Intel changes Springdale specifications

Intel on November 15 notified its motherboard clients that it has decided to change its Springdale chipset's FSB (front-side bus) speed from 667MHz to 800MHz and its memory architecture from dual-channel DDR333 to dual-channel DDR400, motherboard company sources said. Though they still need some time to study whether they have to alter the board layouts to accommodate the new specifications, manufacturers said that they expected changes would be limited in general. Besides the specification changes, Intel also slightly adjusted its product portfolio by adding one Canterwood and one Springdale PE chipsets, both set to be introduced in the second quarter of 2003. ...more

QuickTime 5 released

Apple has released QuickTime 5, the latest version of its movie, sound and VR technology. QuickTime 5 adds a number of new features: 360? VR rendering; the ability to deliver custom interfaces - or 'skins' - with media; MPEG-1 capability, enhanced DV codec for faster video rendering; support for Flash 4; and a new music synthesiser. Details and download - for both Windows and Mac OS - can be found at the QuickTime 5 Web page. ...more

Seven days in Second Life

Where else could you design your own swimming pool, discuss world politics with a zebra in a bar and make ?200 before lunch? Welcome to Second Life, a truly massive, utterly surreal and dangerously compelling online world that's attracting thousands of new residents every day. Unlike most games, which are played within the strict parameters of the developers' imagination, Second Life hinges on the creativity of its members, allowing them to build objects, industries and communities that the company had never envisioned. Aircraft hangers nestle alongside football pitches; casinos are mere seconds away from support groups for real-life victims of sexual abuse; political debates are a few mouse clicks away from open-mike nights at a comedy club (and are not always dissimilar). ...more

Intel announces final AGP 3.0 spec, to carry graphical load

The significance of the AGP 3.0 spec, newly announced by Intel, relates to the handling of throughput for intensive graphical apps. Dealing with the graphics bus that runs from a graphics card to a processor, the specification handles a doubling of bandwidth for improved processing of digital effects. ...more

Internet auction goes to the chair

Some people are attracted to the macabre so it comes as no surprise that 44 people decided to bid for an electric chair in a recent eBay auction. The chair is said to have been used to execute 125 Tennessee prisoners between 1916 and 1960 and drew a winning bid of over $25,100 (about ?17,000) from Ripley Entertainment, a company famous for the Believe It Or Not museum chain. But the purchase has courted controversy over whether the chair is the genuine article. ...more