Intel upgrades dual-core chip

Intel has introduced a dual-core notebook chip for high-end users, continuing an effort to defend its share of the fast-growing notebook PC market against Advanced Micro Devices, reports PC World.

Intel is selling the new Core 2 Extreme X7800 processor to PC vendors now. The company says it will reach store shelves within two weeks, boosting performance for the hard-core gamers and digital artists who now use notebooks powered by Intel's Core Duo T2600.

It encouraged vendors to push even faster performance by opening the chip's speed protection locks, allowing them to overclock the processor for even faster operation.

Google has said its cookies, tiny files stored on a computer when a user visits a Web site, will auto delete after two years, according to BBC News.

They will be deleted unless the user returns to a Google site within the two-year period, prompting a re-setting of the file's lifespan.

The company's cookies are used to store preference data for sites, such as default language and to track searches. All search engines and most Web sites store cookies on a computer. Google's are currently set to delete after 2039.

Broadband users in 30 of the world's most developed countries are getting greatly differing speeds and prices, according to a report.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report says 60% of its member countries' Internet users are now on broadband, reports BBC News.

The report said countries that had switched to fibre networks had the best speeds at the lowest prices.

Microsoft is releasing its Windows Home Server software to manufacturers, paving the way for home server devices based on Microsoft's software to be available later this year.

Iomega also announced it will become the latest to offer hardware that will run Windows Home Server software, says PC World.

Other hardware partners previously announced to offer Windows Home Server devices are Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, LaCie and Medion.