AMD launches Sempron for low power notebooks

AMD has released the Mobile AMD Sempron processor 3000+ 'for Thin and Light Notebooks'. The low-power processor is aimed at entry-level notebooks, as opposed to the 3000+ Mobile AMD Sempron Processor for Full-Size Notebooks. As with other Semprons, features include 802. ...more

US Task Force demands greater emphasis on computer security

The US industry body, National Cyber Security Partnership Task Force on Technical Standards and Common Criteria, is demanding that both vendors and users need to take security more seriously. The report examined the whole range of existing security arrangements - from product configuration and documentation, to deployment, vulnerability testing, certification and maintenance - and in many cases they were found wanting. 'It's clear that to improve the security of deployed software, vendors are going to have to step up and provide customers with "secure by default" configurations and the tools to continuously validate and maintain security configurations. ...more

Yahoo! follows Google into the research labs

Yahoo! has announced the formation of research labs to develop new Web search technologies. The labs will look at ways in which Yahoo!'s position as the most visited site on the Internet can be exploited, both to increase its popularity and to commercially exploit it. The project, said Farzad Nazem, Yahoo!'s executive vice president and chief technology officer, is 'dedicated to inventive computer science solutions that will help make the Internet experience more efficient, productive, individualised, and even more entertaining. ...more

Patent system opens up to the public

Details of the first meeting to outline a system whereby US patent examiners can get help from the public to assist in prior art searches have been revealed. At the beginning of the year, the USPTO, along with IBM and proponents of open-source including the OSDL, announced a series of initiatives aimed at improving patent quality using ideas that drive the open-source community, such as peer review. One of these systems is known as the Open Patent Review, aimed at giving a wider community the opportunity to view patent applications and submit relevant prior art. ...more

AMD's Live! vision of the Media Center PC

Chip maker AMD has announced that it is extending its digital entertainments technology out of the realms of professional media to consumers. The company says the first products under the AMD Live! banner are expected to appear in mid-2006. Making the announcement at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the AMD Live! brand is expected to be a range of next-generation Windows Media PCs driven by Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors for desktop PCs, as well as AMD dual-core mobile processors for notebook PCs. ...more