AMD has announced the ATI Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition, a next-generation graphics card that combines workstation-class creative productivity and cutting-edge 3D game performance, according to the company.

Micro-Star International (MSI) has applied its self-developed Dual CoreCell optimization technology to its Platinum and Diamond series motherboards and is extending the application to all motherboards in the first quarter of 2007, according to industry sources.

Nvidia has announced the immediate availability of its MAXtreme 9 D3D and POWERdraft 2007 - new performance drivers developed in close collaboration with Autodesk, for 3ds Max 9 software and AutoCAD 2007 software.

Compal Electronics shipped a company record 1.65 million notebooks in October, with revenues also hitting a record $976.36 million, due to strong seasonality, according to company spokesman Gary Lu.

Xensource has released a beta of its upcoming XenEnterprise 3.1 virtualization software that will be one-fifth the price of VMWare. XenEnterprise will run Windows and Linux operating systems in virtual environments and the company claims it will be even faster than VMWare.

Starbucks Corporation is missing four laptops which contain nearly 60,000 names and Social Security numbers of current and former employees. The laptops were supposed to be stored in a closet, but an employee discovered that they were missing way back in September.

NTP, the company famous for suing Research in Motion, has filed another patent infringement lawsuit, this time against Palm. The complaint filed in United States District Court in Virginia requests that Palm stop selling devices and of course punitive damages.

Microsoft said on Monday it introduced three-dimensional maps of 15 U.S. cities in an effort to beef up its Web search offering to better compete with market leader Google.

Dell has introduced an AMD-powered Latitude notebook computer. The Latitude 131L is powered by an AMD mobile Sempron processor, but customers can order the Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor an an option. An integrated graphics chip powers the 15.4" wide-screen display.

Last week, we had a closer look at AMD's plans how to close the gap to Intel with near- and mid-term products. This week, we will focus on Intel's new products for 2007 as well as the remainder of this year. Intel is in a very comfortable position as it can wait and see: Quad-cores on the high-end, faster dual-cores in the mainstream, coupled with a new chipset, dominate the 2007 roadmap.

Nvidia Corporation has purchased PortalPlayer, a maker of portable media player hardware, in a $357 million dollar deal. PortalPlayer makes semiconductors, firmware and software for MP3 players and portable media players and the merger could allow Nvidia to expand from its computer-based roots into the gadget space.

Redmond (WA) - One could easily get lost in the gadget frenzy of this month. Just in case you will forget about Zune when planning a purchase of new game consoles, an HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 or Intel's quad-core processor, Microsoft has launched a website dedicated to creating some excitement for the otherwise rather bland portable media player.

AOL today announced the beta launch of AIM Whimsicals, a new set of Web-based application programming interfaces (APIs) that give Internet developers the tools to embed AIM services and features directly into any Web site.

Samsung Electronci has introduced a new two and a half pound sub-notebook that uses no fans. The Sens Q40 notebook is powered by an Intel Centrino U1400 processor and Samsung claims the battery will last up to 3.5 hours.

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft today announced that it has completed the code for the latest version of its business software suite, Microsoft Office 2007, confirming its availability to businesses this month, and general release to consumers by early next year. Click here to see first impressions from Office 2007 ...

Following yesterday's lifting of the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core NDAs, VoodooPC is now introducing a quad-core powered computer. The enthusiast PC maker is upgrading its Omen line with the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor.

Nvidia and ATI have updated their graphics drivers with two distinct features: Nvidia is now offering HD DVD and Blu-ray playback capability with Purevideo HD and ATI is first to get a certified driver for the final version Windows Vista out the door.

Addicts of Google's free Gmail email service can now grab their emails from their mobile phones and PDAs. Google is release a new Java application that directly hooks into Gmail. The application works with over one hundred popular phones including many from Blackberry and Samsung.

In an attempt to form a strong partnership like iPod/iTunes, Microsoft has announced that it will be closing the doors on its MSN Music store in favor of the Zune Marketplace, the music store platform connected to Microsoft's upcoming portable media device.