VIA: VPSD board shipments unaffected by settlement with Intel

VIA Technologies has said that own-brand motherboard shipments from its VIA Platform Solutions Division (VPSD) will continue and not be affected by its recent settlement with Intel. VIA set up the business unit on 15 October 2001 to promote its Pentium 4-supporting chipset shipments, which were impeded by the company??s legal dispute with Intel over FSB (front-side bus) technology licensing. Though the VPSD was meant to serve as a sales channel for motherboard makers that made products based on VIA chipsets, the division??s own-brand business caused market speculation that VIA would compete directly with its motherboard clients. ...more

New computer language makes computers think about the consequences

Researchers at the US, along with teams from the UK, France, Germany and Japan have come up with a new programming language which allows a computer to think through the consequences of an action before executing it. Developed the international team led by scientists at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have come up with what they call a 'process specification language software' which is more mundanely known as ISO 18629. A traditional programming language consists of a series of instructions which, as any programmer faced with buggy code knows, will be followed slavishly whether the consequences are those intended or not. ...more

BT plans raft of new broadband services for 2004

BT is to begin trialling flexible bandwidth technology that will enable broadband users to instantly increase the speed of their connections. Users of uncapped services will be able to temporarily accelerate their line to a maximum of 2Mbit/sec at the click of a mouse, while BT Broadband Basic customers who consistently exceed the 1GB monthly limit will be able to instantly upgrade to a higher-capacity service. The trial is due to start next month and is one of four broadband initiatives which BT announced today. ...more

Intel ships Xeon dual processing systems

Two new Xeon processors from Intel, for server and workstation platforms. The new offerings are for dual processing systems, such as are popular for applications in financial analysis, mechanical and electrical design and 3D modelling. Running at 2. ...more

Ofcom charts fixed-line services

Ofcom has launched a new website designed to provide consumers with a comparison of quality of service levels among fixed-line telecoms providers in the UK. Although there are several price comparison sites already online and cost continues to be the most important determining factor for consumers choosing a fixed-line provider, the regulator recently commissioned research which showed that quality of service is consistently identified by consumers as an important factor in deciding whether to switch provider. Therefore the TopComm service will provide comparable information on: the percentage of orders that are completed on or before the agreed date; faults reported per 100 lines on a quarterly basis; the percentage of faults repaired within the agreed service time; and the percentage of complaints processed within 28 calendar days. ...more