Photo of the day: ABIT´s KT600-based KV7 in our test lab

AVL and SiS announce memory validation program for SiS648FX based boards

Lite-On unveils new thin SDW-200DX DVD±RW drive

Toshiba announces three new Dynabook EX notebooks with TV tuners

Some rumours on new AMD Athlon 64 processors

AMD´s market share in China decreased

Size of Visa card to arrive to Asia is cut sharply

Photo of the day: ABIT´s KT600-based KV7 in our test lab

A new mainboard in our test lab — ABIT´s KT600-based KV7 for AMD-K7 Athlon/ AthlonXP/ Barton (FSB 200/266/333/400 MHz). It is worth mentioning special, so to say ´brand-specific´ technologies featuring the board: SoftMenu, FanEQ, MaxFID, CPU ThermalGuard, TweakGuard.

AVL and SiS announce memory validation program for SiS648FX based boards

Advanced Validation Labs (AVL), a validation and testing service company and Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (SiS), a core logic chipset supplier, today announced its system level validation program using the SiS648FX chipset and DDR400 memory modules.

The SiS648FX supports both the Intel Pentium 4 microprocessor operating at 800MHz FSB speed and single-channel DDR400 memory. With the launch of the SiS648FX for the Intel Pentium 4, memory manufacturers and DRAM suppliers are beginning to ship DDR400 (PC3200) modules and devices to be tested by AVL for compatibility with SiS chipsets.

The AVL/SiS validation program involves the testing of memory modules using the SiS648FX chipset and AVL´s equipment and software. The validation process includes the application of different voltage and thermal ranges to stress memory modules under test.

Lite-On unveils new thin SDW-200DX DVD±RW drive

Lite-On unveiled a new external Dual DVD±RW drive, SDW-200DX.

This USB2.0 device has 8Mb buffer and can work under Windows 98SE/ME/XP/2000. The speeds supported are:

• Writing: 2x DVD+R/+RW, 1x DVD-R/-RW, 16x CD-R (Z-CLV), 8X CD-RW
• Reading: 5x DVD-ROM, 24X(CAV) CD-ROM

The bundle includes Sonic Solutions MyDVD and CyberLink PowerDVD software. Volume shipments are scheduled to this August.

Toshiba announces three new Dynabook EX notebooks with TV tuners

All other features are similar: 15" 1024x768 Clear SuperView LCD display, 2.2GHz Mobile Celeron, 256Mb RAM (up to 1Gb), Intel 852GM chipset with int. graphics (also 2 x PC Card Type II slots, Ethernet, 4 õ USB2.0, IEEE1394, S-Video).

Dynabook EX/522CDET (about $1800 in Japan) has 60Gb HDD, universal DVD recorder; Dynabook EX/522CDE ($1650) has 40Gb HDD, DVD Multi and FDD drives; Dynabook EX/522CME ($1500) has 40Gb HDD, DVD/CD-RW combo, floppy.

The standard Li-Ion battery provides 2.3 hours of operation for 522CDET, 2.8 hours for 522CDE and 2.9 hours for 522CME. Sized 330x282x38.4/39.9mm, notebooks weigh about 3.2 kg.

Source: PC Watch

Some rumours on new AMD Athlon 64 processors

British The Inquirer posted another selection of industrial rumours about Athlon 64 processors. The official release date for new desktop chips has been known for a long time, but no other info has been shed from the official sources. This makes us browse rumours.

So, they say on September 23 AMD will release 754-pin and 940-pin models of Athlon 64. Early next year a 939-pin processor should arrive. According to unconfirmed information from mobo makers, they received 754-pin engineering samples some time ago. Chips are easily overclockable and have excellent performance.

At the moment of initial announcement we should see 2GHz Athlon 64 3200+. The Socket 754 model supporting single-channel DDR would cost about $399. In October the 3400+ model should be presented as well.

As for Socket 940 Athlon 64 FX chips supporting dual-channel DDR, their initial price is expected to be $650. They say AMD won´t use its PR rating for these.

Finally, the 939-pin Athlon 64 FX with the San Diego core and single-channel DDR support, expected late in Q1 2004, is said to be incompatible with Socket 940.

There are more rumours for H2 2004, but I guess the situation will change by that time, so there´s no sense in posting them anyway.

Source: The Inquirer

AMD´s market share in China decreased

The world´s largest chipmaker had retained its leading position in the fastest-growing chip market last year, as Intel Corp. remained the number-one semiconductor supplier in China in 2002, according to iSuppli. Intel´s nearest competitor, AMD, lost a part of the market share in the region and moved down from its 8th position that year. So here´s the rating of top semiconductor suppliers in China:

Size of Visa card to arrive to Asia is cut sharply

Looking for the new potential credit cards holders, Visa International is planning to start promoting the new "Visa Mini" solution.

The company will be offering this card in five countries including Korea and Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific region by autumn. It has not yet been decided whether to issue it in Japan or not. These cards are smaller than conventional ones with size reduced to just 57% of an ordinary card. According to the company, it can be attached to a cell phone strap or a car key chain. However, it cannot be used with ATMs and does not comply with IC chips.

For the first time Visa Mini cards were issued by the Bank of America in July 2002. Now Visa International decided to issue the card in the Asia-Pacific region. Bank of America said 8 million people of 14 million Visa holders are using Visa Mini cards. The bank plans to increase this amount to 10 million in 2003.

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