"Intel has made repeated claims both in the media and in discussions with customers that we are not licensed to sell products that are compatible with the Intel Pentium 4. We disagree with these and other scare tactics that Intel is employing in the PC industry for marketing purposes. Intel should deal with facts openly and communicate through official press releases rather than threatening customers and sowing seeds of doubt in the marketplace," commented Richard Brown, Director of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc.

Customers worldwide are adopting the VIA Apollo P4X266 because it boosts performance of Intel s Pentium 4 processor by as much as 15 percent by allowing the Intel Pentium 4 to take advantage of new low-cost memory chips that are dramatically faster than conventional components. The VIA Apollo chipset is leading a new wave in low-cost, high-speed memory chips based on double data rate (DDR) technology.

"Cost and speed are two of the biggest factors that will influence the success of upcoming systems based on the new Pentium 4," said Richard Brown, VIA s Director of Marketing. "VIA has created a solution that addresses these points head on and in a way that Intel has not been able to. Because the VIA Apollo P4X266 is an ideal complement to the Pentium 4, it is drawing significant attention and praise from our customers and the global IT media. Intel should recognize the fact that the P4X266 will provide Intel s Pentium 4 processor with a significant boost in the marketplace."
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(Press Release) CyberLink Corp., has announce that PowerVCR II will now come bundled with high quality graphics acceleration combo cards from ATI. Versioned as PowerVCR TV Edition in Japan, CyberLink's acclaimed TV recording software application, will be included with the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon and ATI TV-Wonder combo cards exclusively through ASK Corp. As a result of this agreement, CyberLink and ASK Corp. are bringing new advanced features such as Sony's iEPG web-based Electronic Programming Guide, Time-Shifting Playback and the fastest MPEG-2 pure software encoder available from PowerVCR II to ATI Combo Cards available to the retail market in Japan.
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According to ZD Net, Apple plans to drop the price of the 400MHz PowerBook G4 by $400 to $2,199 and slash the price of the 500MHz model by $500 to $2,999. The company has already made similar cuts to the prices it offers to schools and students. According to Apple's Web site, college students can now pick up the 400MHz machine for $2,067 and the 500MHz model for $2,819.
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(Reuters) Microsoft Corp. has announced the release of its Windows XP operating system to computer manufacturers and said development on the software is now complete. Windows XP is on schedule for widespread availability on October 25, Microsoft said in a statement. Microsoft said it is continuing to work closely with PC manufacturers to ensure their most advanced hardware solutions will fully complement the new operating system. Microsoft said the Windows XP Home Edition will be available in an upgrade version for $99 estimated retail price and in a standard version for $199. Windows XP Professional will be available in an upgrade version for $199 and in a standard version for $299.
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Elsewhere on the web today:

EverythingUSB has posted the details on the debut of Logitech's cordless package:
"The Cordless Freedom Optical is packed with the Cordless MouseMan Optical mouse, and the featured keyboard."

FiringSquad has an article on NVIDIA's nForce: Debunking the rumors:
"Just as 3D graphics was revolutionized by the 3dfx Voodoo1 graphics chipset, NVIDIA's nForce is poised to stir things up significantly in the system chipset market."

NeoSeeker has posted a review of the Compex 11Mbps Wireless Access Point and PCMCIA Card:
"The WavePort series is based on the 802.11b standard, same as the majority of other current Wireless products and same as the SOHOWare NetBlaster II series we reviewed previously. Like all 802.11b products, the WavePort is designed to operate at 11Mbps at optimal signal strengths ­ as the signal degrades the cards will negotiate 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps and finally 1Mbps transmissions."

ViaHardware has posted the new BETA IDE Driver for all VIA chipsets:
These new BETA IDE drivers. 3.12, from VIA are optimized for use on the new P4X and KT, as well as the 233CF ATA133 southbridge. These are currently not included in any 4-1 service pack and may improve previous IDE problems on VIA chipsets also.

Overclockers New Zealand has posted a review of the Iwill KK266-R KT133A Motherboard.
"This is a motherboard based on the popular KT133A chipset and it is known by its ability of achieving high FSB overclocking. We had reviewed none-raid version KK266 previously and let's have a look how the raid version perform."
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