Via is to breathe some new life into Firewire, the connection standard that has looked increasingly moribund since Intel decided to back the rival USB 2.0 camp. Via is putting the finishing touches on a 1394 solution, which will hit the streets in chipset form next year, Taiwanese reports reveal. More than 40 per cent of new PCs will use 1394 by the end of next year, according to Via projections, reported in the Taiwanese press. Not if Intel has anything to do with it: it is focusing on the development of USB 2.0. Last week we reported that as far as Intel chipsets go, 1394 appears to be left out on a limb. ®