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Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2011 wrap-up
We came, we saw, we conquered -- and just like that, Intel's Developer Forum was over. Much like years past, Chipzilla was proudly beating its own drum: we saw demos of Ivy Bridge and Haswell, a healthy helping of Ultrabooks and of course its high speed interconnect du jour, Thunderbolt. But that doesn't mean we didn't see a lot of other random, mind-stimulating otherness. Did you catch all the treasures we found lurking deep within the halls of this year's show? Unfortunately, we can't tell from here, so you better hop past the break for the full listing and find out.
MSI demos X79 motherboards with PCI Express 3.0 and UEFI BIOS at IDF 2011 (video)
While MSI wasn't quite ready to publicly divulge all the details of its forthcoming X79-based motherboards, it was more than happy to give us a teaser. We were shown three upcoming models from the company at IDF, all toting PCI Express 3.0 slots, overclocking buttons and that snazzy UEFI BIOS. The latter makes changing settings a snap, and is carried over from the company's existing Sandy Bridge boards -- it even comes with a button that launches a browser, but unfortunately the machines in the booth weren't configured to support it. We'll know more in Q4, but in the meantime a gallery awaits you below, along with a video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-134332%
Intel: Ivy Bridge GPU to support 4K resolutions
Color us unsurprised that Ivy Bridge is destined to be faster and smaller than its predecessor, but unbeknownst to us is an interesting tidbit concerning the upcoming architecture's GPU. The revamp will support resolutions in excess of 4K (topping out at a maximum of 4,096 x 4,096) -- a sizable jump from the WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) limitation of its Sandy Bridge's forebearer -- opening the door to all sorts of resolution independent goodness. Guess that means you won't need a discrete GPU in the future to power that bodacious (but pricey) pro-level display. Have a peek in the links below if you're hungry for more.
RealVNC demos BIOS-based server at IDF 2011 (video)
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is one of the of oldest remote desktop solutions around, and while its RFB (remote framebuffer) protocol can require a little more bandwidth than the competition, it's long been praised for its broad cross-platform support and elegant simplicity. Last year, RealVNC teamed up with Intel to incorporate a bona fide VNC server (using hardware encryption native to vPro chipsets) into the oldest bit of PC firmware -- the BIOS. As such, you can securely control a remote computer's BIOS, mount a disk image, and install an OS from the comfort of your living room halfway across the globe. The future is now -- you're welcome. Take a look at RealVNC's IDF 2011 demo in the gallery below and our hand-on video after the break. %Gallery-134215% Dante Cesa contributed to this report.
Lego's augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video)
It's not as cool as Chipzilla's other augmented reality project, but at least this one exists out in the real world. Present at branded storefronts, the camera-based AR tech uses image recognition on Lego boxes to superimpose their brick-ladden contents in fully animated form. New at IDF was the second generation of the already existing product, which despite being functionally identical to its predecessor, has now been miniaturized thanks to second generation Core processors. Ready to see it in action? Peep the gallery below and the video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-134152%
Opera Mobile on Android x86 at IDF 2011 (video)
We discovered this little gem hidden deep within the recesses of the show floor at IDF 2011. It's none other than Opera Mobile running on a Honeycomb tablet -- not just any tablet, mind you, but Intel's Oak Trail-powered (Atom Z670) Green Ridge device. That's right, you're looking at Opera's web browser, compiled using the latest Android NDK and running natively on top of Android x86. First impressions? It's fast, even without hardware acceleration -- scrolling and zooming are smooth as butter, with no signs of checkerboarding anywhere. According to Phillip Grønvold of Opera software, this is just the beginning. Hardware acceleration is already in the works, along with Flash support. So go ahead if you dare -- browse our gallery below and watch our hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-134210% Dante Cesa contributed to this report.
Eyes-on with Thunderbolt on Windows at IDF 2011 (video)
Sure, you've seen the announcement of Thunderbolt on the PC, the chips that'll power it and a bevy of compatible accessories, but how about actual proof of Thunderbolt working on Windows? Hidden deep in the recesses of IDF's technical showcase, we found just that and immortalized it on video for all to see. Essentially the same Chipzilla demo as when we first witnessed the interconnect on Macs, we watched the playback of four 1080p streams devour over 700MB of throughput off a PCIe attached SSD. You know the drill, serious bit slinging awaits in the gallery below and video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-134134%
AMD Eyefinity eyes-on, prepare to fall for landscape goodness (video)
Sure we've seen it before, but we'd be remiss if we didn't share what we stumbled upon at AMD's Fusion Zone at IDF 2011. Laying before you is a 5 x 1 landscape Eyefinity setup, powered by an upcoming unreleased 8-core FX CPU paired with a single Radeon HD 6990. For those of you keeping score at home, that's four displays connected via mini-DisplayPort and the fifth over DVI. Not much more to say, so peep the gallery below or hop past the break for a video of the bodacious rig running Dirt 3. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-134018%
Intel reveals 'Claremont' Near Threshold Voltage Processor, other conceptual awesomeness at IDF (video)
Thought Intel was done busting out new slabs of The Future at IDF? Wrong. Justin Rattner, the firm's chief technology officer, just took the stage here in San Francisco in order to showcase a trifecta of new concepts, all of which were borne out of research in Intel Labs. The first, and perhaps most notable, is the Near Threshold Voltage Processor (code-named "Claremont"), which relies on novel, ultra-low voltage circuits that dramatically reduce energy consumption -- like EnerJ, but not. How so? Well, by "operating close to threshold, or turn-on voltage, of the transistors," it's able to scream when needed or scale back dramatically (below ten milliwatts) when the workload is light. If you're curious as to just how low that is, we're told that it's low enough to keep running while powered only by a solar cell the size of a postage stamp. Sadly, the research chip isn't destined to become a product itself, but Intel's hoping that the knowledge gained could lead to "integration of scalable near-threshold voltage circuits across a wide range of future products, reducing power consumption by five-fold or more and extending always-on capability to a wider range of computing devices." As for demos? A smattering of multicore / multiprocessor sessions aided Intel in upping its bragging rights, and we were informed that coding for multicore setups is "easier than the press makes out to be." The outfit also took the opportunity to release a Parallel JS engine to the open source crowd, adding data-parallel capabilities to JavaScript to purportedly "speed up browser-based services such as computer vision, cryptography, and 3D games by up to eight-fold." Furthermore, a newly revealed Hybrid Memory Cube -- complete with seven times better energy efficiency than today's DDR3 memory -- was also unwrapped. More details can be found in the links below, and we've got your unveiling video embedded just beyond the break. %Gallery-133942%
Thunderbolt accessories at IDF 2011: Belkin's Express dock, Seagate drives and PCIe expansion cards (video)
Seeing as Wintel fans will soon join in on the Thunderbolt fun, how about a smorgasbord of devices toting the interconnect, conveniently laid out in a two pane vitrine here at IDF? Alongside the usual suspects -- such as LaCie's Little Big Disk, Promise's Pegasus and Sonnet's Echo -- are a few devices we've never seen before, namely Belkin's Express dock, some unnamed Seagate drives and two PCIe expansion chassis from Sonnet and Magma. We're particularly smitten with the latter two -- you know, dreams about extending our future Ultrabooks with some serious external graphics horsepower. Check out the entire spread in our gallery below and the video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-133792%
McAfee and Intel partner up to put anti-theft tech in Ultrabooks
Intel has long provided hardware-level anti-theft technology, primarily for its enterprise customers. But, as users become increasingly mobile, the need to extend those protections to average consumers has become more and more apparent. McAfee is teaming up with Chipzilla to create a consumer-friendly software package that will interact with the chip-level anti-theft tech that will be packed into every Ultrabook. Details about the software are pretty slim for the moment, but we know it'll feature remote lock, remote wipe and location tracking to help you recover you precious lappy and keep your personal data out of the hands of ne'er-do-wells. The suite will start shipping alongside the tiny notebooks next year, but while you wait, check out the PR after the break.
Toshiba's Portege Z830 climbs out of Dell's Inspiron 600m at IDF 2011 (video)
Apple's original MacBook Air may have fit inside a traditional office envelope, but it seems that Intel's got a few tricks up its sleeve, too. Here at IDF 2011, Mooly Eden -- vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group -- ripped a Toshiba Portege Z830 Ultrabook out of a Dell Inspiron 600m. For those unaware, we first touched the former last week, while the M600 saw its big reveal in the early days of 2005. Seems we've come quite a ways in six short years, huh? %Gallery-133751%
This is what Intel's Haswell microarchitecture looks like (video from IDF)
Intel already showcased the future of solar-powered computing, but if you're wondering what silicon from 2013 looks like today... well, have a gander! The chip shown above (and in the gallery / videos below) is Intel's Haswell microarchitecture, a platform that is destined to slip into slimmer-than-slim laptops and Ultrabooks of the future. As mentioned yesterday, it's built on 22nm process technology, relies on the company's 3D Tri-gate transistors and should lead to over ten full days of connected standby battery life in mobile devices. So, now you know what it feels like to be in The Twilight Zone. %Gallery-133747%
IDT's power-saving Panel Self Refresh tech coming to laptops, Ultrabooks and tablets (video)
We aren't talking Pixel Qi-style savings or anything, but then again, IDT's not asking you to ditch the conventional LCD your retinas refuse to step away from. The company's Panel Self Refresh technology just got a major shot in the arm here at IDF, with the introduction of the world's first Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.3-compliant Timing Controller with integrated PSR technology. A lot of technobabble, sure, but here's the lowdown: with this stuff in the mix, most users will see upwards of 45 minutes of battery gain, as the panels don't require constant refreshing. Granted, power savings are only seen with static images on-screen, and you'll need a PSR-enabled graphics processor to take advantage. The good news, however, is that Intel seems to be into the idea of using this stuff to boost the overall battery life of Chipzilla-based machines, so it shouldn't be too long before it starts popping up in laptops and Ultrabooks. As to how the magic actually works? IDT's PSR technology "identifies a static image and stores it local to the TCON in an integrated frame buffer; then, it seamlessly displays the image from the local frame buffer allowing the eDP main link and a majority of the GPU functions to be powered-down, resulting in significant power savings." Have a look at the unveiling video just after the break. %Gallery-133738%
Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011 (update: video!)
Guess what, Wintel loyalists? "Apple's" Thunderbolt I/O port is coming your way. If you'll recall, Thunderbolt was actually built with Intel's collaboration (Light Peak, anyone?), and sensibly, the chip giant is now making it possible for the port to appear on non-Mac machines. The news was just broken here at IDF, where a Haswell-based machine was briefly teased with a heretofore unpossible T-bolt port. Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, was on-stage to showcase six pre-production Ultrabook designs (all based on 3rd generation Intel Core processors), but stopped short of telling us exactly when the Thunderbolt I/O port would make its debut on commercially available rigs (Acer and ASUS are onboard for a 2012 launch!). Naturally, we're hoping it's sooner (tomorrow) rather than later (the 2013 launch of Haswell). Update: Video of the unveiling is now embedded after the break! %Gallery-133734%
Cedar Trail-based Classmate PC hands-on at IDF (video)
Looking for a Cedar Trail-powered update to the long running Classmate PC line of netvertibles? Intel's got you covered here at IDF 2011, with a refreshed edition of the very familiar hardware on display. All the usual elements are here, with a handle, touchscreen and stylus combined with a tough rugged casing ready to take the worst a 3rd grader can dish out. It felt a little lighter in our hands, and while this was just a demo unit as usual we're told OEMs should have production versions available soon. If you need to see it in motion to believe all that next generation Atom power could be packed inside, just watch the video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report %Gallery-133577%
Ultrabooks invade IDF 2011, Toshiba Portege Z830 makes cameo (video)
While we've already seen Ultrabooks from a bevy of brand name manufacturers -- Toshiba (which we caught on video below), Lenovo, ASUS and Acer -- ODMs are now joining the thin and light party here at IDF. There's one catch, however: this row of Ultrabooks from the likes of Pegatron, LG, Invetec and Foxconn aren't nearly as svelte as their branded counterparts, leading us to believe that Intel's specs aren't quite as rigorous as we'd originally thought. Video proof after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-133549%
Asus UX31 vs. UX21... fight! (video)
We'd handled ASUS' UX21 back at Computex, but we'd never gotten up close and personal with its larger brother, the UX31 -- until now. We spotted the 13.3-inch aluminum beaut just chilling at the Ultrabook pavilion at Intel's Developer Forum. With the same 0.67-inch profile as its smaller sibling, that larger footprint means it's naturally a bit heavier (2.9 pounds), yet it's available with the same Core i5 (or optional i7) innards. Expect more when the duo goes on sale later this month, but for now take a peek at our hand-on video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-133567%
DisplayLink announces USB 3.0-to-HDMI adapter, 2560 x 1600 resolution panels get supported
IDF's certainly delivered a few bombshells thus far, but sometimes it's the simpler things that can brighten up your day, like DisplayLink's announcement of its snappily-titled Winstars USB 3.0-to-HDMI adapter. Making use of all that extra bandwidth means using TVs as monitors no longer results in battling with a bad case of the jaggies. Running on its DL-3500 chip, the plug-in device will deliver resolutions up to 2560 x 1600, promising ultra-low latency and less of the jittery window and cursor movement which has troubled older products. Gamers will be pleased to hear that there is support for full-screen 3D, as well as both 2.1 and 5.1 channel audio. No word on a release date as of yet, but we're guessing that the estimate of "soon" means that Yanks will see it by Christmastime. Full PR after the break.
Intel shows off Medfield-based Android tablet at IDF 2011, we (briefly) go eyes-on (updated)
Much in the same vein as the smartphone showed off this morning, Intel also teased a Medfield-based Android tablet. But unlike the prototype Andy Rubin whisked with him off stage, we were able to at least get up close and personal with its Intel inside sibling. Unfortunately we weren't able to actually touch it, but here's to hoping we can track one down and do a proper hands-on at some point today. Update: Our eagle-eyed friends at CarryPad have spotted an NFC marking on the tablet's back. %Gallery-133494%