Windows finally breaks into the Top 10 among supercomputers
Although only five of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers ran Windows -- the same number as last June -- the fastest among them has finally claimed the #10 spot.
A cluster of 30,720 AMD Opteron cores built by Dawning for the Shanghai Supercomputer Center has posted an Rmax score of 180,600, enough to land it among the world's top ten fastest supercomputers. Last June, the #10 cluster on the University of Mannheim's Top 500 list only had to score 112,500.
Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with 'no-cost' anti-malware
Exactly one year after it re-announced the commercial subscription edition of its anti-malware service for individual Windows users, Microsoft announced it will discontinue Windows Live OneCare, replacing it with a free alternative.
The new service, which has yet to be formally named but which is being referred to by its code-name "Morro" (perhaps named after a famous Spanish fortress) is said to be constructed around the current anti-malware engine used as part of the Live OneCare service, though with a smaller footprint. The aim is to enable the new service to be used in devices with smaller memory and resources, probably including netbooks.
Spansion seeks to bar imports of devices with Samsung flash memory
In what the company happily proclaimed to be "one of the largest patent infringement claims ever filed," flash patent holder Spansion Inc. has filed infringement suits against Samsung in federal court and before the USITC.
A boilerplate lawsuit filed against flash memory market leader Samsung in US District Court in Delaware yesterday simply lists six patents which deal with different aspects of the production and manufacture of high-quality flash memory, and asks for whatever damages the court sees fit to impose. In a press release yesterday, however, Spansion notes that it estimates Samsung's global revenues from the sale of devices such as MP3 players and cell phones containing this memory, to exceed $30 billion -- leading many to say today that Spansion has filed "a $30 billion lawsuit."
Qualcomm hit with contempt of injunction in Broadcom case
In one of the world's longest-running and most reliably even stalemates, a federal judge in Santa Ana may actually have scored Broadcom a blow against rival Qualcomm that could draw a little blood, in the form of back royalties.
Last January, US District Court Judge James Selna imposed an injunction against the sale of Qualcomm-brand chips in the US, using technologies that were already found in 2006 to have infringed upon intellectual property held by arch-rival Broadcom. But in an act of graciousness that's typical in such cases, Judge Selna stayed his own injunction, on the condition that while some orders for Qualcomm chips were already in shipment and could not be stopped without perhaps a naval blockade, Qualcomm pay Broadcom 4.5% royalties on those sales in progress.
Microsoft: Office 14 Web apps should run on Macs
In a surprise correction of information BetaNews received at PDC 2008 last month, a Microsoft spokesperson now says its forthcoming Office Web apps with Office 14 will run on platforms other than Windows.
Exact details of how this feat will take place have not been completely ironed out at present. However, cross-platform execution is apparently a principal goal of Office Web applications. This statement from a Microsoft spokesperson to BetaNews last night corroborates a Channel 10 blog post by an independent contributor to Microsoft, and a Gregg Keizer Computerworld report that followed.
MLB disses Silverlight, makes a deal with Adobe for Flash video
In a last-minute trade that leaves Microsoft without its lead-off pitcher, Major League Baseball announced this morning it has signed a two-year deal with Adobe that will mean its online video app moves back to Flash.
It was Bill Gates himself who, in the spring of 2007, demonstrated Major League Baseball's use of Silverlight as an example of its worthiness to go toe-to-toe against Adobe Flash, and become at least equally as ubiquitous among online video platforms. But now, Microsoft is about to lose one of its most prominent partners in the race for equal status, as MLB's Advanced Media division (MLBAM) announced it has signed a two-year deal with Adobe.
Yang resigns as CEO, search is on for new Yahoo chief
"i will be participating in the search for my successor, and i will continue as ceo until the board selects a new ceo," reads a memo to Yahoo employees from the man who this morning is flying the white flag.
As first reported by Kara Swisher in The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has agreed to resign his executive post, though will remain on-board with the company as "Chief Yahoo" -- whatever that will mean post-transition.
Intel's Nehalem: The 'tock' heard 'round the world
There's a list of features which have historically pertained to Intel processors -- a list that's now smaller today than ever before. It's the list of features AMD has and Intel doesn't, leaving AMD at a widening disadvantage.
Prior to his having left AMD last year, marketing chief Henri Richard told BetaNews he believed that neither AMD nor Intel would ever enjoy a wide margin of performance advantage again in their histories. Instead, one would always be leap-frogging over the other -- five percent here, three percent there. And that process would end up being good for the consumer.
Microsoft's new hosted services: What are your options?
Today's announcement officially means Microsoft is the latest entry in a market of services that Microsoft actually made feasible: It can now host Exchange mailboxes for Active Directory users that do not have Exchange Server 2007.
As those who already enjoy its benefits are currently aware, an Exchange server does quite a bit more than just host e-mail. Perhaps even more importantly, it can synchronize the schedule of everyone who works together in a widely dispersed business. With Outlook 2007, that means having access to personal schedules as well as group schedules that are updated in the background. Ongoing tasks and company-wide contacts and phonebooks are also maintained and synchronized across devices. In more sophisticated environments, Exchange also facilitates the use and maintenance of voice mail.
Will the iPhone be the last to get Flash video?
After one technology initiative involving Adobe and processor manufacturer ARM was announced last April at the CTIA Wireless show, another one with much the same purpose between the same parties was announced this morning.
From a technical standpoint, there should be very few -- if any -- boundaries to the ability of Apple's current ARM-based iPhone design to run Flash video. But Apple continues to show obstinacy to the idea; and Adobe continues to follow a kind of parallel development course that could, at presumably any time, lead to Flash on the iPhone. Unlike last March, when Adobe executives stated they were committed to the idea before their PR teams redefined what they meant by "committed," today's announcement doesn't make any promises whatsoever.
The winner and still champion: Roadrunner supercomputer clobbers all
Though we'll know the complete details tomorrow when the final semi-annual Top 500 Supercomputer list is released, only IBM's and Los Alamos' Roadrunner has only gotten faster, but it's no longer alone in crossing the petaflop barrier.
We'll learn the final score tomorrow, but the University of Mannheim which manages the global race for supercomputing supremacy announced over the weekend that Los Alamos National Laboratories' colossus, which beat the long-reigning BlueGene/L last June by an impossible 231%, accelerated its performance to an Rmax score of about 1,105,000 -- just over 1.1 petaflops per second. That's a gain of 7.7% over its June score.
Confusion over whether Office Web apps are coming to Linux, Mac
There appears to be good news, according to a Microsoft support site: Office Web applications can run on operating systems besides Windows. But the questions of how and why were left unanswered, and not even Microsoft can explain.
A blog post to a Microsoft-managed site, turned up this morning by Computerworld reporter Gregg Keizer, seems to indicate that the Web applications in Office 14 will run in a Mac- or Linux-based Web browser. That information contradicts what BetaNews was told two weeks ago at PDC 2008 in Los Angeles, where attendees were given the first peek at Office 14's Web applications suite.
House Judiciary Chair wrests control of IP, DRM issues from potential rival
Rather than see the chairmanship of the key subcommittee on intellectual property pass onto a users' rights supporter, the head of its parent committee has decided instead to abolish and absorb the subcommittee entirely.
When Congress resumes its full sessions after the holidays and following the inauguration of the new President, the chairmanship of one of the most important House subcommittees overseeing a multitude of contentious technology issues -- including patent reform and intellectual property rights, royalty rates for digital performances and Internet radio, and government protection of digital rights management -- might have fallen to one Rep. Rick Boucher (D - Va.), an outspoken critic of current policy.
Guilty pleas may not be the end for TFT-LCD makers in collusion case
Wednesday's announcement by the Justice Dept. that three international LCD panel manufacturers will plead guilty in a price fixing scandal, could result in the resumption of civil proceedings against them.
LG (which had been doing business jointly with Philips), Sharp, and Chunghwa -- three of the world's major producers of LCD displays -- will plead guilty to specific charges of conspiracy to artificially prop up the wholesale prices of their products, from the spring of 2001 to the winter of 2006. This despite the fact that those prices were on historic declines throughout that period.
Update to Safari browser contains 11 patches for Windows
Download Apple Safari for Windows from FileForum now.
Today's round of updates to Apple's Safari contains just four patches that affect the Mac OS X edition, but eleven for Windows Vista and XP, several of which would forestall some very familiar sounding exploits.
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