The market of ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs) is on the rise these days as many PC vendors are looking forward to add appropriate products into the lineup. Nonetheless, Advanced Micro Devices, the world’s No. 2 maker of x86 central processing units (CPUs), is not particularly enthusiastic about such systems despite of the fact that it does have a processor to address the segment.

Answering a question about AMD’s response to Intel Corp.’s Atom processor, the new chief executive officer of the company, Dirk Meyer, said that AMD was looking forward the market, but would discuss actual products only in November, 2008. The chipmaker cited the fact that it was a much smaller company compared to Intel and could not offer a competing device shortly after the rival’s product launch.

View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

Account hijackers have targeted Apple iTunes for months, but now they're hitting Apple developers as well.

Reg reader Andrew McAuley discovered that his iTunes account was hijacked after 150 unauthorised transactions, each valued at $42, appeared on his debit card bill. McAuley, a Brit who lives in the US, noticed the attack after he checked his bank account on 11 July. "I tried to log in to my [iTunes] account and was unable. Seems someone had changed the login to a different name completely," he explained.

When he contacted iTunes support McAuley was told his account had been taken over by an "unknown fraudster" and that this was the subject of an ongoing investigation. Apple has suspended the account.

View: The full story @ The Reg

Taking a jab at the embedded market, Intel on Wednesday said it was working on new x86 chips to use in devices ranging from consumer electronics to mobile phones. Intel is developing more than 15 system-on-chips based on the x86 core found in Intel's Atom chip, which can be found in mobile Internet devices and low-cost laptops.

By using the Atom core, the company is trying to increase performance and drop power consumption on the new chips, said Gadi Singer, vice president of Intel's mobility group, at a press event in San Francisco.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

In an unexpected shakeup, earlier today Microsoft split up its Platform and Services division into two groups and announced the departure of divisional president Kevin Johnson. Whoa, Microsoft loses two of three divisional presidents—the other being Jeff Raikes—in one year.

Worse, these were the two execs responsible for cash cows Office and Windows.

View: The full story @ MS-Watch

Hackers have released software that exploits a recently disclosed flaw in the Domain Name System (DNS) software used to route messages between computers on the Internet. The attack code was released Wednesday by developers of the Metasploit hacking toolkit.

Internet security experts warn that this code may give criminals a way to launch virtually undetectable phishing attacks against Internet users whose service providers have not installed the latest DNS server patches. Attackers could also use the code to silently redirect users to fake software update servers in order to install malicious software on their computers, said Zulfikar Ramizan, a technical director with security vendor Symantec. "What makes this whole thing really scary is that from an end-user perspective they may not notice anything," he said.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

AMD is denying reports that it will sell off its fabrication plants, or fabs, in Germany as part of a plan to cut expenses and refocus the chip maker’s energy of processors and graphics. Advanced Micro Devices is planning to keep its fabs for now.

AMD is denying a report that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman that contains an interview with new CEO Dirk Meyer that seemed to indicate that the chip maker was preparing to spin off its manufacturing facilities in Germany and sell its two fabrication plants, or fabs.

View: The full story @ eWeek

Originally scheduled to launch in November or December this year, Intel's Nehalem-based Bloomfield processors will now launch in September along with X58 chipsets, sources at motherboard makers have revealed.

However, the sources pointed out that CPUs and motherboards will not officially appear in the channel until early October.

View: The full story @ DigiTimes

Now that Microsoft has released a fix for the data corruption bug in Windows Home Server, channel partners are hoping Microsoft will embark on an advertising and marketing blitzkrieg to show consumers that having a server in the home can, in fact, make their lives easier.

Before this week's release of Power Pack 1, the first major update for Windows Home Server, Microsoft may have been reluctant to trumpet the virtues of a product whose primary function of backing up users' data was in doubt. Now that it has fixed the glitch, Microsoft can continue working on the challenge of creating demand for the brand new home server segment. Susan Bradley, a Small Business Specialist partner in Fresno, Calif., describes Home Server as a "strong" product, but says she's "honestly concerned" about the amount of marketing Microsoft has devoted to the product thus far.

View: The full story @ CRN

Florida based company "Channel Intelligence" filed for patent infringement on Tuesday against multitude of people and companies that offer "wishlists".

Specifically, the wishlists in question are lists of desired products from the defendant's websites that the user would like to purchase, which are then stored in some form or other on a database.

CI are claiming that allowing users to create these lists needs their permission as they are the owners of patent 6,917,941 - "A method for configuring a database system to store information regarding a plurality of items", which was issued in July 2005.

Strangely (or not), CI have not made claims against larger companies such as Amazon, Ebay and other large online retailers, all of whom are offering exactly what CI have patented.

Surely the USPTO needs to start reviewing it's practices for Intellectual Property if more and more frivolous 'inventions' like this are going to become weapons for taking other peoples money?

View: US Patent 6,917,941
Link: Full Story @ TechCrunch

Internet search engine Google has become the UK's top brand for the first time, according to a consumer survey.

It moved up two places from last year's poll, beating Microsoft into second place and Mercedes Benz into third. Google also topped a poll of "superbrands" as judged by professionals earlier this year.

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council which commissioned the research, said: "Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people.

"The results are also a further sign that Google is continuing its dominance in the UK. It is clear that Google is the brand that people value at work and in their personal lives."

View: Full article & top 10

Six of the UK's biggest net providers have agreed a plan with the music industry to tackle piracy online.

The deal, negotiated by the government, will see hundreds of thousands of letters sent to net users suspected of illegally sharing music.

But the music industry wants people's internet cut off if they ignore repeated warnings, something the web firms say they are not prepared to do.

The six firms are due to be named when the deal is officially confirmed later.

Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of British Music Rights, said the plan was "a first step, and a very big step, in what we all acknowledge is going to be quite a long process".

The plan commits the firms to working towards a "significant reduction" in the illegal sharing of music.

It also commits the net firms to develop legal music services, the BBC has been told.

View: BBC News

The latest Asus Eee PC models have hit shelves in the UK. The new 10in Eee PC 1000(H) and 1000 retail for £349 and £369 respectively. The new models incorporate Intel's Atom processor and offer Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity.

Both are housed in a larger chassis than their predecessors, catering for the bigger 10in screen and a slightly larger keyboard. The 1000(H) model uses a traditional 80GB hard drive and runs Windows XP as standard. It weighs in at 1.45kg.

View: The full story @ vnunet

Just what the world needs: another consortium promoting a wireless technology for the transmission of HD content in the home. The latest is the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), launched today by Sony, Samsung, Hitachi, Motorola and Sharp. WHDI's technology comes from Israeli company Amimon. It uses the 5GHz band to transmit uncompressed 1080p video, audio and control signals around the home from multiple sources to multiple receivers. All this data is beamed at up to 3Gb/s.

Amimon claimed WHDI's range is 30.5m. It can go through walls and has a latency of less than a millisecond. The technology was developed specifically for video, Amimon said. It "takes the uncompressed HD video stream and breaks it into elements of importance. The various elements are then mapped onto the wireless channel in a way that give elements with more visual importance a greater share of the channel resources".

View: The full story @ The Reg

A global glut of NAND flash memory chips, which store songs, photos and other data in gadgets from iPods to digital cameras, will continue for at least the next few months because companies have been slow to rein in production, according to DRAMeXchange Technology.

The market researcher, which is based in the heartland of the global memory spot market in Taipei, predicts the NAND flash supply will grow 149 percent this year despite worsening prices for the chips. The problem is that chip makers such as Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor and SanDisk's partner, Toshiba, have not moved fast enough to cut production.

The good news for users is that companies will be able to offer more NAND flash storage capacity for a lower price, or offer better deals on existing products such as flash memory cards and MP3 players. Low NAND flash prices could also spur companies to lower prices on hot products such as SSDs (solid state drives) in hopes of growing the market for the drives.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

One day after a security company accidentally posted details of a serious flaw in the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS), hackers are saying that software that exploits this flaw is sure to pop up soon.

Several hackers are almost certainly already developing attack code for the bug, and it will most likely crop up within the next few days, said Dave Aitel, chief technology officer at security vendor Immunity. His company will eventually develop sample code for its Canvas security testing software too, a task he expects to take about a day, given the simplicity of the attack. "It's not that hard," he said. "You're not looking at a DNA-cracking effort."

View: The full story @ InfoWorld