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Intel finds SSD firmware bug, calls in the exterminators

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 6th 2009 at 9:06AM

Amid Intel's recent catalog of problems is a pretty significant firmware update for the X25-M SSDs, which went rogue and started bricking drives for the sheer bloody-minded enjoyment of it. After promptly pulling the software, the chip giant set straight to work -- or so we presume -- and has today finally managed to replicate the fatal circumstances that may lead to your SSD's untimely demise. That's not to say the problem's been fixed, and there's no word yet on when the cleaned up patch will be back out for consumption, but at least we're a step closer to realizing those TRIM-related speed boosts. So, are you growing tired of Intel's suicidal firmware updates, or should we consider these mere bumps on the road to superfast SSD awesomeness?

NVIDIA takes its feud with Intel to cartoonish new levels

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 5th 2009 at 8:21PM

Oh, boy. Just when you thought NVIDIA 's feud with Intel couldn't rise above endless name-calling, lawsuits and production shutdowns, NVIDIA does this. In a series of not-so-subtle cartoons on the recently established Intel's Insides website -- which NVIDIA's spokesperson has confirmed is, in fact, hosted by NVIDIA -- NVIDIA takes aim at Intel (and CEO Paul Otellini, specifically) over a range of alleged ill doings, and even goes so far as to include a cheeky disclaimer that the site "is not provided, sponsored or endorsed by Intel Corporation." Hit up the gallery below for a quick retrospective, and stay tuned for what we can only hope is a decent comeback from Intel.

[Via ExtremeTech]

Gallery: NVIDIA takes its feud with Intel to cartoonish new levels

New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 4th 2009 at 12:09PM

No matter how it tries, Intel just can't shake those pesky antitrust monkeys off its back: the attorney general of New York today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the chipmaker, saying it unfairly prevented AMD from competing under state and federal law. That's pretty much what the EU just fined Intel $1.45b for in May and exactly what AMD itself is suing Intel for in Delaware, so we're guessing things are a little busy for Chipzilla's lawyers right now -- and it's just going to get worse, as the smart money says this is all just a precursor to the Federal Trade Commission dropping the hammer sometime soon. Hey, maybe this would be a good time to for Intel to distract everyone with some USB 3.0 chipsets?

NVIDIA confirms Intel chipsets won't support USB 3.0 until 2011

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 4th 2009 at 10:59AM

What was once an unverifiable rumor from an anonymous source has now, sadly, become a confirmed fact. Intel won't be integrating USB 3.0 support into its chipsets until at least 2011. Motherboard makers such as ASUS can still opt to add discrete 3.0 controllers at an extra cost, but Intel -- already accused of dragging its heels on the standard's development -- won't be. NVIDIA spokesman Brian Burke has expressed, in no uncertain terms, his company's disappointment with Intel, while also claiming that chipsets by NVIDIA are more feature-rich and just plain better than Intel's own efforts. We'll add this to our ever-growing collection of things NVIDIA doesn't like about Intel, but we also hope that the immature outburst doesn't obscure the real issue. NVIDIA is correct in noting that Intel needs competition in the chipset space, and the new interconnect's dependence on Intel's whims demonstrates the market-altering powers that reside in Santa Clara, CA. Unless another chipmaker gets serious about competing with Intel, we could face plenty more of these seemingly arbitrary delays in tech rollouts.

Acer wants the Aspire 8940 to be your Core i7-packing portable of choice

by Ross Miller posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 6:50AM

You'd think you've seen all the Windows 7 holiday laptops to last you through this yuletide season, but in comes Acer with another offering, the Core i7-packing Aspire 8940. The 18.4-inch 1080p widescreen monitor brings with it a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M, Blu-ray drive, 600GB HDD, and 4GB RAM. Let's also throw in a webcam, 802.11 a/b/g Draft-N, webcam, multi-card reader, HDMI and eSATA ports and a 8-cell Li-Ion battery for good measure. Quite a hefty number, so expect a little bit of workout if you're wanting to haul this around. Suggested price is $1,349 and all we know of the release date is "holiday season" so it should be safe to add this to your wishlist.

Gallery: Acer Aspire 8940 press shots

Soyea's MID Z5 features an Atom CPU, 3G, and a significant price tag

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 1:01PM

Sure, there are some of us who like to play around -- and a first-generation Android MID might be lots of fun to those folks -- but how about the peeps out there that need a portable Internet device with serious muscle? Soyea's Z5 features a 5-inch (800 x 480) resistive touchscreen, 1.2GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, WiFi, 3G (from China Telecom) and Bluetooth 2.0. A dual boot device, this bad boy eschews the cell phone OS du jour for both Windows XP and Linux -- and since you're liable to fall in love with this thing (and quickly max out the storage) the included microSD slot should take the sting out of the mere 8GB SSD. But that ain't all! It also rocks stereo speakers, a webcam, a VGA port, and mini USB. Of course, a device this serious has a serious price to match -- expect to pay 5,999 Chinese yuan (roughly $879) from Amazon China. Available in black and white, we have one more pic for you after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Soyea's MID Z5 features an Atom CPU, 3G, and a significant price tag

iPhone and Windows 7 don't play nice, Intel P55 chipset to blame

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 31st 2009 at 5:20PM

The iPhone is one of the most wildly popular phones the world has ever seen, while Windows 7 is well on its way to becoming the globe's most ubiquitous OS. So compatibility between the two would be kinda sorta important, right? Tell that to Intel's quality control team who seem to have somehow missed an issue between Apple's app carrier deluxe and the P55 Express chipset's USB controller. Consistent (and persistent) syncing issues have been reported on Apple's support forums, wherein iTunes on Windows 7 machines recognizes the iPhone, but spits out an "error 0xE8000065" message whenever the user attempts to sync. While some have found limited success with using PCI-based USB cards (and bypassing the chipset), this is clearly a major issue and something Apple would expect to be fixed before shipping its Core i5 / i7 iMacs, which are likely to sport the chipset. Hit the read link for the original thread of sorrow and regret, and do chime in with your own experience in the comments.

[Via The Register]

Intel and Numonyx pave the way for scalable, higher density phase change memory

by Darren Murph posted Oct 30th 2009 at 1:51AM

Both Intel and Numonyx have been talking up phase change memory for years now, but for some reason, we're slightly more inclined to believe that the latest breakthrough is actually one that'll matter to consumers. In a joint release, the two have announced a new non-volatile memory technology that supposedly "paves the way for scalable, higher density phase change memory products." Put as simply as possible, researchers have been testing a 64Mb chip that "enables the ability to stack, or place, multiple layers of PCM arrays within a single die," and the two are calling the discovery PCMS (phase change memory and switch). We know, you're drowning in technobabble here, but if these two can really apply Moore's Law to density scaling, you'll be thanking 'em as you pick up your $50 6TB hard drive in 2014.

Intel pulls SSD Toolbox for killing drives under Windows 7

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 27th 2009 at 4:01PM

Well, that was a short honeymoon -- Intel's now pulled its SSD Toolbox and associated TRIM firmware update amid reports that it was bricking drives under Windows 7. We haven't heard more than anecdotal evidence about this, but we'd definitely pick having a functional drive over the promised 40 percent speed boost from the code, so you should probably hold off if you've downloaded but haven't updated yet. We're looking into things, we'll let you know -- but man, the X-25M just hasn't had an easy life, has it?

Update: Intel just gave us its official statement on the matter:

Yes, we have been contacted by users with issues with the firmware upgrade for our 34nm SSDs and we are investigating. We take all sightings and issues seriously and are working toward resolution. We have temporarily taken down the firmware link while we investigate.

[Thanks, Joseph and Ty]

Read - Former SSD Toolbox download page
Read - Intel support forum page

Next-gen Atom N470 to relax netbook spec restrictions slightly further

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 27th 2009 at 2:24PM

Netbook specs have been held in check by Microsoft and Intel's dizzying array of rules and restrictions for low-cost machines, but now that Windows 7 is out and Intel's getting ready to release the next generation of Atom chips it sounds like things are about to get slightly better. Microsoft has already started allowing netbook manufacturers to load Windows 7 Home Premium on machines without restrictions, and now Fudzilla says Intel will lift the 1GB RAM limit from Atom machines when the 1.83GHz N470 Pine Trail chip hits in March. That means we'll start to see more of a range of netbook specs going forward, but the low-end will probably still be dominated by Windows 7 Starter and the Atom N450, which will still be limited to 1GB of RAM, so don't expect to be happy with the cheap stuff anytime soon.

[Via Slashgear]

Intel's SSD Toolbox, firmware update promise boost in performance

by Darren Murph posted Oct 26th 2009 at 4:06PM

We won't say that we love products leaving the oven before they're completely done, but we do adore gratis firmware updates that better a product even after you've purchased it. That being said, we're actually stoked that Intel has decided to out its second major firmware update for the second-gen 34nm X25-M SSD, and unlike the first, this one has the potential to put smiles on lots and lots (as opposed to a few) faces. The newfangled SSD Toolbox includes an SSD Optimizer for the aforementioned device, which promises to help users "more effectively monitor and manage the SSD's health." It also offers a performance boost to sequential write speeds by delivering up to 100MB/sec on the 160GB model, which represents a rather substantial 40 percent uptick over the existing firmware. The best news of all? Intel's doing more than just blowing hot air, as the benchmarking gurus over at Hot Hardware found out. Hit the read link for their eye-opening analysis.

Update: Down for more benchmarks, including ones focused on TRIM testing? Good!

USB 3.0 held back by lack of Intel chipset support?

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 22nd 2009 at 8:07AM

Ruh roh. A senior tech manager at a "top tier PC maker" has come out with some entirely unofficial and equally ominous thoughts on what he (or she) sees as the tough road to proliferation for SuperSpeed USB. Pointing out that the new interconnect "won't get real traction until it gets integrated in the chip sets," the source opines that Intel won't be offering motherboard integration before 2011 -- an assertion Intel has declined to comment on. AMD and NVIDIA have been vocal critics of what they see as purposeful delays by the Pentium maker, and if this latest scuttlebutt is accurate, their wild finger-pointing will have been at least somewhat vindicated. Although Intel did release the 3.0 controller spec eventually, this wouldn't be the first (or probably last) time when it has been seen to drag its feet where doing so is in its interest (eh hem, Light Peak). For our money, plenty of people who've been waiting for the new standard to show up in machines before pulling the trigger on an upgrade will be disappointed by such news, especially as 3.0 devices are just beginning to ship.

[Thanks, Jacob]

iMac line updated with 16:9 displays, quad-core Core i5 / i7 model

by Joshua Topolsky posted Oct 20th 2009 at 12:01PM

After months of speculation, Apple has unveiled some completely new iMacs, featuring 21.5-inch and 27-inch 16:9 displays and all-aluminum enclosures. The new widescreen IPS panels are LED-backlit and have 178-degree viewing angles -- the 21.5-inch iMac has a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, while the 27-incher comes in at a staggering 2,560 x 1,440. Ports are the same as the outgoing model with the addition of an SD card slot and video-in on the 27-inch (via a special cable), and the wireless keyboard is now standard (as is the all-new Magic Mouse). Pricing tiers haven't changed much: there's a low-end $1,199 21.5-inch model with a 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB drive, a $1,499 model that bumps things up to 1TB of storage and ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics, while the base 27-inch config starts at $1,699 with the same bumped specs. All of those can be custom-configured with up to a 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo, but it's the top-end $1,999 27-inch model that'll bring the real heat when it ships in November; it's packing a 2.66GHz quad-core Core i5 processor (with a 2.8GHz Core i7 available for $200 more) and Radeon HD 4850 graphics. Not a bad little refresh -- but it looks like all you Blu-ray fans are going home alone again. Check the full specs list after the break.

Gallery: iMac line updated with 16:9 displays, quad-core Core i5 / i7 model

Continue reading iMac line updated with 16:9 displays, quad-core Core i5 / i7 model

Verizon prepping HP Mini 311, Mini 110 for launch

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 19th 2009 at 5:31AM

Wait, hold up -- before you sprint down to your Verizon store (sprint... Verizon... never mind) to pick up that catchily-named Gateway LT2016u that just launched, you might want to mull over the next batch of netbooks primed to hit the carrier's outlets in the coming days. Subsidized netbooks still haven't proven themselves as viable products -- at least, so long as they're not subsidized down to $0 -- but Verizon's ready to keep on trying with the launch of a global 3G-equipped HP Mini 311 on October 22. Sickeningly, they want a full $249.99 on contract after $100 mail-in rebate -- but in exchange, you'll be getting ION, Windows 7, 1366 x 768 resolution on a 11.6-inch display, and a 1.6GHz Atom N270. Moving on, the carrier's current Mini 1151 will ride off into the sunset and be replaced by a Windows XP-equipped Mini 110 featuring a 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM; it'll launch once 1151 stock is depleted for $199.99 after rebate with a new two-year deal. Follow the break for details and specs on the 110 (spoiler: it's like pretty much every other 110, but with more voodoo subsidy math).

Continue reading Verizon prepping HP Mini 311, Mini 110 for launch

Slew of Pine Trail packing portables announced, processor release slated for early Jan?

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 16th 2009 at 7:06AM

Remember that lone Pine Trail nettop that was spotted yesterday morning? That wasn't the only next-gen Atom product that KND had up its sleeve -- not by a long shot. The company has an array of netbooks, nettops, and one hybrid combination of the two displayed on its website, all captured in tiny little pictures like the one you see to the right. On the low end there's the K116, an 11.6-inch netbook with an N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard disk. Two nettops are planned, including the K185 we saw yesterday as well as the K19W with its 19-inch, 1440 x 900 screen, dual-core Atom D510 processor, 2GB of RAM, and again a 250GB hard disk. Finally there's the middle-man, the K133 netbook that shares its specs with the K19W, but is included in a 13.3-inch laptop form. All are spec'd out at the read link below, but none with prices or ship dates. The latest word on the Pine Trail platform release is that the N450 chips will be let loose on January 3, and that several devices will be shipping on that very same day. You can probably connect the dots as well as we can.

[Via netbooknews.de]

Read - KND Pine Trail lineup
Read - Atom N450 release date rumors