Processor

Intel's Atom processor was prominently displayed in systems at a conference in Japan. The chipmaker's next-generation X4500 graphics also made an appearance.

Small systems and circuit boards using the Atom processor appeared on the Web site PC Watch, which highlighted designs at a "Systems Expo" in Tokyo.

A host of small devices with the Atom processor are due in June. The 45-nanometer chip will compete with processors from Via Technologies such as the C7 and upcoming Isaiah processor.

Small PCs and computer systems using the low-power Atom processor included a small embedded computer from Japan-based Dux, … Read more

UPDATE: Toshiba is expected to release a notebook PC this year that uses a chip based on the Cell processor, the same chip used in Sony's PlayStation.

The Toshiba Qosmio G40 notebook will sport a SpursEngine SE1000 chip based on the Cell Broadband Engine, which is also used in the Sony PlayStation 3.

The Cell Broadband Engine is a multi-core chip architecture jointly developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. It is derived from IBM's Power Architecture, which was once used in Apple notebooks and desktops. Today, IBM uses the Cell processor in a line of blade servers.

Samples … Read more

Sun Microsystems has released the first beta for OpenOffice.org 3 for Windows and Mac. The new version of OpenOffice, which is a popular open-source competitor to Microsoft Office, looks to offer users improvements on every component from interface to features to behavior.

OpenOffice now natively supports OS X, so Mac users won't have to install the X11 module before running the suite. Full Vista support is also included in the beta, and didn't cause any problems during light testing. Notably, OpenOffice 3 includes filters for the new Microsoft Office document formats such as DOCX and XLSX as … Read more

Faster is almost always better, at least when it comes to computers. So what's the fastest way to open a word processor?

You can create a keyboard shortcut to open Notepad, WordPad, Word, or any other word processor on your PC by right-clicking the program's shortcut on the Start menu, choosing Properties > Shortcut > Shortcut key, entering your keystroke combination of choice (be sure not to overwrite one that's already in use), and pressing Enter. I described how to get fast access to all your keyboard shortcuts in a post from last week.

Now press the … Read more

This free, open-source word-processor strikes us as a worthy alternative to pricey, big-name products. AbiWord has a quick learning curve, since the interface is very similar to other word processors. You'll find just about all the features you need, including the ability to cut and paste, to highlight, as well a bevy of common formatting tools.

Although we did miss a grammar-checking utility, AbiWord can check your spelling in many languages--you'll need to choose the appropriate foreign language dictionaries during installation. A huge plus is the ability to open and save Microsoft Word documents, though the program also … Read more

Safe and dependable software old-timers WordPerfect and WinZip have been bestowed with some upgrades. WordPerfect gets a major overhaul with Version X4, while WinZip's 11.2 adds some new features to the program, the first update in a year.

You can read the full CNET Reviews analysis of WordPerfect X4 here, but in short, it's a good, solid improvement on what has gone before in the suite even if it is cost-prohibitive and not quite as spiffy as one would hope. It's able to gracefully handle more than 60 document formats, including the nascent Open Document Format, … Read more

Sharp got atomized Monday. The Japanese electronics maker along with Willcom announced the ultra-mobile Willcom D4 "communication device" based on Intel's Atom processor and Microsoft's Vista operating system.

Microsoft and Intel were also credited with development of the device, according to the Japanese-language release on the Sharp Web site.

The handheld-size device uses a 1.33GHz Z520 Intel Atom processor and runs Windows Vista Home Premium (with Service Pack 1). Other prototype devices based on similar designs--referred to as mobile Internet devices or MIDs--have also been shown running the Linux operating system.

With a separate headset, … Read more

Intel's upcoming Atom processor is all about cost. And the Atom-based Nettop desktop cuts costs right down to the bone.

Though Atom Netbooks such as future Asus Eee PC notebook models have been described in the press, the Nettop concept is not so clear. So, what is a Nettop?

The Nettop falls under the rubric of Intel's "Basic PC" category, whose underlying thrust is penny pinching. Cost will range from $100 to $299.

The Nettop is centered on the low-cost "Diamondville" variety of the Atom processor but incorporates a number of other cost-saving measures … Read more

Atom, Intel's new processor family for small devices, has barely been announced, and yet already one German tech site has posted some benchmark results. ComputerBase is reporting that its 1.6GHz Atom chip fell slightly behind a 900MHz Celeron M chip on the Super PI benchmark.

That may not be enough to run an actual laptop (the 900MHz Celeron is best known as the chip inside the stripped-down Eee PC) but it should be enough for the mobile Internet devices that are destined to incorporate the new platform. Besides, energy efficiency, not performance, is the Atom's main selling … Read more