EC Evidently Aims to Hang Intel High

The European Commission has reportedly drafted a final antitrust decision on Intel that - predictably - calls for a fine and a ban on Intel's allegedly anticompetitive rebates, though what any "ban" - a complex issue - might entail remains to be seen.
Imagine now a European entity regulating the business between two American firms like, oh, Intel and IBM, Intel and HP, Intel and Dell, Intel and Cisco, Intel and Apple, Intel and Sun or between Intel and any of the Asian firms.
Who exactly the EC would be regulating in the European Union is a very short or very imaginative list.
Any fine is likely to dominate the story but is relatively unimportant by comparison, although expectations are that the EC will try to set a new personal best and go for something north of $1.5 billion.

Anyway, the reportedly 500-page draft has reportedly been sent to the EU's 27 national competition authorities ahead of a meeting at which they all get to turn their thumbs up or down, followed by another meeting to approve the fine. Intel is not believed to have set aside any money to cover any fines.
Figure a ruling in the next two months maybe in time for the fourth anniversary of the mammoth AMD vs Intel suit on June 27.
And figure Intel will appeal; it was invited to do so last year when it took the EC to court trying to get them to accept some evidence it didn't want to look at.
Intel's problem with the EC dates to an AMD complaint in 2000.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Titanic clash brewing between Qualcomm, Intel

Handset heavyweight Qualcomm is set to butt heads with Intel as it readies its high-performance Snapdragon chip.
Qualcomm's three-year effort to design its first gigahertz-class processor for smartphones will come to fruition this summer. And if products roll out in the numbers Qualcomm claims, Snapdragon should solidify the San Diego, Calif.-based company's position as the preeminent maker of cell phone chips, while allowing it to challenge Intel's dominance in Netbooks.

I sat down with Mark Frankel, vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, last week to discuss the prospects for Snapdragon and Intel's increasing presence in small devices.
"From a business perspective and design win perspective, things have only increased since Q4 of last year," Frankel said of Snapdragon.
Toshiba will be the first to bring out a Snapdragon-based smartphone. "Toshiba is this summer. That's the only Snapdragon 'hard' device that's been announced so far. You'll see many more over the course of the year," Frankel said.

The Toshiba TG01 Windows Mobile-based phone was unveiled in February. It uses a 1GHz Snapdragon (aka the Qualcomm QSD8250 chipset), is only 9.9mm thick (versus 12.3mm for the Apple iPhone), runs Windows Mobile 6.1, sports a 4.1-inch WVGA 800x480 touch screen (versus 3.5-inch for the iPhone), and comes with support for 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, and assisted-GPS.
(See video below of Qualcomm-developed game running on the Toshiba TG01 and Snapdragon.)
Acer and Asus, among others, are also expected to bring out Snapdragon-based products.
It took a long time for Qualcomm to reach this point. In November 2006, Luis Pineda, Qualcomm's senior vice president of marketing and product management at the time, told ZDNet UK that "chipsets based on Snapdragon should become available towards the end of 2007, with products appearing the following year." That didn't happen, of course.
Nevertheless, Qualcomm--as the leading provider of core silicon in cell phones--has a long history of providing chips for high-profile phones. The T-Mobile G1, which runs Google's Android operating system, is powered by Qualcomm's processor, for example.
One of Snapdragon's purported fortes is its performance. The chip runs at 1GHz, a milestone for the power-frugal ARM architecture, which typically yields processors that run at much lower speeds. (U.K.-based ARM licenses a basic chip design to companies including Samsung, Nvidia, Toshiba, and Panasonic, which take the design and modify it for their specific needs.)
Snapdragon boasts an ATI graphics engine, too. In February, Qualcomm acquired Advanced Micro Devices' ATI handheld chip technology, which includes intellectual property for "unified shader architecture" that has been used in Microsoft's Xbox.
Frankel said the ATI graphics engine will improve. "Going forward, you'll see more and more innovation done in-house," he said.

Qualcomm is also going multi-core, an established trend at Intel and AMD for PC and server chips but not for handheld devices because of the power requirements. And even Intel abandoned--though this may change later this year--multi-core in its Netbook Atom line-up because it would make Atom too power hungry.
"It is possible to have multi-core versions just as there are multi-core versions of Intel and AMD processors," Frankel said. "We do have a pretty robust CPU road map. (A dual-core) chip has been in development for some time. And it's well under way. It's sampling this year. You won't see it product this year. You'll see version one of Snapdragon," he said.
The Qualcomm QSD8672 dual-core Snapdragon is expected to reach speeds of 1.5GHz.
So, how is all of this technology going to best the 800-pound chip gorilla, Intel? "There are certainly some very glaring differentiations with Atom...No matter how much the other architecture pounds its drum for power saving, I don't think you're going to see that architecture in handheld devices for a period of time," Frankel said, referring to mainstream smartphones.
(Intel announced in March that it would co-manufacture Atom chips with chip manufacturing giant TSMC, and LG Electronics said in February that it would bring out a smartphone based on the "Moorestown" version of the Atom processor.)
In response to a question about Intel's current line-up of Atom chips for handheld mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, he said: "Atom is a product looking for a home. It was a product not designed with the user in mind but with the socket in mind." (The socket connects the chip to the circuit board.) "Why do you want a MID? I don't think anybody was really able to answer that question."
And Frankel repeated what some analysts have claimed: that Intel needs to control the market segmentation of the lower-profit Atom processor so it doesn't cannibalize its higher-end chips. "Intel wants to encapsulate this because of the ramifications to the other aspects of its business," he said.
What about Netbooks--the space that Intel owns right now? "When we first came out with Snapdragon, there was a lot interest in the Netbook space. The thinking was: I'll take my traditional Netbook Linux OS that I have in desktops and laptops. (But) I think over time, OEMs (device makers) have come to the conclusion: why limit my differentiation to just the hardware componentry?"
Frankel continued, "(Device makers) have been pushing some of the OS vendors to have smaller, faster, lighter more rich platforms. I think that's happening in several different OS areas. Certainly Linux."

Analysts, however, are not too sanguine about Qualcomm's prospects for garnering a big share of the Netbook market.
"My opinion is that Netbooks with non-x86 (non-Intel) processors will not be nearly as successful as x86-based Netbooks--regardless of any advantages they have in power consumption or cost," said Tom R. Halfhill, senior analyst at the Microprocessor Report.
The problem is that ARM-based Netbooks run Linux not Windows, Halfhill said.
"Of course, the vast majority of users care nothing about CPU architecture--except when it visibly affects the product they're using. When the operating system is in-your-face visible, as it is with Netbooks, few users stray from their comfort zone. In a mobile computer that's still perceived as a PC, they overwhelmingly prefer Windows over Linux," Halfhill said. There have also been reports that ARM processors face challenges supporting Flash video.
Not surprisingly, Intel agrees.
"We believe the Atom processor family will continue to have a significant performance benefit over ARM-based designs," Intel spokesman Bill Calder said. "And it remains to be seen how a highly fragmented ARM ecosystem and lack of software compatibility will meet consumer expectations for a good Internet experience."
To date, the only announced Snapdragon-based Netbook is a prototype from device maker Wistron.
"We expect Snapdragon-based designs to be as light, as thick as (the Wistron Netbook)--if not more so as the design experience goes on. We expect significantly better battery life than other architectures can achieve," Qualcomm's Frankel said.
So, initially--even by Qualcomm's account--Snapdragon may be a bigger factor in smartphones than Netbooks. "We have quite a few Netbook design wins. But actually in number we have more design wins in the smartphone space--quite a lot of interest in Snapdragon for Windows Mobile. And certainly we have a great relationship with Google for Android-based devices as well."
So, how will this Intel-Qualcomm competition shake out in the next 12 months? Snapdragon may be the chip to beat in smartphones and MIDs, but the jury is out on Netbooks, where Intel is firmly in control--and it's Intel's market to lose.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

HP 13-inch lappy gets Intel-ized

One of our biggest issues with HP's Pavilion dv3z was its AMD processor, keeping it from beating out the performance of comparable 13- and 14-inch laptops with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs. The 13.3-inch laptop was otherwise a good deal, highly configurable, and thanks to an extended-life battery, able to stay up and running for nearly five hours.
However, if you feel like the slightly slower performance of the AMD processors isn't worth the cost savings, HP now offers the Pavilion dv3t with six Intel Core Duo processors to pick from. The base model comes with a 2GHz T6400 processor and a starting price of $798.99.
Configured with a T6400 and closely matching the review specs we tested, the price comes out to $967.99, which is still a good deal for all that you get. It's just not as good as the $678.99 price of the AMD-based version running on a 2.3GHz Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-84.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Here come Intel's Westmere chips

Intel has been talking a lot about Westmere chips lately. So, here's a quick look at Intel's first chips based on 32-nanometer technology.
Chief Executive Paul Otellini addressed Westmere during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call this week, saying the Westmere chip design will ship later this year, earlier than expected. "We have shipped thousands of Westmere samples to over 30 customers already," Otellini said in the conference call.
Intel's current lineup is made up of processors based on 45-nanometer technology. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. The move to 32-nanometer will put Intel ahead of rival Advanced Micro Devices, which isn't expected to transition to 32-nanometer chips until late in 2010.
The first installment of the Westmere family, the Clarkdale and Arrandale processors, is expected later this year, according to published Intel documentation. Clarkdale is a 32-nanometer desktop processor with built-in graphics--what Intel describes as a "multi-chip package with graphics integrated in (the) processor." Arrandale is a version--also with integrated graphics--for the mobile market, due later this year.

Intel Nehalem/Westmere chip lineup(Credit: Intel)
In 2010, a processor code-named Gulftown (see graphic) is slated to appear and will be Intel's first six-core desktop processor. The Westmere chip will plug into existing Intel motherboard designs.
Westmere will support Intel's Hyperthreading technology, which doubles the number of tasks that can be handled simultaneously.
In related news, Intel's Nehalem mobile "Clarksfield" (don't confuse with Clarkdale) and Nehalem desktop "Lynnfield" processors will come in the second half of the year, according to Intel.
Chinese-language technology Web site HKEPC says Clarksfield quad-core processors will have speeds of 1.6GHz, 1.73GHz, and 2.0GHz and range in price from $364 to $1,054.
Both Annandale (32-nanometer) and Clarksfield (45-nanometer) chips are targeted at the "thin-and-light" laptop market, according to Intel documentation.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel finds stolen laptops can be costly

A laptop's value is more than meets the eye. Intel says stolen laptops cost corporate owners more than $100,000 in some cases, in a study announced Wednesday.
The study on notebook security, commissioned by Intel and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, states that laptops lost or stolen in airports, taxis, and hotels around the world cost their corporate owners an average of $49,246 "reflecting the value of the enclosed data above the cost of the PC," Intel said.
Analyzing 138 instances of lost and stolen notebooks, the study based the $49,246 price tag on costs associated with replacement, detection, forensics, data breach, lost intellectual property, lost productivity, and legal, consulting and regulatory expenses, Intel said. Data breach alone represents 80 percent of the cost.
Who owns a missing notebook is important, Intel said. It is not the CEO's computer that is the most valued, but a director or manager, according to the study. A senior executive's notebook is valued at $28,449, while a director or manager's notebook is worth $60,781 and $61,040, respectively.
The average cost if the notebook is discovered missing the same day is $8,950, according to the study. After more than one week, this figure can reach as high as $115,849.
In addition to the obvious need for vigilance, countermeasures include encryption and data-deletion security services. The study found that data encryption makes the most significant difference in the average cost: a lost notebook with an encrypted hard-disk drive is valued at $37,443, compared with $56,165 for a nonencrypted version, the study says.
Intel Anti-Theft Technology is a "poison pill" solution programmed into the PC that can be triggered by internal detection mechanisms or by a remote server to lock a lost or stolen notebook, rendering it completely useless, according to Intel.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel's Earnings: An Industry Awaits

Intel will report its earnings after the close of market on Tuesday, April 14, and good news from the chip giant could cause a lot of people holding their breath to let out a huge sigh of relief. At least one analyst thinks we're in for a pleasant surprise.
FBR Capital Markets has raised its target estimates for Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) first-quarter earnings, albeit slightly. The firm said its research found better-than-feared PC shipments in Q1, chip inventory levels now largely at "hand-to-mouth levels," and promising activity in China, a major market.
But don't break out the champagne yet. FBR projects Intel will post revenue of around $7.15 billion, better than the firm's unofficial guidance of $7B. But that's also 13 percent below Q4 2008 figures, although Q1 traditionally sees a fall-off from the fourth quarter's Christmas rush.
FBR also raised its Q1 EPS estimate to $0.04, up from Wall Street's estimates of $0.02, and thinks Q2 will see revenue in the $7.0 billion to $7.6 billion range. It raised its 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates to $0.50 and $0.80, respectively.

"While INTC may appreciate over the next year, we think investors may get a better entry point in the name this spring or summer. Furthermore, we prefer [Qualcomm] QCOM (mega-cap exposure) or [Marvell Communications] MRVL (PC sector play) as stocks that have better growth and valuation upside versus INTC," the company wrote in a research note.
In checking with PC vendors, FBR found that evidence of a slight Intel revenue upside in Q1, while Q2 "suggests growth is likely." The company found that component vendors aren't shrinking as much as originally projected, hence the revision up in estimated revenue.
The firm said that in recent Q2 checks, its contacts expect notebook PC builds to grow about 10 percent to 12 percent sequentially, while desktop PC build production is likely to be flat to down a few points. That reflects the trend in notebook vs. desktop sales and given Intel's dominance of the market, it should get most of that growth.
Two areas of actual demand are China, which has had its own government stimulus bill to give its economy a kick start, and PC sales are beginning to increase after stalling last year. FBR also said it noticed a "thawing" of corporate PC demand, which is very good news as most companies have all but stopped making capital expenditures for the past year.

FBR analyst Craig Berger, author of the report, appeared on CNBC's "Fast Money" show on Monday to discuss his findings. Berger added that netbooks are a decent market opportunity for Intel but because the chips are cheaper, they represent fewer gross profit points.
He also said growth is slow in developed parts of the market, such as the U.S. and Europe. One of the things that may boost Intel's numbers is inventory replenishment, and not necessarily "broad-based demand."
Starting in Q4, many parts suppliers and OEMs halted their purchases of parts for fear of being stuck with excessive inventory. Many of them simply let their supply of inventory bleed out until it was almost all gone, and then replaced it only as needed or on a hand-to-mouth basis. That pattern is continuing, at least for now. Berger also added he didn't know what demand would be like for the third and fourth quarters of the year.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel issues solid-state drive fix

Intel released a fix for its solid-state drives Monday, addressing an issue first reported back in February.
"We are releasing an end-user firmware update for our X-25M and X-18M SSD drives today," Intel said Monday.
Intel said this addresses a problem first introduced by technology Web site PC Perspective in February. "This update implements several continuous improvements and optimizations to the drive algorithms including a resolution for a performance issue first reported by the PC Perspective," Intel said.
The PC Perspective review, titled "Long-term performance analysis of Intel Mainstream SSDs," claimed, among other things, that the Intel X25-M solid-state drive would degrade in performance as a result of "internal fragmentation."
"Keep in mind that the risk of a typical PC user experiencing this issue is very low," Intel said Monday. "We are offering this firmware download to our OEM customers and any consumers who have purchased the drives. Consumers with questions can contact their PC maker or visit Intel support for more information."
A Monday post by PC Perspective said that "the Intel guys were surprisingly down to earth and receptive to our input" and that Intel "replicated our findings in their lab. An added bonus was they...passed us a new firmware and were asking for our feedback."
Intel did not recognize the problem initially, saying in February: "Our labs currently have not been able to duplicate these results."

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Server start-up taps IBM-Intel tech, eyes Web 2.0

A start-up founded by former Sun Microsystems computer scientists is tapping IBM and Intel hardware to accelerate the enormous server workloads of burgeoning Web 2.0 businesses.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Schooner Information Technology announced Monday that it is readying a server appliance based on Intel's newest Nehalem processors and its solid-state drives. The first products are due by the end of May with volume shipments in the third quarter of 2009.
Hewlett-Packard and Fusion-io said recently that they are working on analogous technology and had achieved extremely high performance using Fusion-io's solid-state drives running on HP servers.
Schooner Information Technology's President and CEO John R. Busch was formerly research director of computer system architecture and analysis at Sun laboratories. Chairman and CTO Tom McWilliams was a lead engineer at Sun, working on server architecture and advanced CAD tools. Prior to that, McWilliams was a director in the MIPS division of Silicon Graphics. Both men were involved in moving Sun to multicore server architectures, according to Busch.
The company is funded by CMEA Capital and Redpoint Ventures. The current total investment is $15 million.
In a phone interview Monday, CEO Busch explained that the company has set out to fuse standalone high-performance server technologies into a faster organic whole. "Computer companies are pretty much selling boxes while others are selling networking. They're basically just selling component technologies," he said. "If you just speed up the processor or speed up the interconnect or add in flash drives, it will have a small effect."
"The observation I had when we started the company was that we really need to make a shift and we really need to put the middleware application and (our) new operating environment together with these technologies--tightly coupled with parallel flash memory and with Intel multicore processors. As opposed to loosely coupled, in order to bring their real inherent benefits through," Busch said.
Busch continued. "We pulled together a team of scientists and engineers and did the workload characterization and the modeling and the engineering and the optimization and we've been able to accomplish an eight times improvement in throughput performance," he said.
Michael Pray, vice president of sales and marketing, talked about specific challenges facing its customer base. "I would use the example of a social networker. When a person signs into their home page, there's a ton a data options that are returned back on those pages. The pain is around having to scale to meet the challenge. The more and more users you get, the more and more successful you are. You're kind of a victim of your own success with regards to the amount of data you need to serve up and continue the user response times," he said.
The company's core innovations, such as "extremely fast parallel thread switching between the (processor) cores," are, in essence, technologies to accelerate processing on the server computer.
The company uses IBM System x3650 M2 servers outfitted with Intel Nehalem processors and 512GB arrays of Intel solid-state drives. The products will be co-branded with IBM and will use IBM after-market support.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Gartner: Intel reigns, Qualcomm gains

Qualcomm is gaining in global chip rankings by revenue, while Intel still sits comfortably at the top, according to market researcher Gartner.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $255 billion in 2008, down 5.4 percent, or a decrease of $14.5 billion from 2007 revenue, according to the final market share analysis released by Gartner on Wednesday.
"While sales held up fairly well in the first half of 2008, in the third quarter the industry started to soften as the economy slowed, and by the fourth quarter sales were deteriorating quickly, causing revenue growth to go into negative territory," said Peter Middleton, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.
Intel held the No. 1 position for the 17th consecutive year, increasing its market share to 13.3 percent in 2008, although revenue declined by 0.5 percent, a result of spinning off its NOR flash memory business, Gartner said. "The company outperformed the industry average due to the strong performance of its notebook business in which the company gained share throughout the year," according to Gartner.
(Credit: Gartner)
Reports on Thursday say Intel, whose shares have been gaining over the last month, may fare better than expected when it reports earnings on April 14. "We think the first-quarter results will beat Intel's internal forecast and consensus estimates and expect second-quarter guidance to reflect modest growth," The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, quoting Wedbush Morgan analyst Patrick Wang.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, however, should probably keep an eye on its flourishing California rival, San Diego-based Qualcomm--the "best performer" among the 2008 top 10 in Gartner's market share analysis. The world's largest supplier of cell phone silicon saw growth of 15.3 percent, driven by a strong first three quarters of the year. It jumped in ranking from No. 11 in 2007 to No. 8 in 2008.
Samsung, the No. 2 chip vendor, was among the hardest hit because its main products lines are memory, a chip category that saw steep declines in 2008. The company's revenue fell 15 percent in 2008 as a result of oversupply and consequent price drops in DRAM (used as the main memory in PCs) and NAND flash (used as storage in cameras, digital music players, and solid-state drives).
No.3 Toshiba saw revenue fall 10.3 percent in its lines of chips for consumer, wireless, and automotive electronics due to a market free-fall in the second half of 2008, Gartner said.
Broadcom led the rankings in 2008 for "Relative Industry Performance"--which measures the difference between industry-specific growth for a company and actual growth, indicating which companies are outperforming (or underperforming) their business segments. Broadcom benefited from solid performance in the set-top box business, helped by Blu-ray and digital TV products and the sale of digital converter boxes for the DTV conversion in the United States, Gartner said. Broadcom also fared well in Ethernet switches, broadband modem chips, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel VP: Netbooks not for adults

Remember those first 7-inch Asus Eee PCs advertised with kids tapping on chicklet keyboards? Well, Intel apparently wants us to return to those Netbook glory days.

HP Pavilion dv2 laptop starts at about $700: Will upcoming cheap ultra-thin notebooks kill the Netbook?(Credit: CNET Reviews)
In short, Netbooks are not for adults, according to Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, speaking during a keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, streamed on Intel's Web site.
"There are things that you would do on a notebook you wouldn't dream of doing on a Netbook...For a kid, a Netbook is fantastic, as an adult you probably want a notebook. So, there are very simple ways of positioning and thinking about it."
(Hmm...what about all those big people with Netbooks? I guess it's time to trade it in for a grown-up computer.)
Now, contrast this with what Stu Pann, vice president in Intel's sales and marketing group, said back in November of last year at a Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference.
"We originally thought Netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that. It turns out the bulk of the Netbooks sold today are in Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook," Pann said.
And Pann added: "If you've ever used a Netbook and used a 10-inch screen size--it's fine for an hour. It's not something you're going to use day in and day out."
What Intel may be doing now is trying to reposition the Atom-processor-based Netbook so it doesn't cannibalize the more lucrative notebook market. This strategy may get a boost when Intel offers non-Atom ultra-low voltage (ULV) mobile processors later this year for ultra-thin notebooks, priced roughly between $500 and $1,000. (AMD is already offering its Neo processor--which is the chip inside the HP Pavilion dv2--for this market.)
But is the Netbook tsunami something Intel really wants to tamper with? Acer just announced an 11.6-inch Aspire One with a 160GB hard disk drive. Is this a Netbook? That's what everyone is calling it. And HP continues to build its Netbook portfolio along with Dell and Asus.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel adds new chips as Atom turns 1

Intel celebrated the first anniversary of the Atom processor by introducing two new models, while confirming the arrival of Nehalem-based mobile processors later this year and disclosing a new chip dubbed "Jasper Forest."
The chipmaker also did a live demonstration for the first time of the next-generation Atom-based platform, code-named Moorestown. The platform will include a new Moblin software version that will enable a PC-like Internet experience along with cellular voice capabilities, Intel said.

Intel senior vice president Anand Chandrasekher did a live demonstration of the upcoming Moorestown Atom chip in Beijing(Credit: Intel)
Intel announced two new Atom processors for mobile Internet devices, or MIDs: the Z550 and Z515. The Z550 extends the performance of the Atom line to 2GHz. The Z515 incorporates the Intel Burst Performance Technology (Intel BPT), which enables the processor to run at 1.2GHz when performance is needed, Intel said.
Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, in a keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, discussed upcoming processors for laptops based on the Nehalem architecture that will be available in the second half of this year as part of the "Calpella" platform. These processors will be more powerful than their predecessors by including such technologies as Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel Turbo Boost Technology.
Chandrasekher also touched on Intel's ultra low-voltage (ULV) processors and how they are creating a category of ultra-thin laptops less than 1-inch thick. Intel is slated to offer lower-priced versions of these processors by early summer that are expected to engender a class of low-cost ultra-thin laptops, which some have described as a MacBook Air for the masses.
Pat Gelsinger, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, disclosed, for the first time, the Nehalem EP-based processor code-named Jasper Forest that is specifically designed for embedded and storage applications "to deliver optimal performance per watt...Jasper Forest will be offered in single-, dual- or quad-core designs; ranging from 23 watts to 85 watts," Intel said.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel launches new chip logos, rating system

Intel has revamped its processor badging and rating system. Consumers are the main target, though business systems will get new badging too.
The new badges include a die (the chip minus the packaging) accent in the upper right hand corner, a prominent main brand (e.g., "Core"), and the modifier (e.g., "i7").
Intel has also instituted a star system that rates chips from five stars (best performance in class) to one star (lowest performance). "So when a consumer goes into a Best Buy store they can distinguish between Centrino, Core, Celeron, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad," said Intel spokesman Bill Calder.
That may be a little easier said than done, however. Some consumers (but not including "tech savvy" Giampaolo, of course) will still need help from the sales person to decipher the badging. A daunting challenge in the case of consumer laptops, which are typically plastered with a hodgepodge of stickers from Intel, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, AMD's ATI graphics chip unit, and other companies.
Intel is in the process of moving to a "pretty aggressive brand simplification plan," Calder said. "When we launched Core i7, we said we're moving to a single primary client brand, which is Core. We're moving in that direction," he said.
The Atom processor will not get a modifier. In the future, the Nehalem server processor, currently branded only as "Xeon" with a letter and number suffix, may also get new branding to make it more readily identifiable as part of the Nehalem architecture like its desktop sibling the Core i7, Calder said.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Acer PC joins Nvidia's 'Ion' with Intel's Atom

Acer launched a PC Tuesday that attempts to bring PC-class performance to Atom-processor-based PCs.

The Acer AspireRevo, about the size of a hardcover book, combines Nvidia graphics with the Intel Atom processor.(Credit: Acer)
The Acer AspireRevo is the first Atom-based PC from a major PC supplier to use Nvidia's Ion chipset that packs GeForce 9400M graphics, the same graphics used in the Apple 13-inch MacBook and MacBook Air.
By design, Atom is a more power frugal and, concomitantly, slower processor than Intel's mainstream Core 2 chip architecture.
The AspireRevo's marquee external feature is the diminutive size: the desktop is comparable in size to a laptop (though slightly thicker, about the size of a typical hardcover book). Internally, the device will test Nvidia's thesis that devices, such as Netbooks, that pair the Atom processor with Nvidia graphics offer much better performance than Intel-only (i.e., Atom-with-Intel-chipset) platforms.
This won't be quite the slam dunk that it was before, however. Intel recently started shipping the Atom N280 and the accompanying GN40 chipset, which for the first time on an Intel Netbook platform delivers 1080p HD playback.
"The AspireRevo...is perfectly suited for the living room, because Nvidia Ion provides a brilliant graphics experience with digital photos, watching video, and playing family-friendly games," said Gianpiero Morbello, corporate vice president of marketing for Acer, in a statement.
Nvidia listed the following capabilities for the Ion-based AspireRevo:
Ability to run Windows Vista Home Premium
1080p HD video with true-fidelity 7.1 audio
Popular games including Spore, Call of Duty 4, and Sim City 4 *
DirectX 10 graphics with advanced digital display connectivity
Accelerated video enhancement and transcoding using Nvidia CUDA technology

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

As Intel's Atom gains, Apple still holdout

Intel's Atom is proving to be a very popular chip. But is it too low-rent for Apple?
First the news. iSuppli reported Monday that Intel gained share, based on revenue, in the global microprocessor during every quarter of 2008 to finish up with 80.5 percent of the total processor market--a 1.6 percent gain over rivals--partly due to the success of its Atom chip in Netbooks.

Would a hypothetical Apple Netbook be a high-end product like Sony's Vaio P line? (Credit: Sony)
"Intel's low-priced Atom has become increasingly popular as the Netbook market has gained steam," Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms research, for iSuppli, said in a statement.
Worldwide unit shipments of Netbooks soared by more than 2,000 percent in 2008 and are expected to rise by about 68 percent in 2009, iSuppli said.
Not surprisingly, every major computer maker has announced a Netbook--some, like Toshiba, begrudgingly--and others, like Dell, seemed, at least initially, to put a product out there just in case.
Hewlett-Packard--one of the early leaders in the market--came out (back in April 2008) first with an upscale business-class "Mini-Note" Netbook, but since then HP has added a lower-cost consumer-focused HP Mini 1000 series too. All HP Netbooks now use the Atom processor after a brief flirtation with a Via processor (used because HP developed its Mini-Note before Atom was available).
Sony finally chimed in this year with the a luxury Netbook--the Vaio P series, which ranges in price from $900 to $1,499 with a 128GB solid-state drive and 2GB of memory--both atypical for an Atom-based system.
But not Apple. Now about a year after Intel rolled out the Atom brand. A Russian magazine has posted a pretty compelling mock-up of what an Apple Netbook could (should?) look like. The magazine even proffered some believable specs that were slightly off-kilter--a typical Apple product strategy: a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 (typically not used in Netbooks, most vendors default to the 1.6GHz N270), a 64GB solid-state drive (not unheard of in Netbooks but certainly not common), and, most interestingly, an Nvidia chipset and Nvidia graphics.
One of the challenges Apple faces with a luxury Netbook configuration like this is that it comes uncomfortably close to its pricey MacBook Air, which also offers Nvidia graphics and solid-state drives. This, of course, could change if Apple updates the Air with a more upscale configuration.
Or Apple could bring out an un-Netbook (Apple, of course, will dare not speak the name "Netbook") like Sony but trump Sony by using an inexpensive Intel Core 2 ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processor (due by early summer) that keeps it up-market but far enough below MBA territory.
That said, if Apple goes the Atom-based Netbook route, it will not be immune from the inevitable cannibalization that Atom brings with it.
Some potential MacBook Air buyers would look at a 10- or 11-inch Apple Netbook and say why pay the $1,000 premium? Maybe too many for Apple's taste. We'll see.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Needs of big firms foretell Intel, Nvidia battle

As Intel prepares to invade Nvidia turf, large companies at the Intel server chip rollout Monday stated--in some cases quite objectively--what graphics chip suppliers need to do to make this technology more palatable for high-performance computing.

Lincoln Wallen, head of research and development at DreamWorks Animation(Credit: Screen capture by Brooke Crothers)
Besides competing in the gaming graphics market, Intel is eying large high-performance computing customers such as Dreamworks Animation (whose "Monsters vs. Aliens" opened last weekend to large box office numbers) for its future Larrabee graphics chip.
Nvidia is already a player in the so-called General Purpose GPU space, which applies graphics processing units (GPUs) to high-performance computing. As described by Nvidia, high-performance computing on the GPU uses a CPU and GPU together in a heterogeneous computing model, with the "sequential" part of th

e application running on the CPU and the computationally-intensive part running on the hundreds of processing cores built into the GPU.
Application developers have to modify their application to take the compute-intensive kernels (core components of an operating system) and map them to the GPU. The rest of the application remains on the CPU.
At the Intel "Nehalem" server chip event on Monday, a panel of representatives from large companies addressed the issue of CPU versus GPU. Currently, these customers are using CPUs to do their data crunching.
Keith Gray, manager, high performance and technical computing at oil giant BP, spelled out why he has hesitated to use GPUs to date while expressing interest in adopting them in the future. "Our business is about accelerating our development of new seismic imaging research algorithms. At this point we actually believe the level of programming difficulty (and) lack of standardization of application development tools make the move to accelerated computing a bit risky," he said.

CPU (left) versus GPU(Credit: Nvidia)
Gray continued. "We are watching the evolution of the programming interfaces. Once those are better standardized, once the issues of moving data back and forth from the general purpose system to an accelerator is addressed, we'll be very interested in taking advantage of it," he said.
Lincoln Wallen, head of research and development at DreamWorks Animation, is also looking into exploiting power of the GPU for tasks such as rendering. "We're looking forward to exploit more flexible compute models, perhaps involve more of the graphics processing functionality but tightly coupled with very powerful CPUs to address the particular way in which we generate images, very soft body, lots of geometry generation," he said.
Wallen continued that, as he sees it, Larrabee offers an advantage because of its tight coupling between the CPU and GPU. "The promise of Larrabee with that tight coupling and the programming model offers a great opportunity to start to explore that type of architecture for our particular workloads," he said.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel's 'GPA' points to Larrabee

Behind the release this week of Intel graphics software looms Larrabee, Intel's future graphics chip.

Intel is preparing to become a graphics powerhouse too.(Credit: Intel)
First, the news. Intel announced the release of Intel Graphics Performance Analyzers (GPA), a suite of software tools that enables PC game developers to analyze and optimize game performance on Intel Integrated Graphics. This is part of the Visual Adrenaline program, launched at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco in August, which provides tools, resources and information for game developers, artists, and animators, according to Intel.
But let's be clear about one thing: not a lot of people in gaming circles are going to get too excited about gaming on Intel integrated graphics. Intel graphics--at least to date--haven't provided anything more than a minimal gaming experience--and they have been priced that way, coming virtually free on PCs. While upcoming technologies like Intel's Moorestown system-on-a-chip may create some new opportunities on small devices like high-end smartphones, it will still be limited in its graphics capabilities.
All of this will soon (this year?) be eclipsed by Larrabee. In response to a question about what kind of Larrabee support GPA offers, I got this elliptic but telling response. "In the future, GPA will also support upcoming Intel graphics and many-core related products. There are some absolutely exciting features we are currently developing which will change the way people think about performance tools, and which will allow developers to truly harness unbridled computing power," said Aaron Davies, senior marketing manager, Visual Computing Software Division, Intel.
Think Intel isn't getting ready for Larrabee--and, generally, for a bigger presence in graphics? Take a look at this Visual Adrenaline Web site. And in particular, this page: "As multi-core gives way to many-core architectures, graphics processing tasks can be performed faster and more efficiently. Visual computing and parallelism share a common playbook. Developers, artists, and digital content creators, who have tapped the many multi-core and threading resources available from Intel, will reap additional many-core benefits."
Sounds like Larrabee to me.
GPA is also, of course, targeted at Intel chipsets, allowing developers to pinpoint performance bottlenecks and optimize games for Intel-based desktop PCs and laptops. But I'll wait for Larrabee, as I think many at Intel are doing too.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel: Our graphics silicon is gaining in gaming

Any gamer worth his or her salt is quick to decry gaming on Intel graphics silicon. But wait. The platform is taking off, according to Intel.

Empire: Total War(Credit: The Creative Assembly)
"So you want to know what's so compelling about making sure your game runs on Intel integrated graphics?" Aaron Davies, a senior marketing manager in the Intel Visual Computing Software Development group, asked in a video on the Intel Software Network Web page. "Here's your answer: Mercury Research showed that in 2008, for the first time, integrated graphics chipsets outsold discrete (graphics chips), and in 2013, we expect to see integrated graphics chipsets outsell discrete by three to one," Davies said.
Intel is the leading supplier of integrated graphics--which are integrated into its chipsets--while Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit are leaders in the discrete (standalone) graphics chip market. Discrete chips are the most powerful engines for running games but Intel is the leading supplier, based on market share, of graphics silicon for laptops.
Davies said he wants to help developers "capture" where the mobile-game market is going to be in 2013.
"There are games actually targeting integrated graphics chipsets at this time," according to Davies. "We found through engaging with these Triple A (AAA) game studios that within a relatively short amount of time, they can identify graphics bottlenecks in their code and resolve that to have their games running on integrated graphics chipsets."
Davies mentioned a few of the beta members: Terminal Reality, which is slated to come out with Ghostbusters later this year; Gas Powered Games, which is building Demigod, and Empire Total War, which is put out by The Creative Assembly.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

MSI hybrid netbook promises 12-hour battery life

MSI has unveiled another contender in the netbook market which combines a solid state drive (SSD) with a standard hard drive, and boasts a battery life of up to 12 hours.
The MSI Wind U115 Hybrid is built on Intel's Menlow platform, and has an energy saving LED backlit display to help reduce the power draw. It features a 10in screen with a 1,024 x 600 resolution, and runs on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 with 1GB of DD2 memory and Intel's US15W graphics chipset.
The storage is split between an 8GB SLC SSD and a normal 160GB hard drive, which can be easily turned off to save power. The operating system is installed on the SSD drive, which helps save power as well as improving performance and speeding up boot times, MSI said.
Weighing in at around 1.3kg, the Wind U115 also packs in all the usual netbook features, such as Windows XP Home edition, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, a four-in-one card reader, three USB ports, Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.
MSI said that to get the 12 hours of use from the six-cell battery users will have to disable the hard drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and webcam, set the speakers to 'mute' and have the power saving mode set to maximum.
The MSI Wind U115 Hybrid will be available from May at £499

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel 160GB SSD Gets Under Way

Intel is the latest company to deploy solid state drives this year. Computer manufactures are simply doing away with the traditional mechanical hard drives by using SSDs instead.

The arrival of the of Solid State Drives may replace traditional hard drives soon as Intel Corp rolls out its new 160GB Solid State Drive. The new SSDs are becoming more popular among laptops and notebooks.
"Unlike traditional hard disk drives, Intel solid-state drives have no moving parts, resulting in a quiet, cool, highly rugged storage solution that also offers faster system responsiveness," Intel said in a statement.
SSDs are perfect storage solutions for smaller computers such as notebooks because of their size and the ability to outperform mechanical hard drives. For example, Toshiba Corp released its new 512GB SSD as a primary storage device for its laptops. Intel's new SSDs are the 2.5 inch 160GB and the 1.8 inch for ultra portable laptops.
Intel says that its SATA SSDs are faster due to the faster read and write performances. The company also says that SSDs last longer than traditional hard drives.
"These drives also feature low write amplification and a unique wear-leveling design for higher reliability, meaning Intel drives not only perform better - they last longer," Intel said.
The likelihood that these new SSDs will replace hard drives is already here. The technology giants in the industry are all making their own Solid State Drives. The question is, are consumers ready for the switch? If it comes down to pricing, the SSDs are cheaper and provide better design as a storage device.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Unleashes Core 2 Quad Mobile for Laptops

Intel has introduced a new mobile quad-core processor which is available in the Acer Aspire 8930G-7665 laptop. The new Core 2 Quad Q9000 is also available separately for $348.

Intel Corp and Acer Inc have teamed up to launch a new laptop that's powered by the new Core 2 Quad processor. The new chip offers reduced power consumption and enables longer battery life. The low cost chip runs at 2.0 GHz.
"Optimized for the longest possible battery life without compromise to performance, Intel Core 2 Quad processors for notebooks allow you to stay unwired longer while running the most compute-intensive applications," Intel said in a statement.
Acer has started offering the new mobile quad core in its Aspire 8930G-7665 laptop. The multimedia laptop comes with 4 GB memory and the Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512 MB of video memory.
Aspire also includes a Blu-ray disc playerand a 500 GB hard drive. Other features include a Webcam and buildt-in Wi-Fi support. The laptop runs on Windows Vista Premium and sells for $1,800.
The price for the Acer Aspire is actually good, considering it has the new Intel mobile quad-core processor. It is the first laptop to offer the Core 2 Quad Q9000. The price for the chip itself is $348.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 comes with 6MB of level 2 cache and 1066MHz FSB. The new chip is built on 45nm technology and offers clock speeds of 2 GHz.
"Intel Core 2 Quad processors are built on 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture enabling faster, cooler, and quieter mobile and desktop PC and workstation experiences," Intel said.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Moorestown To Debut On LG MIDs

Intel will soon release its Moorestown processor which LG Electronics plans to benefit for its mobile Internet devices. The two technology companies will make use of the Linux-based Moblin 2 software platform for smart phones.

Intel Corp and LG Electronics announced a collaboration on Monday to bring the new Moorestown processor to market in mobile Internet devices (MIDs). LG will be one of the first technology companies to introduce the next-generation microprocessor. The MID product line comprises of notebooks, netbooks, and smart phones.
"We chose Intel's next-generation Moorestown platform and Moblin-based OS to pursue this segment because of the high performance and Internet compatibility this brings to our service provider customers," Jung Jun Lee, executive vice president of LG Electronics and head of its Mobile Communications Business Division, said in a statement.
Moorestown has remarkable speeds for Mobile Internet Devices.
Intel Moorestown is derived from the Linux Moblin v2.0 platform and has remarkable speeds. It will be one of the most influential chips to run in MIDs. The Intel processor includes 45nm technology which can greatly increase battery life while contributing graphics, video and a full memory controller.
"We look forward to providing them some fantastic Intel products that will deliver the best Internet experience while dramatically reducing power –contributing to the development of ultra sleek devices that offer superb battery life," Intel Corporation senior vice president Anand Chandrasekher said in a statement.
The new Intel processor uses the newest Moblin v2.0 software version.
Moreover, the all-in-one platform also includes an input/output (I/O) hub, code named "Langwell," that embraces a wide range of mobile wireless solutions. In addition, the platform comes with the newest Moblin v2.0 software version and contains support for both PC and mobile voice capabilities. LG is currently working with Sony Ericsson to initiate a new 3G network for MIDs.
"Ericsson's unparalleled relationships with global service providers will be instrumental as we define plans with LG to take this MID to market across multiple geographies around the world," Mats Norin, vice president and head of Ericsson Mobile Broadband Modules, said in a statement.
Mobile Internet Devices is a growing market.
The MID market is warming up and there are growing signs of consumer demand. Large companies are beginning to meet that demand with new 3G networks and robust processors that are small enough to run in MIDs. The Moorestown platform will be available in early 2010.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Atom Z5xx Processors Target Internet Media Phones

Intel Atom Z5xx has emerged as a new powerful processor developed for media phones. The new chip is loaded with advanced eco-technologies including temperature options which are available for Windows and Linux.

Intel Corp announced the new Atom Z5xx processor on Monday which is aimed at additional markets. Some of these markets include in-car infotainment devices, media phones, eco-technologies and applications. The new series of products contain the most energy-efficient transistors to date.
"With the addition of these new products, we can bring the benefits of Intel processors to new applications, devices and customers who develop products used in unconstrained thermal environments with low-power in mind," said Doug Davis, vice president, Digital Enterprise Group and general manager, Embedded and Communications Group, Intel.
Intel Atom Z5xx is designed to offer a low-power solution while maintaining performance and graphics.
Intel Atom Z5xx includes new advancements in integrated 2-D and 3-D graphics. The chip has a built-in video accelerator and can support multiple operating systems including Microsoft Corp's Windows and Linux. The Atom processor was built to serve devices as a low-power solution.
Processors are getting faster, more powerful, and operating at cooler temperatures. The Intel Atom Z5xx is one example of these newer chips that are coming to market. The chip has eco-technology options for controlling its temperature.
Media Phone Reference Design facilitates new development of hardware solutions to market.
Analysts predict that newer chips, including the Intel Atom, will play a major role in the embedded Internet market. The market is expected to grow 15 billion devices by 2015. In addition, the company also introduced its new "Intel Media Phone Reference Design" that will facilitate development of hardware solutions to market.
Intel strongly believes that the Internet-based communications market is rapidly growing. The Atom Z5xx is designed for media phones and devices which provide services over IP. These devices offer a one-touch access to social networking, e-mail, text messaging, weather forecasts, and digital photo albums.
The new Intel Atom Z5xx will be available in the second quarter.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Targets Ultimate Green Mobile Phones

Intel is researching technology to harvest free energy for mobile phones from the environment. The idea is to create reusable energy from sunlight and body heat. This energy could be captured by tiny sensors to power personal devices such as cell phones.

Intel Corp is working with a group of researchers on ways to harvest free energy for personal devices such as mobile phones. The energy would come directly from the environment, such as sunlight and heat.
The technology isn't that far off. Today, homeowners can already buy outdoor light fixtures that recharge during the day from sunlight. The lights run energy free during the night.
Some manufactures that make wrist watches use tiny sensors from the sunlight. Theses sensors are known as ambient heat to store energy. There are battery-free calculators that only use an interior light to power on.
"Wouldn't it be nice if, in fact, you were able to go almost indefinitely without charging the battery, if you were able to scavenge enough free energy from the environment?" Justin Rattner, chief technology officer at Intel, said in a statement.
Mobile phones could use this same technic for harvesting energy from the environment. Personal devices could automatically charge and run from free energy.
Intel has not marketed such a way to recharge personal devices, but its research is still ongoing. It will only be a matter of time when the technology company does create sensors that can harvest free energy from light and ambient heat.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Discovers Silicon Photonics For Transmitting Data Using Light

Intel researchers have discovered an important breakthrough in silicon photonics. Intel is working on a new avalanche photodetector which can detect and amplify light signals. This discovery is the next step in developing ways to transmit data through light.

Intel Corp is working on new ways to transmit data by using light signals. The new discovery an important breakthrough in silicon photonics.
The business technology company is currently working on a new breakthrough which can detect and amplify light signals through avalanche photodetectors, or ADP. Intel says that the discovery is the next step in developing ways to transmit data through light.
"With APDs, we have an opportunity to develop very high-speed optical links with the ability to drive faster and lower-cost technology in and around the platform," Mario Paniccia, an Intel Fellow and director of the company's Photonics Technology Laboratory, said in a statement.
The purpose of photonics is to replace more conventional electrical interconnects that use copper wiring with on-chip components that use light to transmit data. This type of technology offers greater bandwidth and amplification abilities. Intel researchers are searching ways to build these types of photodetectors for less money.
Intel wants to see the technology developed first for desktop PCs. It wants to create an affordable solution first before deploying it in data centers for mainstream use.
What makes the avalanche photodetector different from other photodetectors is the sensor. For instance, the avalanche photodetector is a sensor that both detects light pulses and amplifies them as light is directed into the silicon. The APD, or avalanche photodetector, can absorb and then amplify the light pulse and produce tens or hundreds of electrical signals.
Intel CTO Justin Rattner said he expects silicon photonics to enter the market as early as 2010.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Develops New 32 nanometer Chip

Intel has developed a new 32 nanometer chip for desktop PCs, laptop computers, and servers. The chip maker plans to launch the new microprocessor in 2009.

Intel Corp said Wednesday it has finished the development step of a new 32 nanometer chip. The chip vows to be more energy-efficient with higher performance than its current generation of microprocessors.
Technical specifications on the new 32nm will be put on display at the International Electron Devices meeting (IEDM) next week in San Francisco.
"Our manufacturing prowess and resulting products have helped us widen our lead in computing performance and battery life for Intel-based laptops, servers and desktops," Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow and director of process architecture and integration, said in a statement.
The technology company is aiming to produce new micro architecture each year. Intel is on track to deliver the new chip which is a production unmatched in the industry.
"As we've shown this year, the manufacturing strategy and execution have also given us the ability to create entirely new product lines for MIDs, CE equipment, embedded computers and netbooks," Bohr said.
Intel plans to ship the new 32nm microprocessor next year. It will mark the fourth consecutive year which Intel has met its objective.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Shares Upgraded Despite Growing Concerns

Intel shares were upgraded on Thursday by a ThinkEquity analyst. The chip maker still has a rough road ahead and has lowered its fourth-quarter projections.

Shares of Intel Corp were upgraded Thursday from sell to accumulate by ThinkEquity analyst Vijay Rakesh. However, the chip maker still has rough road ahead.
The analyst expects additional revisions to take sales expectations down to a 20 percent quarter-over-quarter level. The period includes the three months ending in December and the first quarter of 2009.
"While we expect downside revisions, we believe the magnitude of the revisions will be much smaller in the context of the bearish sentiment," Rakesh said in a statement.
Even though the Intel shares were upgraded, Rakesh said the company is "starting to mirror a lot of the bearish sentiment and slowing information technology spending for 2009."
Intel revealed on Wednesday it has finished the development step on a new 32 nanometer chip. The new chip promises to be more energy-efficient with higher performance than its current generation of microprocessors. The company plans to release the new 32nm in 2009.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Ex-Chief Urges Company To Make Electric Car Batteries

Former Intel chairman Andrew Grove is urging the chip maker to manufacture advanced batteries for electric cars. Grove says the market to mass-production is wide open in the United States.

Former Intel Corp chairman Andrew Grove is urging the chip maker to make advanced batteries for electric cars. Grove says the market to manufacture the batteries is open in the United States.
Intel already has investments in battery-related companies, but it would be a fundamental step if the chip maker shifted into the electric car business. Grove wants to further diversify the company and senses a niche in the market to create electric car batteries.
However, some experts say that Chinese and Japanese companies, including BYD Motors, Panasonic Corp and Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, have already positioned themselves to dominate the developing industry.
Grove told the Wall Street Journal that Intel's "strategic objective is tackling big problems and turning them into big businesses" and he maintains that the company could find ways to dominate the new industry with its $12 billion in cash.
It's unclear whether Intel executives intend to follow Grove's advice.
"We consider battery technology important and we look at a lot of things. But whether we will do anything more, we can't say at this time," an Intel spokesman said in a statement.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel Partners With Ericsson To Offer Mobile High Speed

Intel has partnered with mobile wireless company Ericsson to offer HSPA high speed mobile data technologies. The chip maker will use its Moorestown series to power the new platform for the mobile Internet devices.

Intel Corp and Ericsson announced plans to team up in an effort to bring High Speed Packet Access to increasingly popular Mobile Internet Devices.
The Ericsson HSPA data solution is targeted with the launch of Intel's new Moorestown platform. The mobile platform is scheduled for release in late 2009.
Ericsson is extending its 3G mobile broadband technology from laptops down to mobile Internet devices. Some of these products include small laptops and smart phones.
Intel plans to make its Moorestown platform compatible with Ericsson's HSPA technology. Intel's new chip is the successor to the Atom chip. The new mobile chip is aimed directly at the Mobile Internet Device market which will include built-in graphics and video capabilities.
Intel says that Moorestown does a much better job addressing Atom's problem with power usage. The new chip will consume about 10 times less power at idle.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.

Intel partners with Cray to developer HPC systems

Intel has partnered with Cray, which currently uses AMD processors, to build a new range of high-performance computer systems.

Intel Corp. and Cray Inc announced a partnership on Monday to develop new supercomputer technologies which is described as a range of high-performance systems.
Cray, which currently uses AMD processors, has three machines in the top 10 on the latest list of the world's most powerful supercomputers, behind only IBM Corp., which has four.
"We're excited at the potential of bringing together Intel's powerful silicon expertise and Cray's industry leadership in scalable HPC systems," said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray.
Ungaro said that he expects the first of these jointly developed HPC systems to hit the commercial market in either 2011 or 2012.
Cray said this deal was not a reaction to AMD's struggles getting out four-core versions of the Opteron chip, though the supercomputer maker was forced to delay the release of recent systems due to AMD's woes. So, it must be comforting to bring Intel on as an option.
AMD has been lagging lately in the performance race with Intel. However, its latest four-processor Opteron chip is winning good reviews in the supercomputer community, in part because it offers an efficient technology for retrieving data from memory chips.
Supercomputers are used heavily by government agencies for data-crunching and weapons development, while universities and private companies use them to conduct scientific research and model complex financial transactions.

Intel, the Intel logo and Intel Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other
countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

All products, platforms, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current
expectations, and are subject to change without notice.