Taiwanese manufacturer Soltek announces new 'Prescott' motherboards

Mobo manufacturer Soltek has launched a new 'Pro' top of the line motherboard, which is said to support the new 'Prescott' range of Intel Pentium processors due out by the end of the year. The SL-865Pro-FGR mainboard supports Intel Socket 478 microprocessors and Hyper Threading technology. The mobo is based around the Intel 865PE chipset and features a 400/533/800 MHz Front Side Bus and supports Dual Channel DDR SDRAM running at speeds of 400, 333 and 266 MHz. ...more

US record industry subpoenas computerless family

The US record industry has added further weight to suspicions that its file sharing allegations may not be entirely reliable by issuing a subpoena to a family that does not own a computer. Georgia's Rockmark Journal reports that the Walls family were told by a newspaper reporter that they were the subject of a lawsuit; they had not received any notification themselves. 'I don't understand this,' James Walls said. ...more

Intel unwraps value chips

Celeron chips clocked at 900Mhz and a mobile version at 850Mhz are now available, hard on the heels of the 1.8Ghz and 1.6Ghz P4 releases. ...more

Scientists work on peer-to-peer security

Israeli scientists are working on a new method of distributing antivirus patches so that they reach computers before the virus does. Researchers at Tel Aviv University are examining ways of creating a network of shortcuts hidden in the Internet and only accessible to antivirus applications. The system would rely on 'honeypot' computers that lie in wait for viruses, worms, trojans and other malicious code. ...more

Free broadband Internet

For a limited period, in major cities, and only in 'high street Internet kiosks' For one week only BT is providing free broadband Web access from its blue 'high street Internet kiosks' - the 21st century's phone box. Free access is available in London this week, in Leeds and Manchester next week, and in a further 66 cities across the country over the following fortnight. Paul Hendron, director of BT Payphones, said, 'This will be the first time that many people have tried the Internet at broadband speed. ...more