McNealy steps down as Sun CEO

Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy is to step down as CEO after 22 years, but will remain as chairman and concentrate on open source initiatives, reports eWeek.

McNealy is to be succeeded as CEO by current president and COO Jonathan Schwartz, who will retain the title of Sun president.

Making the announcement, McNealy said it was time to make a change because Sun`s product line was set and its customers were happier than they had been for years, crediting Schwartz with driving the turnaround at Sun.

Intel has announced a collection of hardware and software services based on its new Conroe processor for business desktop computers, which PC World says Intel hopes will repeat the success of the Centrino platform for notebook PCs.

The report says although Conroe, which is the desktop version of the three 64-bit, dual-core chips, is due only later in the year, Intel has announced the vPro bundle now to give vendors time to build it into their PCs.

The vPro package is aimed at delivering low IT maintenance costs, high security and better energy efficiency, according to Intel CEO Paul Otellini.

Apple Computer has unveiled a 17-inch screen MacBook Pro notebook, which Market Watch says marks another step in Apple`s transition to Intel microprocessors.

The MacBook Pro runs on a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor and has 1GB of memory that is expandable to 2GB, but includes many of the same features that are in the 15-inch version of the MacBook Pro, including the iSight video camera.

The report says this latest release leaves only the 12-inch version of the PowerBook and the company`s iBook laptops as Apple`s last notebooks not running on Intel microprocessors, a process expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Researchers are seeking to commercialise a project aimed at enabling front-line soldiers to use their tongues as a means of interacting with computers, reports Sci-Tech Today.

According to the report, researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola have developed technology that enables sonar echoes to be detected via the tongue, leaving the hands and eyes free to respond to immediate dangers.

To use the system, users stick their tongues into a red plastic strip filled with microelectrodes to retrieve information from such instruments as electronic compasses or handheld sonar devices. They "feel" the outline of images via the tongue.

Nokia has announced a laboratory for collaborating with academic researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make its mobile phones smarter.

PC World says Finland`s Nokia wants its future phones to act as gateways to the Internet instead of mere terminals for conversations.

The laboratory houses 20 researchers from Nokia and 20 from MIT, all seeking ways to converge mobile phones with PDAs and PCs while making them easier to use. The laboratory will also tackle challenges such as battery life and language-neutral phone interfaces.