Is Disney courting Steve Jobs?

The latest 'Hollywood buzz' has Apple CEO Steve Jobs in line for a position on the board of Walt Disney Co. According to the New York Post, the company is looking for a new second-in-command after the acrimonious departure of the founder's nephew Roy Disney. Of course it's not Jobs' computer pedigree that appeals, but his lucrative sideline as the boss of animation studio Pixar, whose box office hits have included both Toy Story films and Finding Nemo. ...more

Comment: Geek tragedy - the case for a makeover

The industry's acceptance of dismissive generalisations - such as the use of 'geek' - could spell long-term damage. Some of the world's most intelligent and successful computing brains met last month for the annual Intel Developer Forum conference to discuss the direction of core computing practices. It's undeniably one of the most influential IT forums of the year, yet how is it marketed? As the world's largest 'geekfest'. ...more

TSMC and Nvidia reaffirm ties amid reports that IBM has won Nvidia orders

Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reaffirmed their close cooperation following reports that IBM won a multiyear contract to build new computer-graphics chips for Nvidia. IBM said on Wednesday that it will make new graphics chip for Nvidia, winning business that would have otherwise gone to TSMC, Reuters reported. Nvidia contracts TSMC to produce its graphics and core logic chipsets used in personal computers, laptops, workstations and Microsoft's Xbox game console. ...more

Microsoft issues fix for fix

Microsoft has updated its recent Internet Explorer update, after users complained that it blocked access to some Web sites. The Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer (810847) was originally released on 5 February. After installing it, however, some users were unable to log on to some subscription-based sites for which they had previously registered. ...more

2001 - The winners and losers of the year

Despite threats of recession, dot-com bombs and Internet meltdown some companies have made it through the year having produced outstanding products. Others have survived but produced not-so-outstanding products and behaved in dubious ways. Here are the high- (and low-) lights as seen by us. ...more