IBM Corp. is using a cluster of prototype blade servers built around its multicore Cell microprocessor to breathe life into a three-dimensional model of a beating human heart at the Cebit trade show in Hanover.

Via Technologies Inc. is a company that takes pride in bursting illusions, such as the idea the new ultramobile PCs would only come equipped with Intel Corp. microprocessors. Instead, it appears that any x86-based processor will do.

Intel Corp. will roll out a succession of computing platforms that build on the efficiency gains it achieved with a new family of dual-core processors, company executives announced at their trade show this week.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans to launch its first desktop and laptop processors by the middle of the year that support DDR2 (double data rate 2) memory chips, AMD executives said on the sidelines of a news conference at the Cebit IT show in Hanover, Germany.

Hewlett-Packard Co. on Monday beefed up its line of business notebooks with two new series using dual-core processors from Intel Corp.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Monday announced three additions to its family of dual-core Opteron processors for servers and workstations, boosting the speed of the chips to 2.6GHz.

Facing increased competition throughout its line of processors, chip giant Intel Corp. warned on Friday that its first-quarter revenue would be lower than expected.

Taiwanese chip vendor Via Technologies Inc. Thursday announced a new chipset for Intel Corp. processors that support faster front-side bus and memory technologies.

Intel Corp.'s poor performance in the last three months of 2005 turned out to be good news for rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., (AMD) which on Wednesday reported better-than-expected financial results for the period. With sales of AMD's microprocessor division increasing nearly 80 percent from the previous year, the company reported revenue of US$1.84 billion.