Intel goes lead free and IBM goes green

The computing industry might not have the greenest of images, but Intel and IBM are working on it - Intel has announced intentions to go lead free with microprocessors and IMB is launching a 'Project Big Green'. Intel states that its future processors are going to be 100 percent lead-free, beginning with its family of 45nm high-k metal gate (Hi-k) processors, which include Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Xeon models. The company is due to begin such 45nm Hi-k production in the 'second half of this year', it says. ...more

Be joins Microsoft court queue

Be, the operating system developer that sold most of its assets to Palm last year, has become the latest organisation to sue Microsoft for alleged anti-competitive practices. In its filing to federal and Californian courts, Be complains that, 'Microsoft has long held and wilfully maintained monopoly power in the worldwide market for Intel-compatible personal computer operating systems.' Be's attempt to compete in this market with its own BeOS operating system - which it describes as 'technically superior' - was undermined, the company alleges, 'by 'a series of illegal exclusionary and anticompetitive acts designed to maintain [Micrososoft's] monopoly in the Intel-compatible PC operating system market and created exclusive dealing arrangements with PC OEMs prohibiting the sale of PCs with multiple preinstalled operating systems. ...more

Office 2003 gets first fix within weeks of launch

Just weeks after launching Office System to the world, the first hole gets patched. Users opening or closing Excel, Word, and PowerPoint documents that included an OfficeArt shape that had been created in earlier version of Office encountered a number of problems. The document might fail to open at all, become corrupted, open without the image, or generate an error message. ...more

Apple covers its back with Nano cover

Apple has begun including a simple cover with the most recent shipments of the iPod nano. The decision to provide protective covering could be seen as a tacit admission that the player is indeed prone to scratching. Apple is currently facing two separate lawsuits alleging that it shipped the portable music player knowing that it is prone to scratching. ...more

Is this the future of handhelds?

Psion is keen to highlight some reference designs, produced by Symbian, for a new range of futuristic PDAs. The ACE (pictured) is a small square device that has three ultra-thin screens that fan out from a central point. It is designed to have the usual PDA functions but will operate over the upcoming high-speed 3G mobile networks, allowing videoconferencing and access to the Net. ...more