IBM, Sony pull the covers off the Cell chip

IBM and Sony have released the first details about the inner workings of the Cell Broadband Engine Architecture (CBEA) otherwise known as the Cell chip. The details are to allow programmers and developers to begin work on developing a new generation of software and games for the chip. The three companies involved in the development of the CBEA: IBM, Sony and Toshiba, have high hopes for the future of the design and expects this to be the first member of a new generation of processors. ...more

DRM differences could cost billions of dollars

Entertainment companies risk losing hundreds of billions of dollars of potential income and the future of dozens of promising digital markets are at risk unless they can resolve differences over DRM, according to research firm iSuppli. The firm says that the success or otherwise of DRM technologies - both copy protection and conditional access systems - will determine the development and growth of digital content for both home entertainment and mobile platforms. But, it says, disagreements between the companies and industries over how DRM should be implemented are currently hampering growth. ...more

IBM intros low cost Power5 Linux server

IBM has extended the breadth of its low-end Power5 based servers with the new OpenPower 710 range. Aimed at small to medium sized businesses, the machine will be offered with a choice of either Suse or Red Hat Linux. The 710 looks to take on the Sun Opteron V40z and the HP's Itanium-based entry level Integrity range in the fiercely competitive SME server market. ...more

Pipex follows fashion for restricted but cheaper broadband offerings

Pipex has joined the list of ISPs offering both sub-512K and limited-bandwidth ADSL services. Solo 150 and Solo 250 fall into the first category, with respective (and rather self-evident) downstream speeds of 150 and 250 Kbit/sec and upstream of 70 and 128Kbit/sec respectively. Solo 150 costs ?15. ...more

Free PC offer in exchange for watching ads

A new UK start up company has come up with a new way to make you watch ads on your computer - give you the computer. In exchange for watching three minutes of 'TV quality' (!) advertising per hour of computer use, Metronomy will send you an IBM PC with a 2.4GHz Celeron, 256Mb RAM, 40Gb Hard Drive and a 15in monitor. ...more