Intel Answers Back: Centrino Duo to Incorporate WiFi, WiMAX
Responding to last weekend's challenge from Qualcomm, which is seeking to up the ante in high-speed wireless networking with its acquisition of True MIMO producer Airgo Networks, Intel today announced that for its Centrino Duo platform, it's preparing a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that will incorporate the WiMAX technology it champions (802.16e) along with 802.11n WiFi and HSDPA.
It's called the Intel Connection WiMAX 2300 baseband chipset, and it's being described as the core connectivity provider for future notebook and laptop computers bearing the Centrino Duo logo. For anyone who asked the question after our story yesterday on Qualcomm, "Why is BetaNews making it look like WiMAX and WiFi are the same technologies addressing the same markets?" here's your answer.
In Memoriam: CNET's James Kim
Oregon authorities, who had been searching for lost CNET editor James Kim, said Wednesday afternoon that they have discovered Kim's body in the wilderness in an area known as Big Windy Creek. The news came as a shock since just two days earlier Kim's wife Kati and his two children were found in good condition near their car. He was found at about 12 noon local time (3pm ET).
The Oregon State Police this afternoon released the following statement: "Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the body of James Kim was found by searchers deceased at approximately 12 noon. His body was found within the area of focus in the Big Windy Creek drainage."
Word 2003 and Earlier Still Vulnerable to E-mail Attacks
The effectiveness of a patch issued last September for a Microsoft Word vulnerability, where .DOC files opened in Word 2003 and earlier versions via Internet Explorer or Outlook could enable remote code execution, is being called into question today.
The US-CERT team from the Dept. of Homeland Security has notified users this morning that another version of the so-called "malformed string vulnerability" is actively being exploited in the wild. Microsoft's response this morning, which does not include links to the latest patch for a similarly named vulnerability, is an indication that the solution at hand may not be enough.
Yahoo to Reorganize: CFO Decker Reassigned; Braun, Rosensweig Out
It has finally come, though the timing might be awkward: Yahoo announced late Tuesday night a sweeping corporate reorganization, one effect of which will be the unceremonious dumping of its once ambitious Media Group project, and the former head of ABC Television along with it.
UPDATED 10:00 am December 6, 2006: MediaWeek reported late yesterday, just prior to the news of Yahoo's reorganization, that it is cutting ties to one of its media partners, Current TV. The two companies had been working together since March on building a YouTube-like video sharing destination, though outgoing Media Group head Lloyd Braun was personally involved with that project. A Yahoo statement to MediaWeek indicates that Current TV is expected to continue pursuing its video portal on its own.
AMD Makes its 65nm Move: Will It Be Enough?
AMD said it would be integrating strained silicon engineering processes -- stretching the atomic latticework of the semiconductor's silicon layer by attaching it to silicon germanium -- along with its silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, with the goal of producing the lowest power 65 nm processors in just 18 months' time. At least that was the goal, when AMD made that announcement in June 2003.
Today, the company that last year held the triple-crown of price, performance, and power-saving leader, announced that the 65nm fabrication transition is now underway. AMD's goal is to fully convert its Dresden, Germany, fabrication facility to 100% 65 nm by the middle of next year, with the first 65nm Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors due in the first quarter.
Qualcomm's WiFi Joins with Airgo to Battle Intel's WiMAX
Last Sunday, network equipment giant Qualcomm made an announcement with a one-two punch: It's acquiring leading WiFi engineering firm Airgo Networks, and it will be marketing Airgo's upcoming "802.11n Draft 2.0-compliant" chipset. Airgo was striking out on its own; now it has a huge backer behind it, in what promises to be a fierce battle with Intel for the mobile wireless broadband platform turf.
It's still a month before CES 2007, but a fresh set of battle lines is already being drawn in the critical high-speed wireless networking market. With Qualcomm's announcement on Sunday that it's acquiring Airgo Networks, perhaps the earliest producer of MIMO multiple-antenna 802.11g equipment in the business, it's positioning itself squarely against Intel, the lead architect and champion of WiMAX technology, in a showdown that could determine which will hold title to the mobile connectivity platform that succeeds today's Centrino.
Kati Kim and Kids Found Safe, CNET Editor is Next
For nine days, Kati Kim -- the wife of CNET senior editor James Kim -- kept her four-year-old and seven-month-old daughters alive and safe, burning their station wagon's tires for warmth, while their husband set out on foot for help. They were all apparently far from general cell phone range in the woods of western Oregon, where they encountered car trouble, taking the long way home to California.
At mid-afternoon today, the three were evacuated to a nearby hospital, where they are listed in good condition. Now, police are on the trail of their husband, according to a statement from the family Web site, with the aid of night-vision and infrared cameras that found his footprints leading from the vehicle.
Gigabyte Spinoff with AsusTek Pre-empted Acquisition by Foxconn
There will be a new motherboard provider emerging this Thursday, complete with the brand name of one of the most respected suppliers in the industry. Gigabyte United officially comes online on December 7, as the joint venture of two of the enthusiast segment's most revered brands, Gigabyte and AsusTek.
The new name made the enthusiast press treat the news initially as a merger agreement, with Gigabyte the 51% controlling entity. But in an interview published over the weekend by the Indian technology supplier news provider DQ Channels, one of the new company's key marketing managers made it quite clear the two companies are not merging.
Open Source Labs De-structuring Continues
In a clear sign that last year's restructuring of Linux' principal Open Source Development Labs hasn't yet stopped, another nine of the group's 29 full-time employees were let go, as first reported by Joe Bronkmeier of Linux.com.
Following them will be the group's CEO, Stuart Cohen, who told reporters today the purpose of his leaving is unrelated. However, in a statement first released to open source news sources, Cohen said one reason for the current round of OSDL reshuffling is in order for the labs to devote more resources for legal defense.
Net Neutrality Stalemate on AT&T Merger
A two-month stalemate among commissioners of the US Federal Communications Commission regarding the proposed merger of AT&T and regional provider BellSouth may be reluctantly broken by one commissioner who had earlier recused himself, having previously served as counsel for a firm that lobbied on behalf of AT&T's competitors.
It could be the largest merger in American history, currently valued at $82.2 billion. It could also be the most costly irony in history, as some government regulators, legislators, and the whole of the Dept. of Justice is actively behind a deal to sew back together what the 1984 divestiture order made the former AT&T Corp. tear from its ribs: the southeastern US service arm of the former Bell System.
At Last, CNBC.com Returns to the Web
After a five-year absence, during which financial cable network CNBC provided occasional insights for a partner site generally judged to be less than competitive, the network has come back swinging this morning.
Along with it, CNBC.com brings back to the Web its trademark silver-and-blue stock ticker - although this time it actually works. In a prior incarnation, CNBC.com had been picked to help Microsoft premiere the concept of ActiveX controls, with a ticker geared for use only with Internet Explorer. At that time, Netscape Navigator was still a major force on the Internet. It was to have been one of the key selling features of Microsoft's original Active Desktop concept, but the stock ticker -- probably through no fault of its own -- ended up downgrading investors' opinions of ActiveX altogether, especially following numerous crashes.
US-CERT Warns of Threats from al-Qaeda Tech Site
A spokesperson for the US Dept. of Homeland Security told the Associated Press this morning that the US-CERT preparedness team is monitoring a so-called "Jihadist Web site," following postings calling for online attacks on US financial sites sometime this month.
The US-CERT Web site has not been updated with more information than what was reported by the AP: essentially that the agency is now seriously monitoring a site that has called for online retaliation against the US' continued holding of Muslims in a holding facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Novell OpenOffice to Support Microsoft Office Open XML
One of the major contributors to the leading open source alternative to the Microsoft Office Suite announced early this morning it will be offering additions to OpenOffice enabling it to support Office 2007's new XML-based Office Open XML format, not as the default, but as an alternative for reading and writing .DOCX files.
For its share of this morning's statement, Microsoft began referring to its suite's format without the word "Office," using instead the designation "Ecma Open XML." Last Wednesday, a version of that format was submitted for general approval by the ECMA standards organization - the same one which helped Microsoft institute its version of Netscape's JavaScript as a standard. A vote on approval of Ecma Open XML is scheduled for this Thursday, and today's announcement of Novell's support most likely all but assures its passage.
Corel: ODF is One Choice Among Many
In an upcoming version of WordPerfect due in 2007, Corel announced this week, users will have the options of reading and writing in both Microsoft Office Open XML format (introduced in Office 2007) and OpenDocument Format (ODF). Will WordPerfect become the ODF word processor of record? Corel's answer was surprising.
Last year, Corel -- the manufacturer of WordPerfect Office X3 -- withheld its suite's support for the OpenDocument Format (ODF) for reasons which many at first failed to understand. Corel was, after all, one of the companies that catalyzed the very creation of the format, with its open and vocal support of the OASIS standards group that produced it. Some speculated that Corel's sudden reticence was merely a tip of the hat to Microsoft, which had earlier made a financial investment in the company.
AMD, NVidia Subpoenaed in Justice Dept. Investigation
UPDATE 2:45 pm December 1, 2006: A spokesperson with the US Dept. of Justice this afternoon confirmed to BetaNews the existence of an investigation into possible antitrust and anti-competitive practices in the graphics card industry. That statement is important, because some companies involved in the graphics component industry are not card producers - case in point, Intel, which may not be a party if the phraseology is accurate.
The spokesperson added that the DOJ is not willing to say how many companies are actually involved in the investigation, leaving open the possibility that other companies -- perhaps much smaller producers, perhaps suppliers to ATI and nVidia -- may be party to present or futute subpoenas. Beyond that, the spokesperson could give no further comment, nor has the DOJ scheduled any formal statement on the matter at present.
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