Mobility

Moving along a path of energy-efficient computing, Intel Corp. has pledged technology evolution in microprocessors that will improve performance per watt by 300 per cent by the end of the decade.

Intel Corp. will ship quad-core processors in November for servers and gaming PCs, accelerating its effort to regain momentum in sales of power-efficient chips.

At Carleton University in Ottawa a multidisciplinary team is working on different approach to "smart houses". The objective of this project, funded by the Ontario Research Network for electronic Commerce (e-Health), is to allow the elderly to remain in their homes rather than having to go to nursing homes, while intercepting incipient health issues before they become emergencies that require hospital stays.

Toshiba Corp. has offered to exchange 340,000 notebook computer batteries, but said they do not pose a fire hazard. Instead, defective batteries could unexpectedly cut power to the notebooks, causing users to lose unsaved work.

Researchers from Intel Corp. and the University of California at Santa Barbara have found a way to build low-cost "laser chips" that could eventually shuttle data around PCs at much higher speeds than today's copper wire interconnects.

The first Microsoft Corp. Zune products will hit U.S. retailers in time for the busy Christmas holiday season, with a 30G-byte digital media player and a Zune Marketplace online service the first to reach consumers, Microsoft said.

Thanks to cutting-edge technology, a new take on "light-up" clothing may light up a room

Dell Inc. has stepped away from long-time supplier Intel Corp., launching one desktop that spurns the chipmaker's vPro business bundle and two others that use processors from chipmaking competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).