April 18 - 12:35am EDT   The One Laptop Per Child project tonight said it would overhaul the XO-1 with a major internal upgrade. The Gen 1.5 update will drop the AMD Geode processor that has been used since launch and instead use a VIA C7-M with a clock speed that varies between 400MHz and 1GHz depending on the amount of heat. By making the swap, OLPC also gets a new chipset that adds 3D acceleration, HD video decoding and surround sound. The combined design is meant to consume no more energy than the current XO-1 while active but to use less power while idle, run faster, and (through component cost drops) ultimately reduce the price. [full story]

March 12 - 10:15am EDT   The One Laptop Per Child project's CTO Ed McNierney today said that the organization's XO-2 notebook will most likely drop AMD's Geode processor in favor of an ARM-based, all-in-one processor. OLPC is "almost" set to implement a new chip and would make the switch both to reduce the power draw as well as to give the portable accelerated graphics and wireless without needing separate chips that would boost the cost. AMD's design is older and simpler by comparison. [full story]

October 8 - 9:35am EDT   Intel today said it was concerned its patents might be at risk as a result of AMD's manufacturing split. The former company licenses its x86 chip architecture and other key technologies to AMD and has "serious questions" about whether those licenses will be honored if AMD's division into design and manufacturing companies is approved, according to Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy. [full story]

February 21 - 1:45pm EST   French mini-PC vendor Linutop yesterday unveiled the Linutop 2, a more powerful version of its tiny Linux-based PC, offering faster internals, greater capacities, and an optional VESA mounting bracket. While the original is geared towards being a web surfing kiosk or digital sign computer, the Linutop 2 is designed primarily to be a home computer, according to LinuxDevices. Linutop is selling the model for 280 Euros (~$410US). [full story]