IBM reaps reward of long term planning

Another IT big boy has posted its quarterly financial results, and they don't come much bigger than the folk at International Business Machines. Once again, despite the pessimism generally surrounding technology stocks, IBM posted figures that more than met with the expectations of the financial markets. And, unlike Intel yesterday, it is bullish about conditions for future growth. ...more

Adobe updates support for camera RAW formats

Adobe has released a new version of its DNG Converter software, which, as its name suggests, converts RAW formats - which differ from camera to camera - into Adobe's DNG digital negative format, which the company is trying to get adopted as a standard. Additional cameras supported by this update comprise the EOS 20D, PowerShot S70, PowerShot G6 and EOS-1Ds Mark II from Canon and the Maxxum 7D/Dynax 7D and DiMage A200 from Konica Minolta. Camera RAW and DNG Converter 2. ...more

Intel rings 27 July for 'Conroe' chips

Intel is expected to launch its dual-core Core 2 Duo processors - aimed at desktop machines - on the 27th of this month. The new range of Pentium-replacements is slated to be unveiled at a company event. Based on Intel's Core Microarchitecture, the 'Conroe' chips are earmarked to replace the company's existing Pentium D family and take on AMD's Athlon 64 X2 chips in the affections of gamers and high-end PC users. ...more

HP puts its stamp on nanotechnology

HP is seeking a pay-off from 10 years's investment in nanoscale electronics with the announcement of a new licensing programme. It is for technology that HP says could enable the fabrication of semiconductor chips significantly more powerful than those available today. The technology involves a nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process, a method of stamping patterns less than 50 atoms wide on a substrate. ...more

Memory giants ally to speed certification

Spansion, ARM and Toshiba are among the companies grouping together to streamline the validation and testing of system-level memory. They have announced the launch of the PISMO (Platform Independent Storage Module) Advisory Council and the intention is to define a single, board-level interface standard. It will, they believe, allow designers to use a variety of memory devices - from multiple vendors - in a plug-and-play fashion. ...more