MS plans 'high-performance` Windows

Microsoft is developing an updated version of its Windows 2003 operating system that will be better equipped to handle applications running across dozens of single or dual-processor computers working in parallel.

According to Informationweek, the software will offer consumers an alternative to the currently-available DataCenter, which is designed for use on symmetric multiprocessing servers, where a single version of Windows can run on up to 64 processors.

Microsoft will aim the new software, due in the second half of 2005, at industries where highly scalable systems built with relatively low-cost hardware are being applied to demanding applications.

The international computing expo Comdex has been cancelled for this year, after seeing attendance figures drop steadily over the past few years.

According to Yahoo, expo organiser MediaLive International said it could still have been held for a profit, but chose rather to hold it off for a year to examine how to breathe new life into the programme.

One of the main reasons for the decline in public interest was the fact that fewer large IT companies were attending the event. During the 1990s, attendance was as high as 200 000, while it was down to 40 000 last year.

TV has made the leap onto cellphones, as a Norwegian broadcaster offers mobile phone users in the country live streaming 24 hours a day, reports BBC.

TV broadcaster NRK spokesman Andre Myklebust says 2 000 clips were downloaded within the first eight hours, and adds that popularity is likely to increase. "Usage will go up and up. Mobile networks are getting faster and better, and by next year 80% of handsets will have a media player."

Norwegian firm RubberDuck Media Lab developed the technology behind the video content. The service supports 3GP - the standard for mobile TV.

IBM and German memory maker Infineon unveiled a prototype 16Mb magnetic-memory chip this week as the struggle to establish new memory standards rolls on, reports ZDNet.

The magnetic random access memory (MRAM) chip is reliant on a magnetic strip rather than an electrical charge to store data. Much like flash memory, MRAM continues to store data even after its host computer is turned off. It also retrieves data rapidly and can theoretically last forever.

The MRAM chip was originally expected to go into commercial production in 2005, but Infineon says it is more likely to be available "in a few years".