Computer

Intel Drops Prices on Solid-State Drives

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:55:00 +0000

Intel Corp. this week said it had slashed the prices of its X25-M solid-state drives (SSDs) in 2.5” form-factor aimed at mainstream notebooks as well as high-performance desktops. Depending on capacity, the price-cut is either $50 or $100 per unit.

The Intel X25-M mainstream SSDs are available in 80GB and 160GB capacities and achieve up to 250MB/s read speeds, up to 70MB/s write speeds and 85ms read latency, according to Intel. The X-25M solid-state drives feature Serial ATA-300 interface.

After the price decrease, Intel X25-M 80GB became $50 cheaper and can now be found starting from $340, whereas X25-M 160GB lost $100 and can now be acquired for $604 or higher.

IBM launches new Intel-based servers, software

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:51:00 +0000

IBM India has announced the availability of the new generation of Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based System x servers and software.

They will enable customers to more easily roll out virtualized computing and significantly reduce growing operating costs with higher performance, simplified management and increased utilization in India.

With the new systems, IBM engineers addressed key challenges in datacenter, where hefty costs for power usage and IT management pile-up, while processors sit idle or under-utilized.

“The new generation servers and software will give clients the reason to invest in an IT infrastructure that can help lower operating costs in challenging economic times while improving service and competitiveness,” said Ajay Mittal, Country Manager, System x, STG, IBM India/ South Asia.

Intel Ships Power Management Tool for Servers

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:45:00 +0000

his software development tool kit allows companies to build software to manage or cap power consumption by individual servers or a group of servers, which could reduce energy costs in data centers, Intel said. The company isn't providing end-user software, just a tool kit to build it.

The Data Center Manager (DCM) middleware built from the tool kit could dynamically adapt power consumption by servers based on changing workloads and power needs, said Jon Khazam, vice president and general manager at Intel's manageability and middleware division. DCM can be attached to existing system management software as an console or as a Web service, Khazam said.

Power consumption is provisioned by DCM through communication with Intel's Intelligent Power Node Manager software tool installed on the chipset of each server. The middleware instructs Node Manager to set power limits for servers based on the level of activity. For example, DCM can cap power consumption on inactive servers while raising the power bar on active servers.

The tool is designed for use on servers running Intel's Xeon 5500 chips, which include motherboards with the Node Manager software. The software tool kit won't work effectively with servers based on old Intel chips as they don't have the necessary thermal management capabilities built in, Khazam said. Nor will the software tool kit work with proprietary power management tools from companies like IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

Though HP offers Xeon 5500 chips in many of its servers, it has included its own power management technology to manage and cap power consumption. HP has included 32 sensors in some servers that can track and dynamically reduce server power consumption. Sensors measure thermal activity of components like fans, and algorithms use the data to adjust operation of the components to cool systems more efficiently.

To use the DCM middleware, users many need to get rid of the old power management tools, Khazam said. Software built using the DCM tool kit can manage up to 1,000 servers, but the number will be expanded in the future.

Intel didn't reveal pricing for the tool kit, saying it depended on customers and server installations.

Intel officials in February said that power consumption and cooling accounts for up to 23 percent of server deployments, and is one of the biggest areas for companies to cut costs. Intel is taking steps on the software and hardware front to help cut energy costs.

It has introduced new motherboards with voltage regulations that reduce power drawn to 85 watts in idle when running cloud computing applications, compared to 115 watts for standard Nehalem-based boards. A reduction of 30 watts per server could save up to US$8 million in three years in a deployment of 50,000 servers, Intel has said.

The company is also providing software tools like compilers and debuggers to improve performance and analyze software code. Optimizing the code helps execute tasks more quickly and efficiently while using fewer system resources. That could save up $20 million over three years in a 50,000 server deployment, the company has said.

Intel mobile roadmap promises Air for the masses

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:09:00 +0000

Intel promised Mac Airs for the masses today as it urged customers and companies to get over the economic crisis, ditch their old kit and stock up on new PCs.

Given that there seems to be more fear than attendees stalking the halls at Cebit this year, it's hardly surprising that the vendor is spending as much energy hurling reasons to buy at customers as spouting speeds and feeds.

Intel's mobile marketing director Karen Regis kicked off an update on the vendor's mobile roadmap by saying that 37 per cent of the installed base of PCs was over three years old, and that 38 per cent of installed PCs are desktops. This meant that users were excluded from rich content, she said, as well as stuck with flakey networking and security. And stuck at their desks.

Regis said that through the second quarter the vendor would start rolling out Montevina Plus – the successor to the Montevina mobile platform it launched last year. This would include Penryn-based processors running at 3GHz or more, and more emphasis on HD.

She said the rollout would also meant the vendor would be pushing its ultra low voltage technology – as used in the likes of the Macbook Air – down into the mainstream notebook market.

Such systems currently cost around $1500 up, she said, meaning only those execs with a personal tech jewellery budget could justify buying them. Intel planned to get very thin systems down to around $599 to $1,000 she said, placing them squarely in the mainstream, just above the netbooks which have taken the market by storm over the last year, and under the premium ultra thin products such as the Air.

Unlike netbooks, which Regis characterised as “consumption” devices, the ULV notebooks would be full scale PCs, she said, with screens starting at 10.2 inches, though more likely 13.3 inches and above.

On the desktop, director of microprocessor market Zane Ball, said 2009 would see Nehalem go mainstream, and he demoed the vendor's dual core Clarkdale chip.

However, in another nod at customers' shrinking IT budgets and the vendor's increased focus on emerging and niche markets, he said 2009 would be the year of the “net top”, the vendor's less mobile equivalent of the netbook.

Like netbooks, he argued such devices - often purpose-built for specific applications - would become second or third PCs in mature markets, or bring net connectivity to customers in emerging markets for the first time.

Intel's presentations at Cebit have referenced the global economic downturn, with chairman Craig Barrett declaring it would continue to invest its way out of the downturn, while accepting that budgets were more constrained than it might have expected nine months ago. Like its hardware vendor customers it has pinned its hopes on emerging markets to help take the sting out of the downturn in the West, with China and India both being targeted as coming consumer markets.

But Ball said that the downturn had not had any impact on the vendor's products strategy – a fair enough point, as process changes and microarchitecture developments are planned years in advance.

He argued that as what is in part a worldwide inventory correction works itself out, companies will be willing to unlock their IT budgets and start buying kit, if only because older PCs will become increasingly uneconomic. “We know four or five year old PCs are more expensive to maintain.”

Asked if the downturn would force Intel to price its parts more aggressively than it might have been planning to last year, he said, “It's a market place. When you have very different technology, you're going to be able to get more. The market will decide.” ®

AMD, Intel and Nvidia Shifting Away from Integrated Graphics

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:03:00 +0000

Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, Intel, Via and other chip makers are seeing diminishing demand for traditional integrated graphics processors used in laptops and desktops, and these chip vendors could begin stopping shipments of these types of chips and chip sets by 2013, according to new research.

The report from Jon Peddie Research comes during a week when AMD prepared to split itself in two and spin off its manufacturing into a separate company. At the same time, Intel announced a new partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing that looks to expand the market for the Atom processors.

The Peddie research report focused on integrated graphics processors, or IGPs, which are seen as an intimate part of the chip business, but companies such as AMD and Nvidia are looking to expand graphics well beyond traditional chip sets.

“In 2008, 67 percent of the graphics chips shipped were IGPs,” said a statement from Jon Peddie Research. “In 2011 it will drop to 20 percent, and by 2013 it will be less than 1 percent.”

IGP chip sets are used in desktops, netbooks, and mainstream laptops, as well as embedded systems such as point-of-sale solutions and signage systems. According to analysis company AnandTech, 90 percent of PCs shipped included integrated graphics.

Historically, they’ve been less expensive, but also less capable of handling high-end, discrete graphics, such as those found in gaming machines and high-end PCs.

Newer chip sets, however, are changing that. The AMD 780G, for example, is touted by the company as its first chip set “that enables everyday computer users to play the latest games with no extra graphics card.”

Jon Peddie predicts that between 2010 and 2012, there will be three graphics choices: traditional discrete GPUs, IGP chip sets and processors with embedded graphics. But as IGP suppliers find demand waning, they’ll look to new products that can take advantage of their strengths.

“We can already see significant maneuvering between Intel and Nvidia as Nvidia strengthens it high end offerings with CUDA [Compute Unified Device Architecture] development tools, and on the mobile side, the company has introduced the Tegra platform, which relies on an ARM processor and Nvidia graphics,” the report said.

The research note continued: “AMD is going head to head with Intel with Fusion, an embedded graphics CPU, but it too is building out its workstation and visualization graphics.”

Intel and Dell sue Canadian company for trademark

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:59:00 +0000

Intel Corp. and Dell Inc. are seeking from the U.S. District Court and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a trademark cancellation over the term "netbook," held by rugged mobile computing solutions vendor, Psion Teklogix, Inc.

Now, the Mississauga, Ont.-based vendor is affirming its trademark rights over the term by filing last Friday a counterclaim against Intel.

The string of lawsuits began last month when Intel filed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, a complaint for injunctive relief, declaratory judgment and cancellation of trademark from federal register over the term "netbook".

To put things into perspective, Psion filed for an application to the USPTO for registration of its trademark term "netbook" on December 18, 1996. It was awarded the "netbook" mark almost a year later, on September 25, 2000. On its corporate Web site, Psion declares the company launched its first "netbook" ultra-portable computer back in 1999 and since then, Psion maintains it has been using the "netbook" trademark continuously since then.

In the February 13, 2009 court filing involving Intel versus Psion, Intel states it believes Psion discontinued its offering of laptop computers under the "netbook" name in 2003. The document goes on to read that "on information and belief, Psion no longer offers laptop computers under the mark Netbook, or even Netbook Pro."

However, on Psion's Web site, it stated: "We feel we have a very good brand in 'netbook' and we also feel strongly that we should be free to develop that brand further in the future. We continued to make sales of 'netbook' ultra-portables in 2007, 2008 and even 2009. We had to discontinue manufacture prematurely because we were unable to secure supplies of a specific controller chip...(but) we...still sell inventory to this day. We also continue to actively supply accessories for our 'netbook' ultra-portables and are also providing maintenance and support to existing users of 'netbook' ultra-portables.'

On February 27, Psion filed a counterclaim against Intel over its alleged use of the term "netbook" without Psion's permission. In the document, Psion also includes a year by year breakdown of its U.S. "netbook" mark laptop sales where the year 1999 saw sales of US$62,800, up until 2009, where sales now sit at $13,650.

In Intel's filing against Psion, Intel states that "in or before 2008, in light of recent technological innovations, the computer industry (including manufacturers and retailers) and the media began to use the term netbook to describe a class of compact computers that were small, inexpensive and optimal for connecting to the Internet." Intel also writes that the term "netbook" is not brand specific, nor is it tied to a specific PC manufacturer, but rather it's a term used industry-wide to describe this particular class of computers.

In this most recent filing to the court, Psion is countersuing Intel over the alleged infringement of its "netbook" trademark. The court document states that "Intel, without Psion's permission, has adopted, used, and continues to use the term 'netbook,' which is identical and confusingly similar to the 'netbook' mark." In doing so, Psion says Intel has and is still causing "severe and irreparable harm" by using the "netbook" term in a generic sense to see profits by "confusing and deceiving" customers.

Intel maintains in the February 13, 2009 filing that it "has not infringed and does not infringe directly, or indirectly, the 'netbook' registration or any other purported trademark rights owned by Psion." Intel is asking the U.S. Court to cancel Psion's trademark rights and is also looking to recover its attorneys' fees and other costs associated with the court case.

On Psion's side, the company is looking to recover all the damages as a result of Intel's alleged infringement, unfair competition and unfair trade practices by using the "netbook" term. In addition, Psion is seeking "an accounting...to determine Intel's profits resulting from its infringement, unfair competition and unfair trade policies, and that such profits be paid over to Psion." The company also wants the court to award it reasonable attorney fees, punitive damages and further relief from the court against Intel.

And to add fuel to the fire, just four days after Intel's February 13, 2009 filing to the court, Dell, too, filed a petition for a trademark cancellation over Psion's ownership of the term "netbook." Luckily for Dell though, there hasn't been any news yet on whether or not Psion will take further action against the company.

In the February 17, 2009 petition, Dell outlines three bases for trademark cancellation against Psion, stating abandonment, fraud and generic-ness.

According to Dell in the document, Psion has "abandoned" the "netbook" mark and also produced false statements to the USPTO in order to gain continued registration of the "netbook" mark in 2006. Lastly, Dell asks the court for a trademark cancellation based on the generic-ness of the "netbook" term. In the petition, Dell writes the term "netbook" has "become generic in that the primary significance of the term to the relevant public is as the name for small and inexpensive laptop computers," and therefore Psion's trademark over the term should be revoked.

When approached by CDN , both Dell and Intel stated they were unable to comment on the lawsuit or on any pending litigation. Calls to Psion were not returned.

Stated on the Psion Web site, the company says, "Litigation is always a last resort. But we'll certainly defend against the cancellation actions filed against our 'netbook' registrations."

Intel aims open source at your car

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:57:00 +0000

Intel and a group of leading automotive-industry manufacturers have formed a non-profit group to develop and promote an open-source reference platform for In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems.

When Intel announced earlier this week that it was developing a set of Atom processors specifically for the automotive market, it did not name specific car or parts manufacturers who had committed to using those chips. Today's announcement partially answers the questions this omission raised.

The founding members of the group, called the GENIVI Alliance, include Intel, auto manufacturers BMW Group, PSA Peugeot Citroen, and (what's left of) General Motors; automotive parts and systems suppliers Delphi, Visteon, and Magneti Marelli (a division of the Fiat Group); and device-controller software company Wind River.

IVI is a catch-all term that refers to digital in-car systems that can provide navigation, internet access, back-seat video, audio, telephony, and other information and entertainment services.

Significantly, in its inaugural press release (PDF), the GENIVI Alliance specifically states that the IVI reference platform will be built around an Intel Atom processor running Wind River Linux. Development of the platform is already underway, with a launch of the "first technical deliverable" scheduled for this summer.

During a time when the worldwide automotive industry is contracting, it makes sense for industry members to gather together to create an open-source platform rather than individually design and build proprietary systems. According to GENIVI spokesperson Graham Smethurst, who is also the group general manager of BMW's Infotainment and Communication Systems, "GENIVI will challenge the traditional approach of proprietary solutions and spawn a level of creativity not yet seen in this segment."

Intel Makes Investment in French Academic Research Effort Expected to Benefit Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:48:00 +0000

Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett announced that his company is investing in a new academic research facility dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC) in France.

The HPC lab initiative marks the start of a 5-year collaboration and is Intel's first major investment in academic research in France. The four-party agreement signed today is a model of public-private partnership, linking Intel with government agencies and academia.

"Research is vital to a country's long-term economic health and competitiveness," said Barrett, who was in Paris today to help launch the HPC laboratory. "By investing in innovation, including research and development, we make a commitment to accelerate the benefits of technology in France and in other parts of Europe."

Joining Intel in the effort, the Commissariat ? l'Energie Atomique (CEA), a technological research organization funded by the French government, is contributing its expertise in HPC tera architecture and integration. France's national HPC agency, Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif, will provide its scientific end user applications and feedback. The University of Versailles St Quentin en Yvelines will make technical contributions, such as multi-core performance evaluation and code optimization.

"It is strategic for a public research institution like CEA to cooperate with a world-leading company such as Intel to prepare for the next generation of HPC facilities that the European scientific community and industrial companies expect," said Bernard Bigot, CEA general administrator and High Commissioner.

The joint research center will be built about 20 kilometers southwest of Paris in ?le-de-France Teratec, a region home to universities and other scientific research facilities. Intended to be used primarily by university students in France and other European Union countries to address future HPC challenges, the lab will seek to accelerate R&D and innovation in Europe in keeping with the Intel Labs Europe (ILE) initiative announced earlier this year.

The lab is being designed as an "exascale" high-performance computing center focused on hardware and software optimization. Exascale computing is a next-generation technology and refers to systems that can handle a million trillion calculations per second (1018).

The HPC lab in France marks Intel's first significant European R&D announcement since forming ILE in January. A key part of Intel's commitment to collaborative research, ILE serves as a platform for future potential investments and advanced innovation activity in Europe.

Intel develops world's first embedded antenna balanced for Digital TV

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:45:00 +0000

Intel announced the creation of a new type of TV antenna which the company claims to be the world's first embedded balanced antenna for Digital TV on a Laptop.

It uses two antenna cables that surrounds within the chassis of a notebook/ultraportable device. The antenna can grab and keep a signal even without external aerial.

According to Intel, the feature will enable users to "to watch digital television on their laptop without the need for an external antenna." Intel claims that the decrease of external aerial could "reduces the number of items to purchase, carry and keep track of."

Intel says that the new antenna was developed by the company's research team and since it was Intel's' first device of its kind, patent has been made and applied.

Intel Atom running on GENIVI Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:44:00 +0000

GENIVI Automotive manufacturers and suppliers use a proven automotive prototype running on Intel® Atom™ processor for GENEVI platform.

According to GENIVI the "development of the open source GENIVI platform is well underway, with a summer 2009 launch for the first technical deliverable" and it is "based on a tested and proven automotive prototype - running on the Intel® Atom™ processor."

To help the auto industry to rapidly implement infotainment and Internet-related features Intel is collaborating with automotive manufacturers and suppliers to launch the GENIVI Alliance a non-profit industry association whose mission is to drive the broad adoption of an In-Vehicle Infotainment open source development platform.

"With GENIVI, the development window can be dramatically reduced and the feature content extended," said Visteon Corporation's Christian Feltgen, Global Director, Audio and Infotainment Systems.

Intel says that it will support open and "collaborative improvement environments for in-vehicle infotainment and accelerate adoption of standard architectures and technology such as the Intel® Atom™ processor."

Intel Launches Fresh Mobile Quad-Core Chip

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:58:00 +0000

Intel over the weekend introduced a new mobile quad-core chip, which Acer started offering Monday in its latest Aspire laptop for multimedia and gaming enthusiasts.

In addition, online retailers started offering pre-orders of Advanced Micro Devices' Phenom II quad-core chip, which AMD plans to introduce next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new product is aimed at high-end desktops.

The Acer Aspire 8930G-7665 laptop is powered by Intel's new Core 2 Quad Q9000. On Sunday, Intel released an updated price list that lists the 2.0-GHz Q9000 for $348 in batches of 1,000. Pricing for Intel's other mobile quad cores start at $851, with the highest-price product, the QX9300, listing for $1,038.

Intel also listed four new dual-core processors for laptops, the 2.93-GHz T9800, $530; the 2.66-GHz P9600, $348; the 2.66-GHz T9550, $316; and the 2.53-GHz P8700, $241.

The latest Acer Aspire sports an 18-inch display and includes 4 GB of memory, an Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512 MB of video memory, and a 500-GB, 7,200-RPM hard disk drive. The system also includes a Blu-ray disc player, built-in Wi-Fi support, a Webcam, and Windows Vista Premium. The manufacturer suggested retail price is $1,800.

AMD's 3.0-GHz Black Edition Phenom II X4 9400 was available for pre-order on Computers4Sure, owned by Office Depot, and A-Power Computer Online. The chip comes with a three-year warranty.

Intel Puts Mobile Quad-core Chip in Acer Notebook

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:56:00 +0000

For those of you who have been waiting for someone to cram a quad-core processor into a notebook, your time has come. Intel announced over the weekend of Dec. 27 the launch of a new mobile quad-core chip, the Q9000, which PC maker Acer is selling in its Aspire 8930G-7665 notebook.

Designed for multimedia and gaming enthusiasts on the go, the chip utilizes four processing cores, 6MB of shared Level 2 cache, a 1066 MHz front side bus and clock speed rates up to 2.0GHz. Along with the quad-core mobile processing power, the notebook brings high-definition functionality. The chip is backed by a three-year warranty and the notebook is backed by a one-year warranty.

The notebook PC features an 18.4-inch HD CineCrystal widescreen 1920 by 1080 pixel display, with an 18-inch widescreen, 16:9 aspect ratio for improved color and visual detail. Acer has also thrown in a Blu-ray Disc player, Dolby audio and an Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512GB of memory. Acer claims all these features provide a "cinematic" experience filled with rich video and sound.

Other features include built-in Wi-Fi support, a Webcam, a six-in-one media card reader, 4GB of dual-channel memory and Windows Vista Premium. The manufacturer suggested retail price is $1,799.95.

"By incorporating the latest capabilities of Intel's Core 2 Quad mobile processors into the Aspire 8930G-7665, Acer is delivering a perfect combination of mobility, innovation and extreme gaming capabilities," Sumit Agnihotry, vice president of product marketing for Acer America, said in a statement. "Gamers and enthusiasts who enjoy HD multimedia entertainment will find the performance benefits of quad-core mobile performance in the Aspire 8930G unrivaled [by] other multimedia notebooks on the market."

Intel also announced the launch of four other four dual-core chips, the 2.93-GHz T9800, selling for $530, the 2.66-GHz P9600, selling for $348, the 2.66-GHz T9550, selling for $316, and the 2.53-GHz P8700, selling for $241.

Elina Networks Partners with Intel

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:54:00 +0000

Elina Networks, a provider of networking solutions, has partnered with Intel's Business Exchange (BX) Programme for network infrastructure management and other essential IT services. The Intel BX Programme is an online technology marketplace for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs).

The BX Programme facilitates solution providers to bid for customer businesses that focus on SMBs, bringing together offerings with bundled software and hardware, and stand-alone business applications. It enables shoppers to research products and services, request quotes, and connect with solution providers to speed the identification, selection and implementation of technology, the company said.

According to Narendra Bhandari, Director APAC, Software and Services Group, Intel, "The Intel Business Exchange (Intel BX) brings together offerings such as bundled software and hardware, stand-alone business applications and services. The community-enabled website includes resources such as product descriptions, interactive demonstrations, whitepapers, case studies, blog entries and user-submitted product ratings and reviews, in order to help SMB professionals find answers to their toughest business challenges."
Commenting on the partnership with Intel BX, Shekar Nair, CEO, Elina Networks, said, "We are pleased to be the first vendor in the IT and networking category and this gives us a strong advantage in reaching customers. The unified network, security and management functionality provided by our ENPAQ series of unified gateway products dramatically reduces the cost of implementing and maintaining a network for the organization."

MSI Debuts 'Hybrid' Netbook

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:51:00 +0000

MSI announced its U115 "hybrid" netbook on Tuesday. What's a hybrid netbook? One with the ability to use both a solid-state disc drive as well as a spinning hard drive, apparently.

MSI didn't release a price or a ship date for the U115 netbook, which includes a 10-inch display and is designed around Intel's 1.6-GHz Z530 Atom processor and its "Menlow" chipset platform. Other specs include the usual 1 Gbyte of RAM, 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth EDR, a few USB ports, either a 1.3-Mpixel or 2.0-Mpixel Webcam, and 4-in-1 card reader. MSI didn't draw any overt comparisons to the MSI Wind, the company's more famous netbook offering.

The real innovation, at least according to MSI, is the 8- or optional 16-Gbyte SSD working in conjunction with the 120-Gbyte or optional 160-Gbyte rotating hard drive.

Within the U115, the SSD is used to store system files, while the magnetic hard drive is used to store data. In essence, the hybrid technology is basically an expanded version of the Intel Robson or Microsoft ReadyBoost technology, where the flash drive is used to increase the overall system performance through local caching. MSI powers the system using Windows XP Home, incidentally.

The netbook can also be placed in "ECO on Mode," which provides "super long" battery life -- without saying exactly how long. In this state, only the SSD is used, and the netbook apparently stores data on the SSD as well, later backing it up on the rotating drive. It's not clear whether this backup is done manually, or automatically.

One ergonomic note: MSI said it increased the distance between the keys to 17.5mm, making it a bit more comfortable for fat fingers.

The MSI U115 measures 260 mm x 180 mm x 19-31.5mm, and weighs about a kilogram, MSI said. What's missing, of course, is the price: SSDs usually don't come cheap.

Intel rolls new education PCs at CES

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Intel Corp. will make a fresh foray into low-cost PCs at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, launching a tablet-style netbook for students. The company also will show a personal area network technology for linking Wi-Fi devices.

Intel will debut at CES its so-called Learning Series of hardware, software and services for global education markets. The family includes a small notebook with a touch screen that folds into a tablet and is aimed at children.

OEMs from the U.S. will discuss their plans for rolling out systems based on the Intel designs. Intel has been testing its so-called classmate PCs with teachers and students in the U.S., some of whom will be on hand for the launch January 9, according to a media advisory released by Intel.

Later that day at CES, Intel chairman Craig Barrett will deliver a talk on technology and education in developing markets. Whether the company's latest efforts will be more successful that several previous industry approaches remains to be seen.

Intel, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and others have developed multiple generations of low-cost systems aimed at education markets, especially in the developing world. Hitting the right costs and features with the right business model has been a challenge for many of the efforts such as One Laptop Per Child which aimed to deliver a $100 system in volume.

Qualcomm is the latest company to jump into the fray with its sub-$400 Kayak system. Microsoft has been retooling a novel pay-as-you-go approach called FlexGo for selling PCs through service providers. AMD sold off in early 2007 the assets of its first attempt to deliver low cost PCs for developing countries.

Separately, Intel said it will debut at CES "a new kind of personal area network that connects laptops to all your Wi-Fi enabled consumer devices like cameras, printers, photo frames and more."

The company would not provide more details. Anything that enhances Wi-Fi is in Intel's best interests, given it is baked into all its notebook chip sets. Others such as startup Ozmo have tried to leverage Wi-Fi for use as a personal area network.

Several Intel executives will speak on panels or other events at CES, promoting the company's products and technology agendas. The list includes the Atom processor for netbooks and other mobile systems and WiMax, Intel's preferred fourth-generation wireless technology which it aims to bake into future notebooks.

The company will also discuss progress getting its Canmore X86 system-on-chip designed into digital TVs. The chip is part of a broad initiative to develop software to bring Internet services to digital TVs in the form of software widgets.

Windows 7 Leaked To The Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:44:00 +0000

A trial version of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 7 operating system showed up on the Internet over the weekend, according to numerous blog reports.

The beta version of the OS, reportedly Windows 7, build 7000, can be downloaded from several infamous torrent sites often used to share pirated content.

Microsoft isn't planning to officially release beta copies of Windows 7 until its MSDN developers' conference in January. A final version of the OS isn't expected until late 2009 or early 2010.

Microsoft may not be overly displeased with the leak.

The company is urging partners to begin work on Windows 7 product development as soon as possible to avoid the sort of compatibility problems that plagued the launch of Windows Vista in January 2007.

Earlier this month, Intel released a pre-production version of Windows 7 drivers for graphics chipsets. The WDDM1.1 graphics driver is designed for "enabling the full Windows 7 experience," Intel said, noting that the driver is the result of ongoing collaboration with Microsoft.

Drivers allow hardware components to communicate with a computer operating system.

When Vista launched in January of last year, many hardware makers -- including Intel -- didn't have fully compatible drivers ready. The problems marked the beginning of a slew of bad press for Vista that ultimately led many businesses and consumers to reject the operating system.

To avoid a repeat of those problems, Microsoft earlier this year ordered computer and other hardware makers to begin testing their devices on Windows 7 as soon as the first beta version becomes available.

Microsoft for the first time unveiled Windows 7 features at its Los Angeles Professional Developers Conference in October and appears anxious to release the OS as soon as possible. The company has formally said that Windows 7 won't ship until early 2010, but the January release of a beta disk is the latest sign that Windows 7 could debut in late 2009.

Microsoft is hoping Windows 7, which includes native support for touch screens, will help erase memories of Vista, which has been a disappointment for the company.

HP, Intel in Talks to Ease Atom Restrictions

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:41:00 +0000

The Atom is used in most netbooks on the market, however it is only available for use in netbooks with up to 10.2-inch displays. According to Digitimes, HP is said to be in negotiations with Intel reportedly in hopes to use Intel’s Atom in new mini-note PC models with larger panels.

The news comes at the same time as rumors about an Atom competitor from VIA. The VIA C7-M processor is currently used in HP’s 2133 Mini-Note, which was launched before the copious amounts of Atom netbooks hit shelves.

Digitimes cites sources who say that, in light of competition from netbooks by Asus and Acer, HP's '09 roadmap shows the company hopes to add both 11.6-inch model and a 13.3-inch model to its netbook line. The 11.6-inch is expected in the second quarter of 2009 and the 13.3-inch in June 2009.

We’re all in favor of HP basing its next line of mini-notes on the Atom, but is a 13.3-inch really a netbook? We don’t think Intel will go the for it. However, while we think only the 11.6-inch has a shot, Digitimes sources think HP is likely to obtain consent from Intel. Watch this space for more. Intel is expected to make a decision at the end of January.

Yahoo, Intel have high hopes for Internet TV

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:39:00 +0000

Yahoo and Intel built their success upon widespread use of personal computers, but the two companies hope products to be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January will mark the beginning of their Internet-fueled expansion to the world of TV as well.

The two companies have attracted several significant manufacturing and content allies in the attempt to bring new smarts and interactivity to a part of the electronics world that has remained a more passive part of people's digital lives.

Intel and Yahoo showed off Net-enabled TV prototypes in August, but the companies' technology will be presented in more finished form at the electronics show within products by Samsung, Toshiba, and a number of new partners that have signed on since the debut.

What exactly are they trying to achieve? For Yahoo, it's establishment of the Widget Channel, a software foundation that can house programs for browsing photos, using the Internet's abundant socially connected services, watching YouTube videos, or digging deeper into TV shows -- and through which Yahoo will be able to show advertisements.

For Intel, it's a foothold in an industry whose microprocessors have typically been cheaper, less powerful, and less power-hungry.

Yahoo is confident the products will catch on, in part because it's set "very low" licensing requirements, said Patrick Barry, vice president of Yahoo's Connected TV initiative.

Ericsson and Intel collaborate to create anti-theft mobile broadband modules in Laptops

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Ericsson antoday that it is collaborating with Intel to ensure that Ericsson’s Mobile Bnounced roadband Modules are interoperable with Intel® Anti-Theft PC Protection Technology for notebooks to offer a secure and reliable anti-theft solution for mobile broadband users. The collaboration addresses solutions to minimize the negative consequences when notebooks are lost or stolen, and in conjunction independent encryption software when sensitive data is lost while on-the-go and to prevent unwanted data intrusion.

The need for taking the profit out of stealing laptops and protecting sensitive and important information continues to grow with the increased popularity of mobile broadband notebooks. Theft or loss of notebooks can have enormous financial consequences for both consumers and enterprise users, especially when sensitive data on the notebook is lost or obtained by unauthorized persons.

Through this collaboration between Ericsson and Intel, a theft management service residing in the network can send a message via SMS to the mobile broadband module inside the notebook, which securely transfers the message to Intel’s Anti-Theft function inside the processor platform, which takes appropriate actions, such as completely locking the computer, making it unusable. When the notebook is located and recovered, an unlock message can be sent to the notebook that makes the data accessible again.

The solution builds on Ericsson’s Mobile Broadband Modules, which are tightly integrated in and optimized for notebooks, and Intel’s Anti-Theft PC Protection technology, which can lock a stolen or lost notebook. Intel Anti-Theft Technology provides an intelligent mechanism built into the processor platform that detects potential theft situations and responds according to IT policies. Anti-Theft PC Protection technology can be programmed to respond to repeated login failures and expiration of a timer that requires regularly scheduled connection to a central server.

When a loss or theft is detected, Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection technology can lock the laptop, rendering it useless, by blocking the boot process, and when working in conjunction with third-party encryption hardware or software can protect data by deleting cryptographic keys or similar essential code for decryption.

The theft management service can also take advantage of built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in the Ericsson mobile broadband module, which can send location data to a central server. The location function can be utilized to determine a theft situation when the notebook is moved outside a pre-defined area - a so called geo-fence to locate a lost notebook.

Ericsson Mobile Broadband Modules are already optimized with Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology to achieve excellent battery life and will in addition be validated to guarantee the interworking with Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection Technology. The solution will be available in commercial data protection products starting second half of 2009.

Intel’s Atom is a gem

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Intel's Atom. The specs of this chip do not fail to impress. Power is low enough for fanless operations. Die size is unbelievably less than 26mm2 - that’s a lot of dies per wafer. And performance is where it needs to be.

Talking about performance, Tech Report ran a comparative review of Intel’s desktop Atom 230 and the VIA Nano L2100. Even though the VIA device pretty much cleaned up in all the tests, when IE7 was used to compare browser performance, neither platform was appreciably slower than the quad-core system that the reviewer used every day.

Out of all the tests that Tech Report carried out, the browser comparison tells us all we need to know. Since most people use their PC for Internet use, a PC based around an Atom or Nano processor would be good enough for most users needs.

But the majority of people who are in the market for a PC don’t want to buy an Internet appliance type device and be restricted because of its lack of flexibility. Since a PC in the home will generally be used by more than one person, flexibility in the platform is a must.

Which brings us back to the Atom. To date Atom based devices have only been available with Intel chipsets. Also, platform choice has been limited. Netbook type devices come with small screens, small keyboards and little flexibility. Atom based systems that come bundled with a full-size screen and keyboard are still limited by their lack of or limited expansion.

All of this seems to indicate that there is an unwritten law that says Intel won’t be happy at all to see full-sized desktops and laptops powered by the the Intel Atom processor. And let’s not forget that Microsoft is trying real hard to put its very popular Windows XP operating system to rest.

I’m sure that there are many who would be interested in buying a full-sized Atom based laptop that is fanless, ships with a solid state drive (SSD), and probably most important of all, especially for business, ships with the venerable and loved Windows XP operating system.

I’m also sure that there are many others who would like a similar hardware and software setup in a traditional desktop PC, where there is room for at least three or four expansion slots.

Restraint of trade
Having recently finished rebuilding an automotive engine, I was doing some research on engine oil that I could use.

As it so happened I came across a bunch of lawsuits involving Dupont, which concerned the use of its Teflon product in oil additive solutions. Dupont had stopped supplying Teflon to these oil additive companies, as the chemical giant believed that its product wasn’t being used as directed.

Of course, the oil additive companies responded and sued Dupont. Dupont lost because it couldn’t legally stop a company from buying its product for something else that the Dupont hadn’t intended - that’s restraint of trade.

So why haven’t we yet seen full-sized Atom based laptop and desktop computers? Has Intel, unofficially, already dictated what Atom platforms are allowed?

A PC Perspective piece from last July said that Atom motherboard vendors had complained about the number of restrictions that Intel had imposed: Apparently, vendors are not allowed to build Atom boards that include PCI Express and digital video outputs. These boards are also restricted to just one memory slot.

All of this is worrying. As a US consumer, why can’t I have the option to buy an Intel Atom based motherboard that has PCI Express, digital video out and two DDR2 memory slots. Why should a monopolist like Intel impose on others that which serves its own interests best?

Because the majority of these Atom based motherboards are designed and manufactured in the Far East, I don’t know if the US restaint of trade laws have any jurisdiction there.

But these products do get imported into the US. So if it can be proved that Intel action caused the US consumer to suffer higher costs because of its foreign anticompetitive behaviour, maybe US law or the FTC can bring Intel to book.

Intel puts big bet on small chips

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:38:00 +0000

Intel stock has sunk to about $13 in the stock market rout, its lowest levels since Bill Clinton's first term. So is it a bargain now?

Sure - if the chipmaker can figure out how to dominate cell phones the way it has PCs.

That won't be easy. Though Intel supplies about 80 percent of the world's computer chips, it so far has failed to repeat that success outside the PC business.

It shut down its consumer electronics business in the last downturn, and today doesn't offer the low-power chips at the heart of hit devices like Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone, Nintendo's DS, and Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

To turn that around, Intel is banking on its tiny Atom processor, which it hopes will soon be ready to power next-generation phones.

"Atom is the heartbeat of Intel; it is the growth strategy," said Pankaj Kedia, Intel's director of business development for mobile Internet devices.

Will it work? Investors should pray it does. Just look at Intel's financial warning from a couple of weeks ago: Sales this quarter will fall far short of Wall Street's expectations, to about $9 billion - from a growth perspective, it might be the company's worst holiday season on record.

Yes, Intel's core business selling PC and server chips remains wildly profitable thanks to its manufacturing prowess, patent portfolio and mammoth scale; the company generated $3 billion in cash last quarter alone, carries little debt, and has a $12 billion war chest.

But the issue is growth. While Intel may be one of tech's big fish, the PC pond these days is stagnant or shrinking. Research firm IDC projects that consumers and businesses will spend less on computers in 2009 than they did this year, the first sequential decline since 2001.

Some of the blame for Intel's plight lies with a global recession that has finally smacked the technology industry, but that's not the whole story. Intel is also scrambling to adapt to a tectonic shift in the digital world, where attention is moving away from powerful Intel-based PCs and toward more energy-efficient and mobile gadgets. The faster Intel proves it can navigate the changed landscape, the sooner its fortunes - and stock price - are likely to improve.

Focus on Atom

So during a recent visit to the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, the discussion centered on Atom, the tiny chip that arrived this spring that's the centerpiece of Intel's mobile growth strategy.

Atom isn't ready for phones yet - so far it's mostly turning up in low-cost laptops like the Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) Mini 9 and the HP Mini 1000. But unlike Intel's bread-and-butter computer chips, Atom is designed from the ground up for small, low-cost, energy-efficient devices (think phones), not performance-focused PCs.

It's a Corolla in a company that has specialized in Corvettes - and Intel is convinced that upcoming versions will be efficient enough to begin appearing in phones.

"By 2010, Atom will be competitive in every aspect of mobile computing," promised Pat Gelsinger, an Intel senior vice president and engineering veteran.

Why does Intel need phone chips? Because, as Willie Sutton put it when asked why he robbed banks, "that's where the money is."

From Manhattan to Mumbai, people around the world open their wallets to buy more than 1 billion cell phones every year, and today practically none of the spoils end up in Intel's pockets. Instead, handset makers like Nokia (NOK), Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) and Samsung buy chips from companies like Qualcomm (QCOMM) and Texas Instruments (TI).

Common sense dictates that if Intel can cut itself into just a fraction of the cell phone market, voila - it will have the growth it craves.

"Where Atom's going, Intel has potential to gain market share where they have not been in the past," said Jim McGregor, director of semiconductors at the In-Stat research firm. "In cases where customers demand performance, it has potential."

Of course, cracking new chip markets isn't easy, and the cell phone business may prove an especially tough nut for Intel.

The king of the hill in cell phone chips, ARM Holdings (ARMH), plays a tough game. Rather than make its own chips as Intel does, ARM licenses its blueprints to companies like Qualcomm, TI and Samsung, and lets them customize and build the chips built on their own. The result: ARM gets a modest and comfortably profitable licensing business (operating profits so far in 2008 are about $126 million on sales of $397 million), and its customers get the security of knowing their phones aren't built on a cookie-cutter, industry-standard chip.

Some of the most powerful names in the tech industry seem to like that setup; IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) recently signed on to manufacture ARM-based processors, and Apple has engineers working on ARM-based chip designs for future versions of the iPod and iPhone.

To win despite those odds, Intel will have to woo high-profile ARM customers over to Atom - and that may be harder than it sounds. Case in point: the chip giant ended up with egg on its face in October, after Intel executives slammed the Internet performance of Apple's iPhone, suggesting it would work better with an Atom chip. The next day a more senior executive apologized effusively. Intel didn't comment on whether Apple CEO Steve Jobs personally called to demand the backpedaling, but it's safe to assume he didn't send flowers.

Still, analysts agree that there's no company better positioned to take on ARM than Intel. "Everybody's heard of Intel inside," said Will Strauss, president of the Forward Concepts research firm. "Nobody's ever heard of ARM inside."

Consider that alongside the fact that Intel was already running a tight ship before tough times hit, and it's easy to feel good about Intel's chances of figuring out phones, and rescuing its stock.

But this much is also true: It'll feel a lot better to see an Atom chip shipping in an iPhone or a BlackBerry. And for now, it's anyone's guess when that will happen.

Kontron and LynuxWorks Release Intel COTS Safety Critical Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:36:00 +0000

Kontron and LynuxWorks today released an Intel based COTS platform for safety critical, deterministic real-time embedded applications, using the Kontron PENTXM2 single board computer running the LynxOS-178B RTOS.
"By porting the world's only RTOS certified as a Reusable Software Component (RSC) by the Federal Aviation Administration onto a server class single board computer, LynuxWorks and Kontron have created the perfect solution for the new wave of dedicated safety critical applications built in the Intel environment," commented Richard Pugnier, marketing communications director at Kontron. "A growing number of such systems are seeking to exploit the immense base of development expertise and code available in the x86 domain. This solution allows avionics, vehicle electronics and other safety critical applications to adopt this path whilst reducing development time, cost and risk."
"Leveraging the development effort targeting a large European global positioning system program, our LynxOS-178 is now ready for deployments in harsh environmental conditions on the Kontron PENTXM2 rugged conduction cooled SBC. With that, our customers benefit from an instant boost in their schedule and not only can go to market aggressively with an outstanding head start, but can also create a complete range of new opportunities," added Joe Wlad, director of certification, marketing and services at LynuxWorks.
The Kontron PENTXM2 uses the 1.67 GHz dual-core Xeon, Intel's advanced low-power x86 technology, combined with the Intel E7520 server class memory controller hub (MCH). The PENTXM2 is available with up to 4GB of DDR2-400 SDRAM. When paired with the support of VITA 31.1 backplane networking, the PENTXM2's VITA 38 intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) feature provides for easy scaling into a multiprocessing system. The PENTXM2 provides a dual SATA-150, a triple USB 2.0 port and an EIDE interface for an on-board disk or compact-flash support. LynuxWorks LynxOS-178B is the only hard real-time RTCA/DO-178B level A operating system to offer the interoperability benefits of POSIX(R) with support for the ARINC 653 APplication EXecutive (APEX) on a x86 platform. It has LynxOS, a mature UNIX(R)-style operating system (born in 1988) that was designed from the ground up for hard real-time determinism at its core.

Intel All Set To Develop Self-Powered Sensors

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:35:00 +0000

With the aim to invent something extraordinary and unique, Intel is creating self-powered microchips. The unique thing about these microchips would be that it could be implanted in the human body, a mobile phone, a building, or anyplace else where people wish to gather information.

During a meeting on Friday with reporters in San Francisco, Intel CTO Justin Rattner described it as "wireless identification and sensing platform," or WISP and it was among several other technologies described by Rattner during the meeting.

Rattner described, "All of the inventions are designed to be energy-efficient. The WISP sensors would use Intel technology for drawing power from the environment. These are install-and-forget kind of systems."

He added, "The power would come from wireless transmissions, such as a Wi-Fi hotspot, a cellular tower, or a TV broadcast, making it possible for the sensors to continuously gather information in almost any environment."

Sensors implanted in street sweepers were used to monitor air quality throughout the city, in an experiment conducted by Intel in San Francisco.

"We could, in fact, litter the planet with these things. Rather than depend on satellite information, we could literally get instantaneous, near-global indication of the state of the planet," Rattner reported.

Moreover, these self-powered sensors could one day even land into human body and thus help a lot to observe health-related activities, such as heart beating. Researchers could even be capable of detecting viruses in the environment one day in order to determine the potential health risks, if they could shrink detectors to the molecular level.

Rattner said, "Within the data center, sensors could be used to map the heat levels of the different systems in order to create a thermally aware load management system."

Roadmap points to future Intel netbook chips

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Details have emerged of a future 32nm Intel chip for netbook-style devices that will merge the processor and chipset into a system-on-a-chip (SoC) component.

Codenamed Medfield, the processor is expected sometime in 2010, and will be preceded by Pineview, another future netbook processor due in 2009.

The information originated from a roadmap in a report published by UBS Securities in the US, and has been seized on by various technology newswires. An Intel spokesperson told vnunet.com that Medfield is an Intel codename, but declined to give any further details.

According to the reports, Medfield will integrate virtually all of the functions of a PC onto a single chip, including the memory controller, I/O and graphics accelerator. It will also be available in dual-core and single-core versions.

Pineview is also expected to ship as a high integration SoC, but will be built from a 45nm process, the same as Intel's current Atom processor that powers the majority of the netbook models now on the market.

Intel claims opto-electronic breakthrough

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:30:00 +0000

A breakthrough in opto-electronics detectors by Intel promises to address the shortage of network bandwidth which some believe could lead to the collapse of the internet. The system could also improve inter-chip and on-chip communications.

A paper published in Nature Photonics details the performance of an Avalanche Photo Detector (APD) based on silicon rather than the normally used indium phosphide.

Intel's research team created a sensor for light detection and amplification using silicon and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor processing to give a "gain-bandwidth product" of 340GHz, which they claim is the "best result ever measured for this key APD performance metric".

'Gain' is an electronic system's ability to increase the signal power of the device, and Intel claims that its research could "lower the cost of optical links running at data rates of 40Gbit/s or higher" and "proves for the first time that a silicon photonics device can exceed the performance of a device made with traditional, more expensive optical materials such as indium phosphide".

"The gain [multiplied by] the bandwidth is a fixed number," said Dr Mario Paniccia, of Intel's Photonics Technology Lab, explaining the significance of a 'gain-bandwidth product'.

"Commercial APDs made with indium phosphide have a typical gain bandwidth of 120GHz. For use in 10Gbit/s long-haul communications links, typical APDs would cost $200 to $300 [£134 to £202].

"Because of the high gain bandwidth we're achieving here in a low-cost device, we can produce a device that gives better performance at 10Gbit/s, and can also operate better at 20Gbit/s and 40Gbit/s and higher."

Dr Paniccia added that, depending on the application, Intel could adapt the device to focus on speed, distance or power savings.

"We can reduce the laser power, but still get the same gain as current APDs, " he said. "The potential applications of the new APD range from communications interconnects to quantum cryptography, biochips and eventually chip-to-chip and on-chip interconnects."

Questioned about commercialisation of the product, Paniccia admitted that Intel still has to optimise the device for performance and increase its sensitivity. "We are working to drive this aggressively into our platforms and also looking at the reliability of these systems," he said.

Dr Paniccia explained that optics would evolve in the next five to seven years, but that it will be difficult to replace copper at distances of under six inches for chip-to-chip interconnects.

"Predicting something five years ahead - an eternity in this industry - would be difficult," he said. "On-chip interconnects are still quite a way out. Ten plus years."