Intel Updates Moore's Law ...

Computerworld - ... by using dual-core CPUs to double the transistors on a chip. Forty years ago last month, Gordon Moore, now Intel Corp.'s chairman emeritus, unveiled his "law" that the number of transistors on silicon chips will double every 18 to 24 months. And so they have. The current version of Intel's Itanium 2 processor houses 410 million transistors, almost double the 220 million in its predecessor. The future holds something slightly different: multicore chips that at least double the transistor count, but in two or more CPUs built as one package. Intel plans to use dual-core technology in all of its product lines. For example, Stephen Smith, vice president and director of desktop platforms at Intel, says the first dual-core Itanium processor, code-named Montecito, is on track to start shipping later this year from the company's fabrication plants and should appear in servers from Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and others in early 2006. A dual-core Xeon chip is also due next year. By the end of 2006, 80% of new servers will be dual-core systems, Smith estimates. Applications that have been specifically written for parallel processing systems -- or that are "thread-aware," as he puts it -- should run dramatically faster on dual-core chips. Smith points to studies showing that the human mind has an attention span of one-half second before wanting to move on to the next stimulus -- hence, Intel's constant striving to ensure that our boredom is minimized with ever swifter computers.

Service providers make mobile ...
... mail a better option. This week, Rogers Wireless Inc., a subsidiary of Toronto-based Rogers Communications Inc., will unveil a mobile e-mail service based on technology from Visto Corp. in Redwood Shores, Calif. According to Suzanne Panoplos, Visto's director of marketing, the company's ConstantSync software lets mobile users synchronize their corporate e-mail systems with the mail sent to their handheld gadgets -- and vice versa. Panoplos says Visto's technology is device-agnostic and gives IT managers more flexibility in outfitting mobile workers who need e-mail with less-expensive handhelds that are more appropriate to the task. Panoplos claims that through the Rogers deal and a similar one with London-based Vodafone Group PLC's wireless division, her company will have 500,000 subscribers to the Visto mail-synchronizing service by midyear.

Data, data, data, data and, yes, even ...
... more data. Kerry Gilger, CEO of FYI Corp. in Melbourne, Fla., claims that his company has come up with a way to address the overwhelming deluge of information end users must navigate: KEGS. No, it doesn't involve swilling beer while studying spreadsheets or gazing at PowerPoint presentations. KEGS is FYI's shorthand for "knowledge-enhanced graphical symbol," which it describes as a visual element that can help end users immediately grasp complex, data-drenched conditions -- everything from a patient's medical state to the real-time health of a global sales organization. The company's FYI Visual 2.0 software ships with dozens of templates designed for specific business functions, such as help desk and manufacturing operations. A color-coded KEGS indicates whether a given parameter is above, below or within expectations. A quick glance can give an executive a situational view that he can then drill into for more details. FYI Visual also includes adapters that work with most of the major packaged enterprise applications. Version 2.5, which is due later this quarter, adds geographical information system data to the visual displays. Pricing starts at under $100,000.