TickTock
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Intel is officially slowing down the pace of CPU releases
To make consumers crave its next generation of CPUs, Intel has produced chips on a yearly tick-tock cycle for the last decade. Thanks to the shrinking die sizes, that process may permanently become a three-step, according to financial documents spotted by Motley Fool. The company has already had significant issues going from 22- to 14-nanometers, and it extended the latter to a third generation with "Kaby Lake" chips. That was the first break from tick-tock, but Intel has now confirmed that the longer rhythm, which it calls "process, architecture, optimization (PAO)" will continue for its upcoming 10-nanometer chips.
Verizon's iPhone commercial hits YouTube
Tick, tock. "To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come... Thank you." Oh, Verizon, you wry cad. Your iPhone 4 commercial is a gentle jibe at the anticipation and endless patience of those who would be among the first to own a new VZW iPhone. Ha! So witty. And not at all insanely annoying. Video is embedded in the second half of the post. [via Daring Fireball]
Ubisoft launches gaming portal on Facebook
Ubisoft recently launched a new Facebook gaming portal, dubbed the "UbiFriends Portal." Kicking off the casual game hub with TickTock, the French publisher is apparently jumping headfirst into the social gaming arena. Players try and guess which status messages comply with a variety of their friends, and they can send "bombs" to their friends which can then be defused by answering questions.No word yet on what's next for the extremely casual gaming portal, though a bettin' man might put his money on something of the Petz variety. Not that we're bettin' men. No sir.
Intel's 32nm chips ready for MIDs and netbooks in 2009
In 2005 Intel revealed its 65-nm manufacturing process, then 45-nm in 2007. Today, in keeping with its "tick-tock" strategy, Intel is announcing a further shrinkage to its manufacturing process as it ends the development phase for 32-nm chip circuitry. That puts the chips on a production schedule for Q4 2009 -- interesting as Intel's rumored 32-nm Medfield chip wasn't expected until the first half of 2010. According to Intel, the new chips incorporate second-generation high-k + metal gate technology with transistors that switch 22% faster than its current 45-nm Penryn chips. Why should you care? Well, the smaller chips are cheaper to manufacture which should translate to consumer savings. They also require less power than Intel's notoriously power-friendly Atom-class chips. As an interesting side note, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Intel has also disclosed a variant of its 45-nm process (the Lincroft-based Pineview we presume) "that is tailored to create chips for portable computing devices that require low power consumption." Uh, those wouldn't be targeting ARM by any chance would they Intel? Wink wink, nudge nudge. [Via Wall Street Journal]
