Nvidia announces new GPU architecture

In today's podcast: Nvidia announces new GPU architecture; HP readies server update for quad-core Itanium; and Japan says Qualcomm violated antimonopoly law.

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes!

Nvidia showed off a new GPU architecture on Wednesday that it hopes will allow it to move beyond gaming to play a greater role in the supercomputing market. The new Fermi architecture should provide more realistic graphics for gamers, but it also includes technologies that make it well-suited to highly parallel computing environments, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said in a speech at the company's GPU Technology conference, which was webcast from San Jose, California. He showed a graphics card on stage with a prototype of the new chip inside it, but he didn't announce any specific product plans Wednesday or say when Fermi would hit the market.

Hewlett-Packard will make some significant updates to its Integrity server line next year to coincide with the launch of Intel's first quad-core Itanium processor, known as Tukwila, an HP executive said. HP won't provide details about the new systems yet, but one analyst said HP may introduce a modular, blade-like design for more of its Integrity systems, much as it did last year for the Integrity NonStop. That could help to make the systems more energy-efficient and reduce HP's manufacturing costs. Tukwila will not be socket-compatible with previous generations of Itanium, and HP customers won't be able to use the new chip in most existing Integrity systems. That means customers will have to buy a new server if they want to use the quad-core Itanium processor.

Qualcomm coerced Japanese telecom equipment makers into signing licenses that impede the companies in their research and development efforts and strengthen its own position in the Japanese market, the country's Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday. The company was found in violation of Japan's Antimonopoly Act and was ordered on Monday to rescind certain provisions on the licenses issued to Japanese companies, the Japan Fair Trade Commission said. Qualcomm owns many basic patents related to CDMA technology that are used in the WCDMA cellular telephone standard used for 3G services in Japan and most other countries. Before manufacturing phones, base stations or other cellular equipment Japanese companies must conclude a license agreement with Qualcomm.

AT&T has acquired mobile-application development company Plusmo and plans to use its technology to more quickly build applications and widgets for mobile phones as well as PCs and TVs. Privately held Plusmo sells a platform for building widgets and applications using common Web development standards, which allows them to be deployed across multiple operating systems and devices. The company will become part of AT&T Interactive, and its development platform will be used by multiple AT&T subsidiaries. AT&T has already developed some of its own mobile applications, including the YPmobile derivative of its YellowPages.com service.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.