Sitting through the presentation yesterday from the newly merged ATI/AMD, it became clear that AMD needed ATI a little more than they were letting on. Not just because ATI bring in the necessary graphical expertise that AMD desire, but also their skill in exploiting several markets.

I’m reminded of the old Pepsi/Coca-Cola analogy. Coca Cola have the most popular soft drink, but Pepsi diversified early and ahead of the pack, and thus make more money from their non-traditional areas of specialism - eg fruit juices, waters etc - and ultimately, more profit. When you consider that ATI products sit inside digital TVs, mobile phones, handheld devices, games consoles et al, it brings a different way of thinking and exposure in many different markers than AMD were previously operating in.

In fact, walking away from the presentation, I couldn’t help but think that the new AMD were viewing mobile phones and handhelds as the markets that’ll really be bringing home the bacon over the coming years. ATI shipped, according to the obligatory Powerpoint presentation, over 100 million chipsets into the handheld and mobile market last year. And while the margins aren’t likely to be great, that’s still a lot of business that’s suddenly going to appear on AMD’s latest spreadsheet.

I do believe that it’s entirely fair that people protect their intellectual property. I have no issues with Microsoft looking to stop people stealing its software.

But, as usual, it’ll be the genuine users that bear the brunt, as the pirates continue to find ways round the problem.

This week, we’ve been greeted with the news that Vista will switch off certain elements if it detects that the version in question is pirated. It’s about there when I start to worry. Because, in one of those lovely moments of what I believe important people call ’synergy’, at the point that story lept onto our screens, one of our PCs started reporting that our entirely legitimate copy of XP had failed its Windows Genuine Advantage exam.

So this isn’t a sophisticated, clever, intelligent or witty blog entry. By now you should have realised that few of mine are. But it’s a question: how can you dish out the ‘punishment’ if your detection methods aren’t working and 100% reliable?

Credit where credit is due. If ever I want to invest further in seeing just how much I can extend my girth, Tesco is a good port of call. Granted, their own-brand stuff is little match for Asda when they’re on form, but for sheer price on good nosh, they’re tricky to beat. They’ve even started sticking little warnings on the packaging which, from what I can tell, mean I’ll be lucky to make it to Christmas.But own brand computer software? Give me a break.

The announcement that the supermarket giant is to produce a range of branded applications, under the Tesco name and under £20 apiece, has gathered them up yet more valuable column inches. Any company that looks to take on Microsoft and has the might to do them some damage is always likely, at the least, to earn themselves a polite round of applause.

But let’s have a brief reality check. Computer software is tricky. When it goes wrong, can you image going up to the store stalwart on the fag counter and asking them how to insert a table into a word processor? It’s just not going to happen. University IT departments could well be cringing at the thought of having to add support for yet another application, as it’s likely to be that budget consumer end of the market that show the most interest.

And yet, ironically, it’s not the first time that the software in question has been packaged in such a way. It seems that Tesco’s range of office applications will be put together by those behind Ability Office, a fine, low price office suite. Yet do I remember correctly? Weren’t the component parts of Ability Office made available by Focus Multimedia as an individual word processor, spreadsheet etc for just a tenner apiece? Could Tesco - shock horror - effectively by doubling the price here? It simply looks like Tesco are simply slapping new stickers on something that’s already in existence, issuing a press release and leaving IT support professionals with a potential extra headache.

And one further issue: this is hardly little Tesco against big giant Microsoft here. I’m all for the fact that Tesco’s announcement has raised awareness of low cost alternatives, but last time I checked, both Tesco and Microsoft had a balance sheet with the word ‘billion’ in its plural form on the profit line.

In short, Tesco appear to be bringing brand and awareness to the table, rather than anything new. Still, they might bring some of those salt and vinegar sticks too, with a bit of luck.

I’m one of the many who has been a little reticent in upgrading their home wireless network, in spite of the massive speed boosts being promised by the box packaging on the shelves of my local computer emporium. I’ve been planning on a full media network for my home, and haven’t yet had enough success with wireless speeds to do it the way I want to. So thus I’ve been holding off for 802.11n.

But where is it? We seem to have been talking about it for years, and the latest estimates put the official ratification of the standard still around eighteen months away. In the interim, we’re faced with a bombardment of pre-N equipment, which I’ve been holding back from, cautious of the inevitable compatibility issues that crop up when N is officially ratified.

However, that’s not going to happen in a hurry, as the Wi-fi Alliance have found themselves muddled . There’s neither a new standard officially in place, and umpteen companies jumping the gun anyway. Which leaves me, and many others, wondering whether to jump for the speed now of pay the penalty later, or be patient, hold back, and not maximise the full potential that wireless has to offer. And what on earth the point of the ratification process is if people are going to release their products anyway?

The IT industry. You gotta love it…