Upfront

Secondary PC industry

Demand for used PCs in emerging regions is robust and is exceeding supply in some markets, according to Gartner. For every two new PCs shipped to mature markets in 2005, one secondary market PC will be resold. Currently, one in 12 PCs in use worldwide is a secondary PC. In 2004, 152.5 million secondary PCs were shipped.

The analysts said the secondary PC market will continue to grow during the next several years in the home and professional spheres. Gartner defines a secondary-market PC as a PC that has been used for more than three months by its primary/initial user, and then made available to another person for secondary use.

Approva expands compliance solutions

Continuous controls intelligence software vendor Approva has announced that it has expanded its compliance solutions to include Oracle and PeopleSoft support. Using BizRights software, organisations can now continuously audit and monitor all of their critical business systems, including SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft (and more) for compliance, efficiency and fraud-related issues. Approva offers a consolidated view of the internal control issues across an organisation’s business landscape. The BizRights solution monitors all the critical elements of compliance.

Intel’s low-voltage Xeons

Intel has announced new low-voltage versions of its Intel Xeon processor line as the company shifts to enterprise platforms with processors having two or more cores.

The low-voltage versions include the 64-bit Intel Xeon processor LV 3 GHz1 with only a 55W processor power envelope, and the 64-bit Intel Xeon processor MV 3.20 GHz with a 90W processor power envelope. Both processors are targeted at server rack and blade designs where space is constrained and power-efficiency is a priority.