Seven Samurai chipmakers set to take on Intel
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted September 4th 2009 3:58PM
posted September 4th 2009 3:58PM
You know, it's been nearly forty years since Intel introduced the first microprocessor, and even at this late date the company comprises a whopping eighty percent of the global market for CPUs. But not so fast! Like an electronics industry remake of The Magnificent Seven (which is, of course, an American remake of The Seven Samurai) NEC and Renesas have teamed up with a stalwart band of companies, including Hitachi, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic, and Canon, to develop a new CPU that is compatible with Waseda University professor Hironori Kasahara's "innovative energy-saving software." The goal is to create a commercial processor that runs on solar cells, moderates power use according to the amount of data being processed (a current prototype runs on 30% the power of a standard CPU), remains on even when mains power is cut, and, of course, upsets the apple cart over at Intel. Once a standard is adopted and the chip is used in a wide range of electronics, firms will be able to realize massive savings on software development. The new format is expected to to be in place by the end of 2012. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]
Wow, Transmeta is back????
If only they would unit with Ati god knows what might happen
Unite*
Actually, they would be uniting with AMD....and yes it would be a very good thing.
ATi = AMD = Enemy
THEY ONLY JUST NOW GET THIS IDEA ???
THEY SHOULD MAKE IT LONG TIME AGO
I WAS QUESTIONING MYSELF AND DISCUSSING WITH FRIENDS LONG TIME AGO
WHY JAPANESE DONT PRODUCE CPU ..
Too little too late...
Dead On Arrival
i totally agree, shame ATI didn't jump on this!!
why is Andrew downranked?? everyone knows AMD makes hacker chips!!
http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.12.2.42056.2147.html
@Evoss
"I WAS QUESTIONING MYSELF" I think we all agree you need to do that more often.
@JohnTitor
"If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well. "
Oh how I laughted.
Ebzy
I always thought that California was 3rd world, but never wanted to say it...
P.S. your a douche.
@ Oli
Yeah well you're a turd
Great... Just in time for the end of the world...
Oh well, too late if the world is ending in 2012.
Maybe it is what brings about the end of the world?
This is exactly the sort of thing we will never hear about ever again after this article.
Large Hardon Collider + Mag 7 = End of the world by 2012! It all makes sense now!
I remember just a few years back how Intel was suffering under the power of AMD.
That would be cool to see.. a monopoly like intel wiped out, hard to believe though.
Do remember that if Intel were to collapse, there would be many job losses...
thats my only concern.. whats going to be left in america?
today, technology is one of america's largest sector.. if giants like intel, apple and microsoft get wiped out..
sounds scary
I am sure the 10s of thousands of people employed by or dependent upon Intel would be fun to watch lose their jobs, homes and futures...
Wait, you could just go to Detroit and get your kicks now.
So what exactly is bad about Intel?
Intel is not a monopoly, they are just a dominant player in their industry.
Mainly because they are really good at what they do.
Intel getting completely wiped out would be in nobody's interest. But Intel having some strong competition in the CPU market would be very good for consumers.
What makes them think Intel doesn't already have the technology already in line. I would wait until other companies sink millions or more into something and then just beat them to the punch at putting something better out or comparable and at a cheaper price! Not saying it's right, just good business tactics.
I remember just a few years back how Intel was suffering under the power of AMD.
I guess i meant it in the way that it would be nice if technology came out that was so good it obsoleted what came before.
"I guess i meant it in the way that it would be nice if technology came out that was so good it obsoleted what came before."
That is, if I'm not mistaken, the main premise of technology; to improve upon past technology. New technology that isn't better than past technology is just....old news.
Interesting.
Why even comment? Seriously.
"Oh! Interesting."
Bitch. Please.
+1 at briandfol...
...just to spite you.
"...upsets the apple cart over at Intel."
Pun intended.
Would Intel not just be able to "adopt" this strategy as well... 2 years is a long time especially if your cards have been shown!
It's the way to motivate another company to do the real work. :)
I'm concerned mostly about speed at this point, but solar powered chips sound exactly like the future.
So they don't have an official name for it yet? How about "Professor Kasahara riding naked on a Unicorn"? Or just "Unicorn" to invoke that pleasant image.
The word unicorn is now forever tainted in my mind... thanks a lot.
Just imagine Prof. Kasahara is a cute cosplay chick. Then you'll be all better lol.
I don't quite understand how the watershed hardware tech leads to a 30% discount on software development.
Also, what class of CPU are we talking about?
First reading the little snippet it seemed to be about your typical pc cpu type of thing until near the end where they mention use in 'electronics'.
W00t! I have that same feeling as when they revealed that insanely amazing $100 laptop, oh how that brought intel low....
Photoshop win!
Wait...is this supposed to actually take on Intel's stranglehold on desktop CPUs or just be a low power chip to be used in random electronics? It really doesn't sound like this will be a top-performing CPU so while it might compete with intel's portable low-power offerings it seems pretty unlikely to compete against any of intel's high performance offerings.
And anyways, it'll probably take till 2012 just to get them to agree on a standard, lol.
This isn't really a Intel competitor, more a competitor to ARM and RISC chips used in CE devices.
The x86 architecture is long in the tooth, and doesn't need to be used in every device where its not necessary, and the PC chip market has razor-thin profitability. These chips will be the in your TV, camera, cars, and DVD/Blu-ray players. Stuff those companies already make.
Yeah, it basically sounds like they're trying to come up with a standard architecture and instruction set, optimized for low power. I suspect the savings in software they mention just comes from not having to port embedded software to different architectures. So eh, they aren't going to take on Intel as much as they are ARM. Given the players here, it seems like they just want an embedded cpu standard for their consumer electronics lines, without having to pay someone like ARM or MIPS royalties. Or this could be another way to come up with the semi-mythical cpu/dsp architecture that's fast enough and cheap enough to displace all fpgas, that comes up every once in a while. At best, they'll get a cool linux distro compiled on it, make a netbook, or even a fun nettop/desktop system, and with that they'd get a yawn or two out of Intel, but not much more. Or else, they'll start bickering and nothing will ever come of it.
I agree, i cant see how even a band of seven companies can do any significant damage to intel's bottom line in a mere 2 years. This looks to be targeting da energy-saving line of processors. The energy efficient processors dont get much attention anyway, especially in notebooks, unless implemented in hand held devices. But then again, intel doesnt seem to care too much about the hand held devices. Hmm lets see wut goes down...
Perhaps that's why they made it a Seven Samurai analogy.
In related news: Ford, GM, and Chrysler join forces to put Japanese car makers out of business.
Oh I'm sure Intel is quaking in its boots. AMD and IBM are small fry next to the like of Canon.
LOL