The 18-month effort to create e-business Extensible Markup Language (ebXML) drew to a close recently as a new official standard for Internet commerce was officially ratified. Approved specifications include technical architecture, business process specification schema, registry services and messaging.
Essentially, ebXML has been designed with an eye toward being the on-line, easy-to-translate equivalent of electronic data interchange. Two groups shepherded the standard through its development and said they will continue to do so. The groups are UN/CEFACT, a United Nations group involved in technical development and e-commerce, and OASIS, a global non-profit consortium involved in e-business by promoting open, collaborative development of interoperability specifications. Along with the ratification of the ebXML 1.0 standard, a proof of concept was conducted at a recent industry conference.
AMD challenges Intel with Athlon 4
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. recently launched its first mobile Athlon processor, the Mobile Athlon 4, which it hopes will challenge Intel’s notebook stalwart, the Mobile Pentium III.
The Mobile Athlon 4 is a major product launch for AMD. It marks the company’s re-entry into the notebook market, and it could trigger the same type of price/speed war between AMD and Intel Corp. that occurred last year on the desktop. The new chip, offering speeds of 850MHz to 1GHz – and AMD’s power-saving technology called PowerNow – appears to be a strong challenger to Intel’s ubiquitous Pentium III mobile chip. AMD also plans to compete with Intel’s mobile Celeron processor in the value notebook market with its launch of faster, updated mobile Duron processors.
Cisco introduces IPv6 for IOS-based products
Cisco Systems Inc. has announced the availability of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) capabilities for products that run the company’s IOS network systems software.
Cisco developed and tested IPv6 through the assistance of several hundred customer beta testers, Cisco said in a statement. The new IPv6 will be made generally available for the company’s routers. Early adopter customers are currently in IPv6 trials with the Cisco 7600 and 12000 Series Internet Routers, the company said.
