technology known as Long Term Evolution, which it expects to boost revenue by connecting “everything and anything together.”

Technology problems will force the government to count all of the nation's 300 million residents the old-fashioned way in the 2010 census — with paper and pencil. This was to be the first truly high-tech count in the nation's history. The Census Bureau has awarded a contract to purchase 500,000 of the computers, at a cost of more than $600 million. The devices, which look like high-tech cell phones, will still be used to verify every residential street address in the country, using global positioning system software.

The project to develop the computers “has experienced significant schedule, performance, and cost issues,” Gutierrez said in prepared testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee. “A lack of effective communication with one of our key contractors has significantly contributed to the challenges. The computers proved too complex for some temporary workers who tried to use them in a test last year in North Carolina. Also, the computers were not initially programmed to transmit the large amounts of data necessary.

Intel plans to release an anti-theft technology for laptops during the fourth quarter of this year, but the company isn't offering many details yet. Called Intel Anti-Theft Technology, the new capability will be added to Intel's Active Management Technology, which is part of Centrino vPro and allows IT managers to remotely access and configure computers.

In the event of theft, the technology will “basically lock the system, lock the disk, so people cannot be maliciously using and getting the data,” said Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's Mobility Group, according to a transcript of his presentation at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Shanghai.

Yield problems with Hynix Semiconductor's 66nm production are said to have resulted in 30 million defective 1Gb DDR2 chips, translating to about 10% to its output, according to industry sources at downstream players. Hynix refuted the reported issues but declined further comment.

Hynix started introducing its DRAM on 66nm in the fourth quarter of 2007, but yields are failing expectations. The sources revealed that the company was recently hit by a loss of about 10% of its monthly output as a batch of 30 million 1Gb DDR2 chips were found to be defective. Amid the yields issue, Hynix is unable to fulfill its obligations to contract customers, the sources added noting that the recent announcement of price rises by rivals Elpida Memory and Samsung Electronics are the result of the production issue at Hynix.