Intel Corporation has completed initial production runs of dual-core processors and provided further details about its multi-core plans to its customers, signalling the beginning of an era when PCs will have two or more 'brains' inside.

Texas Memory Systems has announced four significant interoperability certifications for its flagship RamSan-325 Fibre Channel solid-state disk. The certifications include Microsoft Designed for Windows Server 2003, Sun Solaris Ready, IBM TotalStorage Proven and McData OpenReady. Each of these certifications is awarded as a result of testing with the related platform.

Gartner Research expects overall global PC demand in 2005 to slow compared with last year.

AMD plans to port XenSource's Xen open source virtualisation package to its 64-bit processor technology.

The potential impact of Microsoft's broader move into security software has been noted by McAfee and other incumbents.

ABB has won contracts worth around $60 million to supply a 500 kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) and 12 sets of power transformers for the right-bank power plant of the Three Gorges dam project in China.

The Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), John Price, and the President of the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA), Christopher Janssen have announced that the Boards of both organisations had agreed to undertake a feasibility study of a proposal to merge and create a much larger industry grouping comprising the diverse technology-based and industry sectors which underpin Australia's economy.

Boeing has selected an NI LabVIEW and PXI-based solution for acquisition of vehicle launch environments on the ground-based midcourse defence system vehicle flight test program.

A full installation and commissioning contract has been awarded to Rockwell Automation Australia for an induced draft (ID) fan upgrade at the BlueScope Steel Port Kembla steelworks plant. Installed in December 2004, the first of three 3000 kW, 6600 V PowerFlex 7000 variable speed drives (VSD) is already operational. The entire upgrade is scheduled to be completed by June 2005.

Citect has sealed a AU$2.6 million, contract with China Gas Company, to control and monitor gas distribution to 5.5 million households.

Visiting 3 cities in one week, the Regional Roadshow Series will bring the latest in automation and control technology and training to key industrial centres, starting off in North Queensland in June.

One of the world's largest crane fabrication and maintenance organisations, Konecranes, has established a new headquarters in Sydney following vigorous growth throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The traditional PBX telephone exchange has been connecting businesses for decades. But the writing is on the wall, as more cost-effective and easily-managed voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technologies increasingly penetrate the enterprise.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is moving upstream from the supply chain into the heart of manufacturing operations.

The Maintenance Engineering Society of Australia (MESA), a technical society of Engineers Australia (EA), has broadened the scope of its annual awards to recognise excellence in asset management at an enterprise level.