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Intel posts

No surprise: Intel has known about Chrome OS, worked with Google on 'elements' of project

by Ross Miller, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 6:41PM

So as it turns out, Intel isn't just casually accepting of Google's new OS initiative, it's actually been privy to the project for some time now, according to a spokesperson for the chipmaker. The two have apparently also worked together (and are potentially still working together) on portions of Chrome OS, he says, which really makes it all the more curious that the company isn't mentioned among Google's first partners while Qualcomm, Freescale, and Texas Instruments are. Then again, said inclusion might make the Moblin team more than a little bit upset, and either way, let's not forget that Atom chips will be sold regardless of which OS is on the system -- it's really kind of a win-win situation that we reckon the hardware division isn't complaining about.

ASUS U50VG announced, naming scheme remains impenetrable

by Vladislav Savov, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 10:31AM

Coming in today with no fewer than five new laptops -- the U50VG, K50AB, K70AB, K50IJ and F52Q -- the king of market segmentation is clearly still in good form. Announced in Italy today, the main attraction for Intel fans is the U50VG, which sports a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo T6500 chip alongside 4GB of memory, 250GB storage, and a Geforce G 105M for a price of €943 or $1,320. A backlit chiclet keyboard, WiFi and a 16:9 display stretching to 15.6-inches fill out the spec sheet. The AMD-based AB variants are 15.6 (€793 / $1,107) and 17.3-inches (€868 / $1,212) respectively -- their main attraction being an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 purring inside -- whereas the latter two models are targeted at the budget-conscious crowd. Click through for exhaustive specs and info on each model.

[Via Slashgear]

Intel doesn't view Chrome OS as a threat to Moblin, just wants world peace

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 10:09AM

Here's an interesting one. While one would assume that Intel would be quaking in its boots with the emergence of Chrome OS, Michael Chen -- director of Intel's embedded sales group and ultra mobility group in Asia-Pacific -- recently proclaimed that the company isn't worried at all. In fact, Intel seems pretty stoked that Google has introduced an operating system that will undoubtedly rival its own Moblin. To quote: "Our long-term goal is providing hardware for devices with different operating systems... more competition will drive up more innovations and that's good for consumers." Furthermore, we're told that Intel is looking forward to providing chips for machines based on Chrome OS, and frankly, we reckon that Intel's foothold in hardware and software makes it easier to brush this whole thing off. Must be nice, right?

Google names Chrome OS compatriots, Dell noticeably absent

by Ross Miller, posted Jul 8th 2009 at 8:06PM

Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments -- according to the latest Chrome OS update from Google, you're looking at the company's initial ragtag team of co-conspirators for its entry into the operating system business. With Adobe's involvement, we can assume Flash support is a given, and the others unsurprisingly run the gamut of netbook and smartbook players. We can't help but notice a couple of conspicuous absences on that list, including Intel and Dell. With Intel, you don't need to partner to work on its chips, but we gotta imagine it'd help by offering more support, and as for Dell, we don't know about that one, but there's still plenty of time for the Big G to enlist more companies in the lead up to its second half 2010 debut.

Update: Google updated the list to include Toshiba.

Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire Timeline 1810T: a netbook we can finally embrace?

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 7th 2009 at 9:01AM

We're doing our darnedest to keep our expectations in check, but it looks like the long, painful wait for a halfway potent netbook may be drawing to a close. With Windows 7 just months away, laptop makers are finally able to skirt around Microsoft's Windows XP-netbook limitations in preparation for a better, more refined OS. The just-leaked Aspire Timeline 1810T, for example, shares the same chassis as the underpowered Aspire One 751, though the innards are similar to those found in the Timeline series. We're talking an 11.6-inch display (1,366 x 768 resolution), Intel's 1.4GHz ULV SU3500 processor, GMA 4500MHD graphics, hardware accelerated decoding of HD video, up to 4GB of RAM, an HDMI socket, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, optional 3G / Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an 8-hour battery. Naturally, this one is slated to ship with Vista Home Premium, but that free upgrade to Win7 makes said pill entirely easier to swallow. C'mon Acer -- dish out the price and release date, won'tcha?

Continue reading Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire Timeline 1810T: a netbook we can finally embrace?

Packard Bell imedia lineup gets an Acer-inspired refresh

by Vladislav Savov, posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 4:47AM

Packard Bell recently overhauled its logo in an effort to keep up with the times, but are its offerings up to the same task? The new imedia lineup immediately recalls the recently announced M-series desktops from Acer, and that's no accident. The innards are remarkably similar too, with the top models sporting Core 2 Quad or AMD Phenom II X4 processors, a 1.5GB GeForce GT230, HDMI out, Blu-Ray combo drive and a maximum of 8GB DDR3 memory and 1TB of storage. While none of the specs are on the blistering edge of innovation, there's plenty of power there and keen pricing could make them an attractive proposition. The entry-level Celeron-based units start at £299 ($490) in the UK.

AMD's RS880 integrated graphics chip could make netbooks usable

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:52AM

Tired of hearing that your next favorite netbook / nettop is hamstrung with one of those woefully underpowered GMA950 graphics chipsets? Eager to see what all AMD is going to do about it? If The Inquirer is to be believed, an up and coming integrated chipset should elevate the multimedia prowess of low-end machines, as the RS880 would actually be based around the new Radeon HD 4200 core. In theory, at least, this chip would be around 15 percent faster than similar alternatives out there now, giving future netbooks just enough power to churn through 720p video without st, st, stuttering. Needless to say, the suits are refusing to comment on the matter, but we're definitely holding out hope for this one.

eMachines intros ET1300-02, ET1810-01 and ET1810-03 desktop PCs

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 1st 2009 at 10:47AM

Just a few short weeks after eMachines outed its EL1300 line of SFF PCs, the company is hitting us up again with a new trio of full-size desktops. The ET1300-02, ET1810-01 and ET1810-03 are all encased within a luminous white mini-tower and ship with a matching LCD monitor, speakers and a keyboard. As for specs, the $449.99 ET1300-02 checks in with an AMD Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz) CPU, Vista Home Premium, NVIDIA's GeForce G100 (512MB), 3GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, 18x SuperMulti DVD burner, multicard reader, HDMI / DVI / VGA outputs and an 18-inch E182H display. The $369.99 ET1810-03 steps to a 2.2GHz Pentium E2210 CPU, GeForce 7500 integrated graphics and just a single VGA port, while the $299.99 ET1810-01 cranks it down to a 1.6GHz Celeron 420 and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. The trio should be filtering out to respected retailers as we speak.

Micron's smaller NAND chips mean more, faster flash memory in the same old enclosures

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 7:45AM

Need a little more proof that Intel's got some fly SSDs about ready to roll? We have confirmation from Micron that it's working on new and improved 34nm chips in capacities of 8, 16, and 32Gb. These lovelies are 17 percent smaller than the previous rainbow colored flash delights, and are faster too, offering 200Mb/s transfer speeds and when combined into an SSD, able to keep up with SATA 6Gb/s transfers. This press release confirms the chips will show up in flash memory from Lexar, but we're guessing that official Intel announcement can't be far off now.

Dell working on iPod touch-esque Android MID, says WSJ

by Ross Miller, posted Jun 29th 2009 at 4:17PM

It's no surprise that Dell's been dipping its toes in Android-infested waters as of late, and now the Wall Street Journal's reasserting a previous claim from early April that the company's hard at work on a MID powered by Google's mobile OS platform. Multiple sources have reportedly likened it to a slightly larger iPod touch, while one went so far as to suggest a very tentative second half 2009 target release window, assuming the project doesn't get 187'd before then. Despite its history with Intel and the chipmaker's penchant for MIDs, the report pegs ARM as the processor of choice. As for how this jibes with rumors of Dell's smartphone plans, that's where things get interesting, as WSJ quotes a source who said Dell's thinking about selling it through cell carriers like it's currently doing with 3G-equipped netbooks. The article repeatedly calls it a MID -- meaning a phone might still be in the cards, but given past whispers, it kind of makes you wonder.

Intel's 32nm Clarkdale CPUs moved up to Q4, a full year ahead of AMD?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 29th 2009 at 6:20AM

It's just a rumor, but DigiTimes has pretty decent sources within Taiwan's motherboard industry. So what was a Q1 2010 mass production launch of Clarkdale CPUs is now rumored to be coming in Q4, notable as the first Intel CPU to use its new 32nm process technology with an integrated memory controller and graphics core built on a 45nm process. This jibes with what DailyTECH and others were reporting back in Feburary. DigiTimes adds that Intel expects Clarkdale CPUs to account for 10% of its total desktop CPU shipments in Q4 rising to 20% in Q1 2010. That means we should see the chips well before the holiday shopping season (near the October 22nd launch of Windows 7 makes sense) if true. As for AMD, well, last we heard they're still looking to "ramp up" production in the middle of 2010 with mass production capabilities arriving around Q4. Yeah, we know.

Read -- DigiTimes
Read -- DailyTECH

Intel launching cheaper SSDs with up to 320GB capacity in two weeks?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 29th 2009 at 5:38AM

Rumor has it that Intel is prepped to launch its new SSDs in the next two weeks. According to sources speaking to the The Inquirer, the new solid state disks will feature that smaller 34nm NAND Flash developed by Intel and Micron. As usual, the smaller manufacturing processes should allow for higher density SSDs (as high as 320GB) at a reduced cost to manufacture. In fact, INQ says, "there will be drives big enough to replace the HDDs in most, if not all laptops." With Intel already cutting SSD prices we remain optimistic that this rumor is true.

[Via TrustedReviews]

Atom-based Nokia netbook reportedly on track for Q3 release

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 24th 2009 at 9:28AM

So much for Nokia and Intel keeping quiet on actual product announcements, huh? Just yesterday, the two mega-corps joined hands in what they called a technical collaboration, and while they wouldn't go into detail about what products would sprout from the partnership, it seems that Commercial Times has done the honors. Reportedly, Nokia has already ordered up a few machines from Compal and Quanta, two OEMs that are largely responsible for most every netbook on the market today. Not surprisingly, we're told that the Nokiabook will rely on one of Intel's Atom processors, and considering that the new wave of Atom chips aren't slated to land until 2010, you can pretty much put money on a N270 or N280 configuration. In related news, we're told that Compal will engineer a Qualcomm Snapdragon-based Nokia smartbook, though there's no word on what kind of OS (Symbian, perhaps?) will be included.

Intel and Nokia officially partner on mobile devices: "the possibilities are endless"

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 23rd 2009 at 11:54AM

Just as we heard, Intel and Nokia have today announced a long-term partnership that just might / might not revolutionize the way you live. The all-too-mysterious release doesn't go into great detail about what exactly the partnership will lead to, but it's clear that the two are joining hands in order to "shape the next era of mobile computing." Indeed, the duo has stated that they expect "many innovations to result from this collaboration over time" and they are hoping to "define a new mobile platform beyond today's smartphones, notebooks and netbooks, enabling the development of a variety of innovative hardware, software and mobile internet services." It's hard to say if we'll be seeing a Nokia UMPC, MID or smartbook in the near future, but we have to wonder if the world is even interested. An Intel-powered smartphone? Color us interested. An Intel-powered Nokiabook? Meh.

Intel making 'important announcement' today -- a Nokia netbook / MID?

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 23rd 2009 at 4:29AM

Possible big news on the way later today. According to Bloomberg, Intel's very own Mr. MID, Anand Chandrasekher, will announce Nokia as a new customer of its mobile processors. This is important because Nokia is a long time friend of ARM and Intel by its own admission can't currently compete with ARM when it comes to the ultra-low power consumption requirements of smartphones. So whatever Nokia's got cooking will presumably be running on Intel's upcoming Moorestown MID platform or its ultra-low power Medfield silicon targeting mainstream smartphones in 2011. On the other hand, Nokia's CEO already expressed interest in entering the laptop race with Intel or the ARM-based Snapdragon rumored to be at the core. But if this announcement results in yet another Atom-based netbook, well, good luck with that Nokia.

[Via IntoMobile]