Cisco to link emergency systems

Cisco Systems has developed a communications system to link radio networks used by police, fire, rescue and other public-safety departments, reports Xinhuanet.

The system, called the IP-based Interoperability and Collaboration Systems, will convert radio signals into IP packets and route them over the IP network.

That means radio communication, which usually uses a proprietary system, can be integrated with the rest of the system. So radio users will be able to talk to anyone else on the network whether they are using a radio, a phone or other device.

Rules demanding that Internet service providers and universities rewire their networks for FBI surveillance are being challenged in a US federal court, reports CNet.

Telecommunications firms, non-profit organisations and educators are challenging the rules based on two broad arguments: they are too expensive and are privacy invasive.

They are asking the US Court of Appeals in Washington to overturn the controversial rules, which dramatically extend the sweep of an 11-year-old surveillance law designed to guarantee police the ability to eavesdrop on telephone calls.

Intel`s dual-core Montecito chip, Itanic, won`t arrive until mid-2006 and will come in much slower than expected, reports The Register.

Two weeks ago, Intel said Montecito would begin shipping at the end of this year and ramp to volume in the first quarter of 2006.

However, due to a quality issue, delivery has been pushed back to the middle of next year. The speed of the chip is now set at 1.6GHz instead of 2GHz as a result of the Foxton power management technology being used. In addition, the successor chip Montvale won`t ship until 2007 and Tukwila won`t arrive until 2008.

These delays are seen as blows to Itanium`s two main customers: HP and SGI. Both companies had been depending on Intel to help them catch up with rivals IBM and Sun Microsystems.