AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Technology Briefs Column
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By AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  Feb. 15--IBM MEMORY BREAKTHROUGH: IMB says its embedded dynamic random  access memory, or eDRAM, will effectively double microprocessor performance  while remaining power efficient, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
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Researchers in China & rsquo;s forest begin to reap the benefits of WiFi. Also: NASA builds what it believes is the worlds fastest computer & hellip;. Sony releases new portable Playstation & hellip;. and more.
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AMD launches the $185 Personal Internet Communicator(PIC) in partnership with Tata Indicom to tap the Indian market. MUMBAI: The Austin, TX-based chip vendor AMD calls it the 50x15 initiative : the move towards
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By Al Gibes  This is the last of three columns devoted to my discoveries at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show held in January in Las Vegas.  New Web sites, services and software prove that an idea doesn't have to have a cord or be battery-operated to turn heads at CES.
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Plus: Hot gadget preview at CES 2005 Awards. [News.com Extra]
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The new search-engine technology is meant to rival Google. Also: Reebok unveils a new version of the Pump & hellip;.  PeopleSoft still won't settle for Oracle's bid & hellip;. and more.
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(InfoWorld) - Advanced Micro DevicesÂ has announced three new discrete media chips to respond to growing demand for advanced multimedia features in mobile phones. The AMD Imageon 2298, 2294 and 2192 processors, unveiled Monday at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, are designed with a number of media-rich features, including processing of images up to 12 megapixels, image stabilization, and multichannel audio playback. AMD will be licensing the technology to other chip manufacturers, including STMicroelectronics, according to AMD marketing director Andy Thompson. The media processor is separate from the phone's core processor, enabling manufacturers to introduce new multimedia functions more quickly, according to Thompson. The separate architecture also helps reduce power consumption for longer device battery life. The new media chips will support full DVD resolutions or "five times what was available in earlier generations," said AMD product manager Philippe Decotignie. "Consumers can turn their phones into camcoders and mobile TVs with a very high, very fast resolution," he said. In addition, the chips will support simultaneous audio and video encoding and decoding, acoustic echo cancellation and video stabilization. Their TV output function allows viewing of videos and photos on any TV or projector. Several handset manufacturers are currently testing the new media chips. AMD has supplied earlier-generation media chips to a number of mobile phone makers, including Motorola and Samsung Electronics. The 3GSM World Congress runs through Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday made its graphics technology available for licensing by handheld device makers, and announced plans to step up its development of graphics technology for mobile applications. AMD hopes the move will allow it to tap growing demand for mobile devices and mobile applications that require better graphics. Among the first to license AMD's mobile graphics technology is STMicroelectronics. The company has licensed graphics cores for 2-D and 3-D graphics, as well as related software, to combine with its family of Nomadik multimedia application processors, AMD said. The Nomadik chips are designed for use in 3G (third-generation) mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants). AMD has its own line of mobile graphics, which it acquired when itÂ bought ATI Technologies. Called Imageon, the chips can be found in a wide range of handsets, including Motorola's Pebl, Razr, and Rokr handsets, as well as phones from Samsung Electronics and others. Financial terms of the licensing deal with STMicroelectronics were not disclosed.
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IBM rolls out a new version of its database software aimed at users of Linux and Unix. Also: Toyota and Nissan join to standardize car electronics & hellip;. Nokia launches three new camera phones & hellip;. and more.
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(InfoWorld) - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) began selling its top chip for desktop PCs made with a 65-nanometer design on Tuesday, continuing its efforts toÂ keep up with IntelÂ as the industry migrates from 90nm design to a faster, more efficient generation of processors. By manufacturing its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 chip on the smaller geometry, AMD will be able to increase manufacturing output while improving the chips' performance and power efficiency, said Jack Huynh, a market development manager for AMD. Some PC vendors are selling the new chip in computers already, and by the first quarter of 2007 that list will include Acer, Dell, Founder Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, Packard Bell, and Tsinghua Tongfang Co., according to AMD. The move to 65nm manufacturing is crucial for AMD as the company strives to keep up with aÂ flurry of new processors from Intel. Intel had a rough year in 2006, losing ground to AMD in market share, but has rallied in recent months. The companyÂ launched its Core 2 Duo familyÂ of desktop chips in July and itsÂ quad-core Core 2 Extreme in November. Intel switched its chip manufacturing plants to a smaller architecture months ago, and already sells more 65nm chips than 90nm chips. A chip made with 65nm process technology has smaller features -- such as transistors and the wires that connect them -- than a chip made with 90nm technology, said Rob Willoner, a technology analyst with Intel's technology and manufacturing group. That progression is the engine that drives Moore's Law, the prediction that the number of processors on a microprocessor will double every 18 months. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, meaning that the wires on 65nm design chips are far slimmer than human hairs. Minuscule as that is, chip vendors already have plans to shrink the parts even smaller.Â Intel has already announced plansÂ to use chip features of 45nm by 2007, 32nm by 2009 and 22nm by 2011. As chip features continue to shrink, engineers struggle harder to take each new step. But as long as customers demand smaller, more efficient computers, there's plenty of economic incentive for the process to continue, he said. "There's bound to be an end at some point, but we can't see it yet," Willoner said. "At one point, people said it was 1 micron, which is 1,000nm, but the industry passed that without blinking about a decade ago. Now some people are saying it's 5nm. I don't see it happening before 2020 or 2025, and by then we could have radically different technologies to compensate." AMD chose to apply the new "Rev G" 65nm design to its high-end, dual-core desktop chip first because the company's midrange, single-core Athlon and Sempron chips are already fairly efficient, running at 62 watts using a 90nm design, said AMD's Huynh. The Athlon 64 X2 operated at a high 110 watts when it was first launched in June 2005, but this migration will bring it down to just 65 watts, he said. AMD will continue to produce both 90nm and 65nm Athlon 64 X2 chips until it phases the larger-design chips out completely by the second half of 2007. Next, AMD plans to apply the 65nm design to its single-core Athlon and Sempron chips, shrinking them by the end of 2007. And the company has already begun work on the next step, shrinking its chips to a 45nm design, although AMD did not give a specific date for that goal. AMD is selling the 65nm Athlon 64 X2 chips at prices of $301 for a 2.6GHz 5000-series chip, $271 for the 2.5GHz 4800 series, $214 for the 2.3GHz 4400 series, and $169 for the 2.1GHz 4000 series, all priced in lots of 1,000. Â
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roundup Plus: Linux release features Windows support...Gmail delivered to desktops...Chinadotcom mobile services suspended...Maker of disposable RFID tags gets millions...Mitsubishi expands solar production.
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Plus:  Microsoft tops its expectations...Google doubles profit year-over-year...SAP earnings beat estimates...EarthLink trims outlook...AT&#38;T posts $7.1 billion loss...Lucent sees first profitable year since 2000...EMC issues sunny report.
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Several companies move toward offering TV on mobile phones. Also: NDS, STMicroelectronics and Thomson will develop anti-piracy technology & hellip;. Oracle continues pursuit of PeopleSoft & hellip;. and more.
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A Japanese firm pioneers a system to share fragrances over the internet.  Also: A Bollywood movie makes its debut on cell phones & hellip;. Merck smarting from Vioxx pull & hellip;. and more.
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The device is more like a souped-up smart phone and handheld with laptop features, a camera, speakers for music, GPS and more. It's also available only in Asia, with a European rollout promised soon.
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Plus: Alcatel outlook weak...Cisco profit climbs...Time Warner lowers earnings target...Electronic Arts lowers outlook.
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Fresno's airport is first to use a web-based wireless radar system to update flight information. Also: Ford announces just how strong a boost it will give Sirius & hellip;. Motorola gears up with a snowboarding jacket that does it all. & hellip;. and more.