OpenVZ Moves to Niagara Machines
Swsoft's open source OpenVZ Linux virtualization software, the basis of the company's proprietary container-style Virtuozzo widgetry, has been ported to Sun's multi-core Sparc-based T1 "Niagara" machines.

Containers aren't as, well, self-contained, as the partitions that Xen and VMware create, but they cost less as far as processing power goes.

Red Hat and Novell are expected to support OpenVZ.

It is already available on Itanium, PowerPC and x86 boxes.

AMD Designs Reference Platform
AMD say it's going to make what it calls an "open standard specification," also known as a reference platform called DTX, available to OEMs, ODMs and component vendors to stimulate the development of small form-factor PCs that are quieter than usual.

The spec, which AMD fancies will make for "groundbreaking PC design," is supposed to be available this quarter. It's a plug for the energy efficiency of AMD's chips.

AMD also has a new "Better by Design" program that's supposed to hype Vista-run AMD machines from Dell, Acer, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, NEC and others.

Intel To Close its Korean R&D Center
As part of its austerity campaign, Intel is going to close its only R&D center in Korea, which is jointly operated with the Korean government. The government claims it's going to keep on trucking alone. The operation has focused on digital technologies for the home and Intel's Viiv widgetry hasn't exactly been a runaway success. It's unclear what pulling out will save Intel.

Apple Clone
Oh, dear, Steve Jobs will have apoplexy. Someone is attempting an Apple clone. Axiotron, a hardware maker that designed the thing, and Other World Computing, an Apple after-market house that's going to sell it, have been showing off the first Mac tablet computer dubbed the ModBook. It's supposed to be compatible with Apple's Inkwell, a Mac OS X Tiger feature that supports handwriting and gesture recognition on all Mac apps. It can double as a DVD player and ModBook's designers have also built in a Global Positioning System. Hopefully it will have the sense to find its way home if lost. Pricing is set for $2,200-$2,700 whenever it arrives.

iTunes Hits New Milestone
Apple's iTunes shop has sold two billion songs, 50 million TV episodes and upwards of 1.3 million feature-length films, the company said on Tuesday. It claims to have the greatest library of such things.

It Must Be Nice To Be Indispensable
SAP wants its CEO Henning Kagermann, whose employment contract runs out at the end of 2007, to extend it at least another year to the end of 2008, according to an interview given to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung by the chairman of the company's supervisory board Hasso Plattner. SAP is in the midst of a restructuring that Kagermann started and any presumptive heir is thought to need more seasoning before he could take over.

Dell Discovers the Color Green Not a Moment Too Soon
Michael Dell issued a long-overdue call for the PC industry to adopt free global recycling programs at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, calling the idea the "right thing to do for our earth." For the last six months Dell, the company, has recycled any electronics gear, its own and other people's, without requiring the purchase of new Dell equipment for $10 per 50 lbs. Dell has also gone into the tree-planting business. Customers can earmark $2 of a laptop purchase and $6 on a desktop to plant a tree somewhere in the world to offset emissions. The trees will be planted where they won't be cut down.

PTO Does Bang-Up Business
The US Patent and Trademark Office issued a record 173,222 corporate patents last year, up 21% year-over-year according to IFI Patent Intelligence. And for the 14th year in a row IBM got more than anybody else, 3,651 of them, a personal best. Samsung came in second with 2,453, followed by Canon, Matsushita, HP and Intel. Microsoft was number 12.

AJAXWorld Conference & Expo Announces Its Charter Sponsors
Earlier this week SYS-CON Events announced the other "charter sponsors" of AJAXWorld Conference & Expo 2007 East, which included; Laszlo Systems (Diamond Sponsor), JackBe (Platinum Sponsor), Google (Gold Sponsor), Nexaweb (Gold Sponsor), ICEsoft (Gold Sponsor), Sun Microsystems (Silver Sponsor), Parasoft (Silver Sponsor), Lightstreamer (Exhibitor Plus Sponsor),  IT Mill (Exhibitor Plus Sponsor), and FrogLogic (Exhibitor Plus Sponsor).