On Tuesday, 16 February, from 11:00 to 12:00 a.m. Steve and Sascha will show their latest and greatest hardware gadgets they can bring to Barcelona. This will be real fun! Means they will present different MIDs, netbooks, nettops and other stuff. And they'll talk about screen sizes, features and operating systems and other aspects. But of course, Steve and Sascha will feature several netbook apps, too.

On the same day from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Sascha & Steve will celebrate a dedicated software session. Means that they'll touch the different OS options (Moblin, Windows XP, Windows 7), talk about the Intel Atom Developer Program and present the whole beauty of the Intel AppUp Center.

One day later on Wednesday, 17 February from 11:00 to 12:00 a.m. the two mobile guys will present Scott Apeland from Intel on stage. Scott is responsible for the Intel Atom Developer Program and Intel AppUp Center. Hopefully he will answer all the questions Steve and Sascha have prepared and hopefully there will be some from the audience.

The fourth and final Meet Mobility session will take place on Wednesday from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. For this last event within the event Steve and Sascha will prepare something special: Together with some invited guests (Matthaus Krzykowski from Angora 9, Hubert Nguyen from Ubergizmo and Monty Metzger from mocom2020.com) they will talk about the different aspects of mobile computing. This chat will be recorded as a podcast and will be streamed live into the web. Watch this space for more information about that!

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    float4 color;
};

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PS_OUTPUT displacementMapShader(PS_INPUT input) {
    PS_OUTPUT output;
    .
    .
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    float2 uvDisp = input.uv;
    [branch]
    if (clipPos.z < 20.0F) {
        // Expensive code follows to perform the actual displacement mapping
        .
        .
        .
    }
    // Perform displaced or non-displaced texture lookup(s)
    float4 color = tex2D(map,uvDisp);
    .
    .
    .
    return(output);
}

There are some different rules for the PC and the consoles when you are allowed to use a static branch, but you should be able to make this little trick work for your specific case!

Why I should attend?

• Learn how to save coding time by using fast, free and easy software assessment tools
• Make your job easier as you enable for the latest technology
• Explore new ways to engage with Intel

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• JayCut by Jaycut gives MID users a complete video editor. This means you can capture, edit and publish your mobile video clips to YouTube on-the-go.

• Photoflow by Scalado lets mobile users browse very fast through their image library and zoom instantly into the pictures. Photoflow support rapid searching and sorting of images by date, color, intensity, histogram and more.

• Fanomena by BMAT rates the singing skills of talented mobile users and let share their performance with their friends.

• Vagalume by Igalia is a kind of Last.fm client which offers features like listening to all kinds of radio stations, recommending tracks to other users , tagging artists, tracks and albums, displaying album artwork and much more.

• Fluoh by Fluendo is an all-in-one media center for watching movies, playing DVDs, enjoying music, showing photos and much more.

• PopCatcher by Popcatcher saves streaming music from Internetradio stations. Before the songs are saved as a MP3 file to the hard disc talk and commercials are deleted.

• Fring lets users communicate and share web-based experiences from their mobile devices: audio and video call, chat, share experiences for free with friends on fring and other communities and social networks.

• EyeSight’s natural user interface utilizes the device’s built-in camera, along with advanced real-time image processing and machine vision algorithms, to track the user's hand motions to control mobile devices and applications.

So, are you convinced?! Then please don't hesitate and visit the Intel stand A49 in hall 7 to have a closer look at all the great demo apps which will be shown by our software partners. They will love to answer your questions and maybe they will have something to give away either.

And in 2010? Well, we're getting ready to make a splash at SIGCSE 2010 in Millwaukie with a super-secret new initiative that will give you remote access to many-core systems. Keep your eyes open for the announcement in March. Other big changes will be coming to the website. Our Moodle is now close to 200 entries strong and were looking for your input and reviews on the courseware. A new interface is in the works to make it easier to contribute and access great content. Finally, we'll be looking for the right way to improve communications with you and making sure that the forums are meeting your high expectations. Keep the suggestions coming...

In this Issue:
2009 Wrap Up
Academic Community Leaders

-- Academic Blogs and Forums
The academic blogs started taking off in 2009. Hear from your colleagues, read a blog, or better still, write one of your own! The Academic Forums were also busy and with the coming connection to the moodle we're expecting them to be the place to be for fresh conversation in 2010. A big thank-you to Professor Jose Jesus Ambriz Meza of Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara for taking real ownership in the Forums!

-- USC Integrates Parallel Computing, December 2009
Seven newly revamped courses at University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering establish parallelsim as core to computing curricula. Find out more including course structures and downloadable demos!

--Intel Academic Community at Supercomputing, November 2009
The Academic Communty helped lead workshops on Paralellism and sponsered two well-attended panels. We partnered with Supercomputing Education and conducted joint interviews for Teach Parallel. Good news for those of you who couldn't make is... We were able to tape the session and have a great selection of onsite interviews available on demand.

-- Intel Academic Community at IDF, September 2009
The Academic Community was out in force during the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Our session and panel were voted #1 and #3 by attendees. See our interviews here. Many of the classes, talks and panels were either taped or slides made available. Find out more about future IDF events here.

-- Center of Excellence in India, August 2009
The Intel® Academic Community announced the launch of its Center of Excellence for faculty training at M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India. This Center of Excellence at the MSRIT campus, which is fully equipped with latest Intel® hardware and software, aims to train 300 faculties from 155 institutes of the Visveswaraiah Technological University (VTU) on Parallel Programming for the Undergraduate curriculum.

-- Academic Showcase Launches, July 2009
Get the highlights of Intel’s academic involvement, especially around bringing concepts of Parallelism into the classroom.

--High School Parallelism Curriculum Pilot, July 2009
Are High School Whiz Kids Ready to "Think Parallel?" The answer seems to be yes as proven by the Academic Community team together with Brooklyn Technical High School Read more about their pilot project here.

-- Intel Academic Courseware Moodle Debuts, June 2009
Intel launched a new interface for faculty to access and contribute content on parallelism and related subjects. Log-in to the Moodle to find material from colleagues, Intel or contrbute your own. With well over 150 modules this is a great resource.

-- Software Engineering for Parallel Systems (SEPARS)
SEPARS held the second International Workshop on Multi-core Engineering (IWMSE 09) as a workshop co-located at ICSE 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Intel Academic Community Memebers, Victor Pankratius and Walter Tichy (University of Karlsruhe, Germany) and Mike Wrinn and Jeff Gallagher (Intel) co-taught an ICSE tutorial about parallel programming concepts and tools. Read about it in Jeff's blog here.

--Model Courseware from Xiamen University, May 2009
Real Time System Design & Analysis was nominated as a China Ministry of Education model course in China. This is a great honor for Prof. Zhongwen Li and Intel.

--Teach Parallel Broadcasts debut, April 2009
Teach Parallel! debuts on ISNT with hosts, Paul Steinberg of Intel and Professor Tom Murphy of Contra Costa College. Attend online or catch-up on the archives after the event.

-- The Russian Academic Community goes live, January 2009
The Russian Academic community website launched Nov 25 at the HPC Symposium in Moscow.

-- The Academic Community helped promote the Middle East on its path to digital future.
The Academic Community trained 4,060 future developers including 84 faculty from 24 of the top universities in the region. The initiative has helped point out the very high demand for new technology training in the region.

Dr. Matthew Wolf, was the first recipient of the Leadership in Academia Award and an Intel Blackbelt. Dr. Wolf was presented the award at the SIGCSE symposium in honor of his many contributions in the field of Computer Science and specifically to the advancement of a Parallel Computing Curriculum.

Professor Tom Murphy won an Intel Black Belt. Professor Murphy is Computer Science Program Chair and Director of Contra Costa College HPC Regional Education Training Center. He helps lead weeklong Parallel and Distributed Programming workshops across the US through the SC and National Computational Science Institute. He is member of the SC07-11 Education Program steering committee and the co-host of the Academic Community Teach Parallel! series.

Dr. Jianfeng Yang received an Intel Black Belt for Academia. He is an associate professor of Electronic Information College of Wuhan University and the leader of the Multi-core Curriculum, embedded system design curriculum of Wuhan University and of the Wuhan University-Intel Multi-core Technology joint lab. His leadership has been instrumental in helping Intel integrate Parallel Programming into Universities in China.

Dr. Walter F. Tichy received a Leadership in Academia Award. He is professor of Computer Science at the University Karlsruhe, Germany. Dr. Tichy is also a charter member of Intel's Academic Community Advisory Council, which is a world-wide coalition of education professionals providing feedback and guidance regarding Intel's educational materials and plans.

Dr. Victor Pankratius received a Leadership in Academia Award. He heads the young investigator "Software Engineering for Multicore Systems group at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. His current research concentrates on how to make parallel programming easier for the average programmer. He chairs the international working group, Software Engineering for Parallel Systems of the Gesellschaft für Informatik. Dr. Pankratius holds a Ph.D. with distinction from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

"Almost all cloud providers implement their services on the Linux operating system. In fact, Linux is the common denominator for cloud environments because it is open source and provides the ability to customize the platform for a wide variety of customers and service providers. The combination of open source and the modularity, efficiency and scalability of Linux has propelled it to the forefront of the cloud market; however, cloud environments do not exist in a vacuum. The reality is that these environments have to live in harmony with traditional data centers and with a variety of third party cloud platform and application environments. Therefore, the value of Linux and open source is to act as a good citizen based on standards and portability."

The report focused on a few items that are particularly important for Linux-based cloud solutions:

• Economic considerations: Cloud providers and cloud customers are both looking at ways to lower costs, and using Linux is one way to help lower costs of cloud solutions. The ability to scale gradually as needed with less up-front investment is also an important consideration for many companies when choosing a cloud solution.
• Workloads: "As an operating system, Linux is ideally suited to support a variety of workloads since it works across all of the major hardware architectures," and because it is open source, it can be customized to be more heavily optimized for specific customer workload requirements.
• Portability: Customers will need to be able to port their solutions between different cloud providers as the market evolves, and Linux an ideal platform for building portable cloud solutions.
• Hybrid environments: Linux provides a common thread for companies who are looking for ways to manage increasingly common environments that include a combination of public and private hybrid cloud solutions.

You can read the entire report for more details about Linux and open source solutions in the cloud.

1. .NET Framework 4 Client Profile RC (x86 and x64) - (English)
2. .NET Framework 4 Client Profile RC (x86) - (English)
3. .NET Framework 4 Full RC (x86 and ia64) - (English)
4. .NET Framework 4 Full RC (x86 and x64) - (English)
5. .NET Framework 4 Full RC (x86) - (English)
6. Visual Studio 2010 FSharp 2.0 Runtime RC (x86) - (English)
7. Visual Studio 2010 Integrated Shell RC (x86) - (English)
8. Visual Studio 2010 Isolated Shell RC (x86) - (English)
9. Visual Studio 2010 Premium RC (x86) - DVD (English)
10. Visual Studio 2010 Professional RC (x86) - DVD (English)
11. Visual Studio 2010 Remote Debugger RC (ia64) - (English)
12. Visual Studio 2010 Remote Debugger RC (x64) - (English)
13. Visual Studio 2010 SDK RC (x86) - (English)
14. Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate RC (x86) - DVD (English)
15. Visual Studio 2010 Visualization & Modeling SDK RC (x86) - (English)
16. Visual Studio Agents 2010 RC (x86) - DVD (English)
17.  Visual Studio Team Explorer 2010 RC (x86) - DVD (English)
18. Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 RC (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)

MSDN's Channel 9 has a discussion on the RC build here.

But first, because I’ve made some serial code optimizations and now I’m using Intel® Parallel Composer update 4, I want to take more samples of the serial kernel with the improved addAcc() function.  Using the command, “select serial” I collected several runs of data and took their averages (first column is the number of bodies):

Then I did the same thing with the command, “select par” to get the basic parallel kernels for interactions and dynamics discussed previously.  To compare against the serial, first I color-coded the averages (I’m a sucker for Excel conditional formatting): parallel runs that are faster get the green—if they’re more than 10% slower, they see red.

OOOooooo…, that’s way more red than I expected.  Plotting a log-log graph of these data:

That’s not very impressive parallelism.  It takes around 2048 bodies interacting for my simple parallel kernel to beat the serial code.  It wasn’t like that six months ago when I first compared these kernels:

This is an image of the performance of these same kernels from a presentation I put together last summer.  Here the simple parallel kernel looks impressive, sweeping under the serial kernel albeit stuck on the same n-squared growth curve.  What happened?  Serial optimization.  I pulled the data for those serial runs and added it to my previous graph of the new results:

As you can see, the old serial code was quite a bit slower and the crossover point for the parallel runs was down around 64 bodies (the new parallel results are a little better than the old: the old 4096 bodies number was around 288 seconds, versus 277 here).  So, even as I was preaching about doing serial code optimization first, the serial code I was using for the previous graph lulled me into a false sense of accomplishment.  No wonder I was disappointed!

But it’s even worse, though this twist I was expecting.  This parallel kernel that is struggling to beat its serial cousin has a fatal flaw, which I’ll explore next time.

Next time: parallel code: first run’s fatal flaw

That said, I thought there might be a niche that I could fill for all my creative, hard working benefactors out there, sort of a pay it forward for all the great things you’ve done for me. I’d like to give you a view from the cheap seats; feedback from the lowly end user who does not have a degree in computer science. So here goes, my thoughts on netbooks.

It has been almost a year since I was a winner in a contest that Intel sponsored and I became the owner of an Acer netbook. At first I was delighted to win, especially after all the excitement surrounding the Atom processor launch. And let’s face it, we females love cute little gadgets. (Can’t you almost hear my high pitched squeal?) Then I powered up my cute new toy and thought, “OK, now what?”

Sure, I could surf the web, but I already have a MacBook and a Sony VAIO (yes, I’m computer bilingual), in addition to my work laptop, so I do not lack access to the internet. The netbook did not have a DVD so I could not watch my movies or load games I already own. Drat! So for most of 2009 my netbook was unused other than some “test drives” by my sons who wanted to try a netbook before buying one of their own. I figured it would be used only for trips when I did not want to lug my laptop.

Then I learned about the new Intel App store that would be launching (in Beta form) at CES. This really grabbed my interest. A way to get apps on my netbook? Cool! From someone I already felt a great deal of trust? Even better! I could hardly wait for CES when I would learn the name of the store and how to get on the bandwagon.

Long story short, I am now a registered user of AppUp. I have downloaded 9 apps so far and have only had one issue - an app for weight loss that was listed as free took me to a site that wanted money to continue. It should have been listed as free trial, not a free app.

On the whole, I like AppUp and am looking forward to seeing it grow into the wonderful site the team envisioned. Having tried it out now, I have several suggested improvements for the site. I would love to be able to see a demo of an app (as opposed to just screen shots) before I commit to buying. Descriptions can be unclear and ratings only tell you what others think, not what your experience will be. (i.e WOW gets really high ratings from my family, but World of Warcraft leaves me yawning, not my cup of tea.) Another cool thing would be a user “wish list” we could use to encourage developers to create apps we end users really want to see.

So, after almost a year with my netbook, I am beginning to really like this different format. I still want to add my favorite Hoyle card games to it without having to pay for it again and I don’t have an external DVD so does anyone have suggestions on how to get it loaded on my netbook?

I am also open to testing new software on my netbook so if that would be helpful to anyone, please contact me. All comments/suggestions on improving my netbook experience are welcome and please check back for updates as my adventures continue.

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While the sample space is small, it is clear any communications we have with our community must still consider all versions of Intel® AMT.

For those of you who voted, thanks for taking the time to give us a little insight.

In general, "open alternatives will continue to serve as competition and counterbalance to closed technology and strategy," according to Jay Lyman, an open source analyst at The 451 Group. In an interview with LinuxInsider, he goes on to say this.

"We typically see faster development in open source, so I would not be surprised to see an open source response, or an existing effort gain attention and traction, particularly if iPad is as successful as the iPhone."

"If Android or Moblin or Ubuntu Netbook Remix or another open source alternative can serve as a viable option for many hardware, wireless, other software, advertising and other companies -- as well as developers -- it may be able to generate traction and winning devices and/or business models for tablets."

John Dragoon, Novell's Chief Marketing Officer, also weighed in on potential open source competition to the iPad. Dragoon quotes an IDC analyst Brett Waldman as saying that for “…Linux to gain market share in the newly revitalized tablet market, it will have to learn the lessons of Apple and go after it with a mobile UI, like the ones found on Google’s Android or the Moblin project.” Dragoon sees applications as being the key to a viable solution:

"There’s been tremendous improvement in the last twelve months alone on user interfaces (see Android and Moblin).  We must continue to win the hearts and minds of developers and independent software vendors so that Linux has an equally compelling applications story.  Novell’s SUSE Studio and recently announced SUSE Appliance Toolkit are squarely aimed at helping solve this application issue."

"I believe Linux is the ideal operating system for creating and delivering  the 'Platform Specific User Experience'."

I agree that the applications are going to be an important part of the success of any tablet device, but the market for tablets is still an emerging one. While tablets have been around for many, many years, they have never really seen broad market adoption. One of Apple's strengths is in driving broad market success for what were niche markets, and they've done this most recently with the iPod and iPhone by taking niche products and building them for the non-technical masses. I suspect that we'll see a similar shift in the tablet market, and now is the time for open source solutions to step in and take advantage of this anticipated growth.

• At the Intel booth there will be several software partners (ISV) who will show their latest and greatest applications running on a netbook. Namely there will be demos showing Eyesight, JacCut, Fluendo, Popcatcher, Axel, Fring, Igalia, Scalado, Digital Chocolate, Abby, BL Stream and BMAT. All these demos will have their dedicated time slots at the Intel booth from Monday, 15 to Thursday, 18. And if you want to know more about these apps - I'll provide some more information during this week.

• Another highlight at the Intel booth will be the tech talks between Steve "Chippy" Paine from umpcportal.com and Sascha Pallenberg from netbooknews.com who will come together four times at the Intel stand and chat about the different aspects of the mobile market. Watch this space for more information about these live sessions.

• If rumors are true the real MWC only starts when the halls are being closed. Means we'll do this whole networking stuff at dedicated mobile event like WIP Jam, Mobile Sunday and many more. If there's anything interesting what we should share with you be ensured that we will blog about it.

• Beside the consumer part behind netbooks and Intel AppUp Center there is a developer aspect of course. So if you are creating interesting apps which are meant to be applicable for netbook usage come and stop by at the Intel booth. There you can meet the right people who can tell you everything about the Intel Atom Developer Program and beyond.
• So, come to Barcelona from 15 to 18 February, 2010 and visit the Mobile World Congress in general and Intel at hall 7 (App Planet), stand A49 in particular. Learn everything about netbook apps and how you can make money out of them. We are really looking forward to meeting you!

There were roughly three key things that really stood out for me and I’ll cover each one a little more thoroughly as I go along. First the advancements in TV-Displays continue to amaze me. Second would have to be the focus on Wireless. Then the third major thing has to be around device convergence; and my emphasis here would be on the Smart Phone and iPhone category.

First off – I’m going to lump TV’s and Displays together. The line between the two just keeps getting fuzzier all the time. TV-Displays are always ubiquitous at CES; however, this year really stood out for me. We’re seeing more and more 3D capable TV-Displays. (No surprise). Then, dare I say, ‘Smart’er TV-Displays? (Smart TVs – hmm) That are of course incorporating more and more PC like functionality, or at the minimum extender device like capability; and or the ability to plug into the internet. They continue to become thinner and more beautiful all the time. Run with faster refresh rates (480Hz or >). Last but not least is the UHD (Ultra-High-Definition) 3840x2160 screen resolutions! They looked gorgeous!

Next are some serious moves towards wireless high definition. Several DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) capable devices were all over the CES tradeshow floor. What made this trend more telling was seeing Monster Cable® getting in the game with their take on Wireless HDMI. It’s pretty exciting to think about the possibilities here when I consider what I’ve done in my own DIY Home Theater scenario. I would absolutely love to make the move towards wireless HDMI or better soon.

Lastly; no CES report would be complete without some mention of all the fantastic mobile phone advancements! Amazing! However; I think it goes far beyond just the advancements in mobile phones. There seems to be more and more emphasis on thinner, lighter, types of products in practically every consumer electronics products across the board. This is very notable on PC Desktops which if anything seem to be slowly disappearing. Mobile Laptops are definitely placating the desktops and I have to wonder if Mobile Phones won’t eventually do a similar thing to Laptops to some degree. With the iPhone currently leading the charge in this device category it certainly seems to be trending in that direction.

So what does it all mean? Given the advancements in TV-Displays I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to see these evolve into all in one PC type devices in the not too distant future. These TV-Displays will definitely be multifunctional devices. Mobile Phones seem to be turning into a combination of glorified mini-PC companion devices that have respectable Hard Drive sizes. Mobile laptops seem to be turning into more viable portable TVs and Gaming devices. In all of these scenarios Wireless continues to play a very pivotal role in enabling all of these devices to stay connected, sync, and communicate with each other. In all of these scenarios the keys to success will be to ensure there is seamless ease of use. I would also go as far as saying that fewer devices, that are non-proprietary in nature, that do more for me will be critical as I continue to struggle against my own version of device creep in my household in an effort to avoid clutter.

That machine was driven by a fictional piece of technology called the Flux Capacitor, which made it possible for Marty to set a time in the past or future and travel there. As far as I can tell the Flux Capacitor works by moving Marty's Delorean vehicle from present space-time to a the same point of space in either the past or future. This is possible because space the Delorean occupies, exists in all times. It is a static constant. And after reaching 88 miles an hour the Flux Capacitor is able to cause a chain reaction requiring 1.21 gigawatts (pronounced jiggawatts in the movie) of energy to hyper-jump the Delorean to another time, while occupying the same space. The car does not really move. The car stays in the same space but moves across time.

In terms of coding applications, Intel has something akin to the Flux Capacitor, called the Intel® Media SDK. I kid you not.

The Intel Media SDK 1.5 allows you to code a media application to a variety of hardware specifications and instructions sets including those that do not yet exist but will exist in the future.

By coding to Intel's Media SDK API in a sense you are hyper-jumping time as the Flux Capacitor, effectively reaching 88mph. This is possible because the API is the static constant just as the space around the Delorean. The API exist in the present as well as in the future allowing your code from today to talk to future hardware & instructions sets to be found in future Intel Multi-core Architectures.

So what's the big deal you ask? Well, this is really about saving time and increasing the opportunity for software to have a longer shelf life. If you were at CES this year you saw the landscape is changing and the hardware is not only evolving in sophistication, it’s becoming a broader market of hardware configurations. Developers need to find smarter ways to build their applications for what's to come.

And like the Flux Capacitor with the Intel® Media SDK you are not restricted to traveling forward in time. Because there are many hardware configurations that have had their day, but are still in use by your customers, Intel's Media SDK allows your apps to work with many legacy hardware configurations, ensuring your video applications provide the optimal experience for the device they are running on.

So do a bit of time traveling from a coding perspective. Download the Intel® Media SDK to future proof your media applications.

Resource Links

• Download the Intel® Media SDK
• Get answers on Intel® Media SDK
• Intel® Media SDK Architectural Overview
• Order your own Flux Capacitor
• How Time Travel Works
• Follow Bob Duffy on Twitter