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Alienware M11x gets overseas Core i3 / i5 / i7 and NVIDIA Optimus bumps (update: US too)
We've been hearing about an impending CPU update to Alienware's M11x for some time now, and now Dell Malaysia has quietly updated its website with options to order the revised not-quite-netbook. So what's new? Well, there's NVIDIA Optimus for starters, and the Intel Core 2 Duo processor has been thanked for its time and shown the door in lieu of Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs on a QS57 chipset. Prices start at RM 3,699, or about $1,110 in US bills. Speaking of which, while Dell's US site has yet to update, we've seen what's purported to be some internal documentation that pinpoints the official stateside launch for the revised M11x as tomorrow (technically, it's already Tuesday in Malaysia). No confirmation yet, but hey, it'd make for a pretty nice pre-E3 gift. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: UK Alienware lovers can now also get their Core i5/i7 M11x fix, as the new hardware options have gone live on the laptop's local microsite. Yes, Optimus is there too. [Thanks, Mike] Update 2: And now it's live in the US with prices starting at $949 with a Core i5 520UM. Less if you're thinking Core 2 Duo, which you're not. [Thanks, MastrCake]
Alienware M11x getting Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 upgrade next month, says Dell rep
Meet Pearce Clune, Dell's Head of Consumer Operations for Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. Clune's gone ahead and given a pretty brief demonstration of Alienware's laptop lineup to Shuffle Magazine, include the mighty impressive M11x powerhouse in netbook clothing. It's all pretty standard fare until about 2:20 into the video, where the fine gentleman casually drops that the Core 2 Duo processor is about to get a modern upgrade with Core i3, i5, and i7 options. That's right, a Core i7 processor in a 11-inch form factor. We'll let that sink in for a second. But don't just take our word for it -- video after the break. Now, is Optimus en route, too? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Steve Jobs responds on iPhone SDK's new Section 3.3.1
The release of the iPhone 4.0 SDK to developers included, in the accompanying agreement, Apple's new mandate that apps must be written in C/C++/Objective-C. This seems to block the use of alternative development environments for iPhone apps, such as the upcoming Flash CS5. As criticism of this condition has mounted, we now have Steve Jobs responding to an e-mail from Tao Effect's Greg Slepak on the topic, sparking a discussion between the two on the change. Jobs pointed out John Gruber's recent analysis of the change, calling it "insightful and not negative" as compared to the knee-jerk reaction in the first few hours after the SDK agreement surfaced. The revised viewpoint suggests that the real reasons behind the move are to maintain innovation and quality as more and more apps are written for Apple's touch platforms; meanwhile, we've also heard a somewhat plausible technical explanation-slash-rationalization for the move. After Slepak read the piece, he responded in turn: "I still think it undermines Apple. You didn't need this clause to get to where you are now with the iPhone's market share, adding it just makes people lose respect for you and run for the hills.... From a developer's point of view, you're limiting creativity itself. Gruber is wrong, there are plenty of [applications] written using cross-platform frameworks that are amazing, that he himself has praised. Mozilla's Firefox just being one of them." Jobs wrote back, "We've been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces [sic] sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform." Slepak replied again to clarify his position, and there's no further word from Steve -- yet. This from Jobs, and the echoing statement that's in Gruber's article, both largely ignore the fact that plenty (most?) of the 85 million users buying and running applications on the Touch OS (whether on iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad) don't care how those apps are created as long as the app experience is compelling -- they wouldn't know an IDE from an SDK, or be able to tell Xcode from Flash on a bet. As fellow TUAW staffer Mike Rose points out, in the case of Unity, "that platform is enabling game development that would simply not be taking place otherwise on the iPhone." Right now it's not clear whether Unity is on the good or the bad side of Apple's new rules, but if the philosophical argument against third-party tools holds water, there are lots of apps already on the store that may be in trouble. Assuming that users 'wouldn't like' apps made with those third-party tools, and that Apple is therefore justified in protecting the platform from crappy apps, strikes us as more than a bit paternalistic -- especially after the onslaught of fart apps and the recent Bikinigate, it's hard to accept "Apple knows best!" with a completely straight face. [Via MacRumors]
AMD launches 12-core Opteron server chips, Intel counters with the 8-core Xeon 7500
You thought six cores were nifty? This week, AMD and Intel have begun the multithreaded battle in earnest -- if only on the IT front -- with chips that have up to double that core density. First up, AMD has officially brought us that Opteron 6000 series leaked last week, a set of 8- and 12-core processors aimed at dual- and quad-CPU servers that it claims have both higher performance and lower cost than Intel's recent hex-core offerings. Not to be outdone, Intel has just introduced a 8-core processor series of its own, the Xeon 7500, that it envisions deployed in mammoth 256-processor configurations. In bulk orders of 1,000, a single 12-core Opteron costs nearly $1,200, while the cheapest single 8-core Xeon will set you back a cool $2,461 in the same quantity. We don't doubt they're powerful, and we'd kill for a pair of either in our gaming rig. At those prices though, we'll stick to building our supercomputer out of PS3s -- oh, wait.
MacBook Pro with Intel Core i5 processor revealed via Intel promo flier? (update: prize now Envy 15 instead)
Far be it for us to argue with order of operations, but an apparent Intel Retail Edge Program promotional email has revealed a contest where those who pass this month's training can win one of two MacBook Pros with Intel Core i5 processors inside. Only catch is, that's a model that doesn't yet exist -- whoops! Don't know how long the company expects those winners to wait, but we've gone ahead and kept our calendars clear for the end of the month, just in case Apple feels the urge to send out any last-minute press conference invites. Update: We've been sent a new flier from Intel that "corrects" the contest. The prize is now one of two Envy 15s with Core i5. Sure, we've joked about the physical similarities before, but did someone really mix the two up that egregiously? Only time will tell. Correction email reprinted after the break. [Thanks, Mike!]
Netgear's Push2TV wireless TV adapter caught nonchalantly hanging out in the wild
Interested in getting prepared for all your Wireless Display (WiDi) needs? Looks like Netgear's Push2TV wireless TV adapter is already on the shelves of at least one Best Buy, right in front of a $99 price tag that matches the press release from before. The back of the box photo, seen after the break, doesn't shed any new light on the device. Unless you're really into (near term) future proofing of your wireless display needs, it might be best to wait for a few more options when it comes to fancy-schmancy new compatible machines. [Thanks, Colin]
Intel Core presser: 32nm Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs (update: video!)
Intel has just concluded its first CES press event of 2010, dedicated to "announcing" the already well known Arrandale and Clarkdale CPUs. They will be part of Intel's planned 27 total SKUs coming in 2010, including four varieties of Core i3, eight Core i5s, and five Core i7 models. We were treated to a demo showing off a Core i5 laptop CPU running a 1080p video with another video stream overlaid on top of it with a measly 10% CPU usage. Dragon Age: Origins was also used to demonstrate the graphics capabilities of the GPU (integrated into the CPU packaging with these new procs), though the jittery frame rate suggested that sticking to Bejewelled might be a better idea without discrete graphics. Mia Hamm was brought out to do a bit of exercising and to provide us with an analogy for Intel's built-in Turbo Boost tech, which is said to work as naturally and as smoothly as the human heart rate increasing when necessary. Scanning the sheet of new mobile CPUs (available after the break), we notice that the presently popular Core i5-520M ($225 when bought in bulk) and Core i3-330M (unlisted) appear to be the most affordable on deck, with the more powerful Core i7-620M (up to 3.33GHz with Turbo Boost) and ULV Core i7-640UM (up to 2.26GHz) likely to attract the most attention from those who don't like compromise. The i7-640UM fits within an 18W maximum TDP, while the majority of the line will be at 35W, with 25W low-voltage options available too. Intel was keen to remind us this includes the 10W "extra" juice consumed by the chipset and graphics which are obviated by the new integrated design. Paul Otellini has managed to keep some announcements out of Shaun Maloney's hands, we were told, which means this afternoon's keynote (7.30PM EST) from the CEO may have some stuff we've not yet seen. Not entirely likely, but we can always hope. At least now that this is over, we can start prowling the Las Vegas Convention Center and delivering you hands-on impressions of all the new gear coming out with the new 32nm CPUs. Update: we've added a video of the Core i5 vs Core 2 Duo after the break. %Gallery-81982%
Microsoft: Core games 'sell themselves,' Project Natal will broaden audience
Microsoft's taken steps to appeal to the casual crowd, sure. The first was NXE, which brought us all things like Avatars and Netflix, with subsequent updates adding Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. These are experiences meant to broaden the appeal of the Xbox 360 to casual gamers, a group that Microsoft spokesperson David Dennis told GI.biz is pretty tricky to hook. Project Natal will play a big part in Microsoft's continuing goal to interest more casual players, Dennis said. He compared the interactive, controller-less experience to having the broad appeal of a title like Wii Fit -- something Dennis calls "an experience done right" that goes beyond the core yet still manages to "capture the imagination of the core." It's this dual-catering that Dennis thinks Natal excel at, as he predicts the hardware will enable experiences that the core will look forward to, as well as "casual game experiences that are easy to jump in and play." In the interim, we offer Microsoft this ProTip for appealing to more casual players: Make more games with "Party" in the title. Who doesn't like a party?
Gulftown processor dubbed Core i7-980X, making its debut Q1 2010?
If you didn't make it to eBay in time to put down $1,200 or so for your very own pre-release Gulftown chip, cheer up! The countdown to the six core wonder continues apace, with more news each passing day. According to a purportedly leaked slide that popped up on China's PC Online, the 32nm chip will be known as the Core i7-980X and not the Core i9, as previously rumored. Part of the i7 "Extreme Edition" series (so extreme!). If everything goes as leaked, the 3.33GHz processor could be included in new Mac Pro systems come early 2010 -- which more or less jibes with rumors that the processor will be available sometime in March. See the new product name appear on the roadmap after the break.
Leaked Intel Core i9 chip makes its way to eBay?
Would you pay $1,200 for an as-of-yet unreleased Intel Core i9 chip? Hard to say if the transaction actually occurred, but an auction recently ended from a Taiwanese eBay user who claims to be selling a six-core, 2.4GHz Xeon Westmere Gulftown processor. We can't vouch for the validity of the listing, but those are some pretty convincing pictures being tossed around -- ones that aren't blurred, which might give Intel an advantage in snooping out the leak. That's not all, though -- Nordic Hardware (via Tom's Hardware) also reports that the OCTeamDenmark forums had it listed for on sale for $850. The 32nm fella had some promising benchmarks released recently, although its release isn't slated until at best sometime early 2010. Sure, it's great to be first, but with early adopter prices like that, we don't mind waiting until it goes official. %Gallery-79549%
Rumor: MacBook Pro Intel Arrandale processors in January
Fudzilla is reporting that Intel will release Arrandale-based processors on January 3rd, 2010. Three in fact, branded as "Core i5" and "Core i7," ranging in speed from 2.4GHz to 2.66GHz. There are two Core i5 models. One features 3MB of cache, a 2.4GHz frequency, two cores and four threads plus Turbo Mode, while the other features two cores, four threads, Turbo Mode, 3MB of L2 cache and a 2.53GHz frequency. Fudzilla prices them at $225US and $257, respectively. Finally, the 2.66GHz Core i7 model features 4MB of cache and Turbo Mode and can run faster. Fudzilla expects them to sell for $332. You'll remember that desktop Macs received Nehalem architecture processors earlier this year, which these Arrandale processors are based on. If built into Apple's MacBook Pros, they'd represent a significant performance boost over the Core 2 Duo processors currently in use. [Via MacRumors]
Acer wants the Aspire 8940 to be your Core i7-packing portable of choice
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-77079%
Tilera's 100-core Tile-GX processor won't boil the oceans, will still melt faces
Sixty-four, sixty-shmore... that's so 2007 in terms of processing cores found in a single CPU: one hundred cores is where the future of computing resides. This magnificent engineering feat isn't from AMD or even Intel, it's the latest Tile-GX series of chips from the two-year old San Jose startup, Tilera. Its general purpose chips can run stand-alone or as co-processors running alongside those x86 chips that usually ship in four-, six-, or now eight-core configurations like Intel's upcoming Nehalem-EX chip. Tilera's 100-core chip pulls 55 watts at peak performance while its 16-core chip draws as little as 5 watts. Tilera uses the same mesh architecture as its previous 64-core chip in order to overcome the performance degradation accompanying data exchange on typical, multi-core processors -- or so it says. Tilera's new 40-nm process chips have cranked the clock to 1.5GHz and include support for 64-bit processing. And while its processors could be applied to any number of computing scenarios, Tilera's focusing on lucrative markets like parallel-processing where its meager developer and marketing resources can extract a relatively quick payout. The fun begins in early 2011 with volume pricing set between $400 and $1000.[Via PC World]
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, more PSone Classics rated by the ESRB
The ESRB has exposed a new round of PSone Classics for PS3 and PSP on its ratings site, including Naughty Dog creative director -- and Uncharted creator -- Amy Hennig's 32-bit opus, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Other titles recently rated for re-release via PlayStation network include Bomberman Party Edition, Fighting Force, Dirt Jockey and International Track & Field.After last week's deluge of classic PlayStation games gone downloadable on PSN, we were befuddled by the utter lack of any new additions with yesterday's update. We could very likely be looking at the next round in the list -- the only question is when Sony will push them out the digital distribution door.[Thanks, Dylan!]
Intel's Lynnfield processors now officially official, benchmarked
Sure, Taiwan's been enjoying these chips for almost a month at this point, but it's taken until now for Intel go official with its announcement of the "Lynnfield" processors, Core i5-750 and Core i7-870. If the early reviews are to be believed, both chips are dominant in their performance and price range, although there are some notable caveats for the tech savvy to take heed of. If you're in need of the finer details of all these, hit up the read links below for the skinny. Read - HotHardware Read - PC Perspective Read - Tech Report Read - TweakTown Read - Official Intel Press release
Samsung, LG, and SKT hook up for chip design
There's a lot of Kumbaya going around in South Korea this morning with the announcement that Samsung and LG -- normally the most bitter of archrivals -- will start working together to develop the next generation of chips for digital TVs and phones. Also being pulled into the love fest is domestic carrier SK Telecom, South Korea's largest, who will be working specifically on designing wireless systems-on-chip for use in handsets. Interestingly, it seems Sammy will be left out of the loop on actual design; that'll be left to LG and others, while Samsung will be responsible for manufacturing and testing the goods. For its part, the government seems to like what it sees here -- it's pumping some 19.5 billion won (about $15.7 million) into the project, though there's no word on when we'll see the fruits of the labor in a retail product.
Review: Bit.Trip Core (WiiWare)
Gaijin Games returns with another installment in its Bit.Trip series: Bit.Trip: Core, and if you found yourself hyperventilating at the prospect of zapping pixels from a whole bunch of different directions, know those fears are well-founded. Bit.Trip: Core is very tough, but like its predecessor, it's not frustrating. [Note: There's also a video review!]
Leaked Intel roadmap specs upcoming Core i5 and i7 'Lynnfield' CPUs
Looking for something to print out and put on your wall that demonstrates the full extent of your Intel dedication? PC Watch has some mighty high resolution charts of the company's desktop and mobile CPU roadmaps, including a handful of chips that we haven't seen before. On the Lynnfield / desktop side, there's the Core i7 870 (2.93 to 3.6GHz) and 860 (up to 3.46GHz), due out second half 2009, with the latter having a greater range in available clock speeds and a less power hungry, 82 watt version due out next year. Listed squarely in the Q3 2009 column is one of the first spec'd Core i5-branded chips we've seen, the 750 (up to 3.2GHz), which also boasts a more energy efficient iteration due out sometime in first third of 2010. Looking to mobile, the three Core i7 Clarksfield processors that were recently rumored for September are also listed here for Q4 of this year as 720QM, 820QM, and 920XM, and on the more value end of the charts, Intel's Atom / Pineview series (N450 for mobile and D410 / D510 for desktop) is listed for release just after the stroke of 2010. There's seriously a lot to digest here, so if reading over large multi-colored tables full of data is your idea of a fun time, hit up the read link for a veritable gold mine of delight.[Via Electronista]
Intel's Core i7 'Clarksfield' CPUs for laptops launching late September?
Taiwanese rumor-rag, DigiTimes, has a knack for sniffing out insider information from within Taiwan's MoBo manufacturing cartel. So it's worth paying attention when it claims to have the latest launch schedule for Intel CPUs. Up first is a trio of laptop-based Clarksfield CPUs -- 2GHz Core 2 Extreme XE, 1.73GHz Core 2 Quad P2, and a 1.6GHz Core 2 Quad P1 –- ready to make their debut sometime around the end of September or October. These processors should carry the Core i7 brand to keep things as confusing simple as possible and would be a suitable match for a Q4 refresh of the MacBook Pro or Dell XPS laptop, for example. At the low end of the rumored schedule are a pair of Celeron SU2300 and Celeron 743 CPUs for ultra-thin laptops with an expected announcement coming at the end of September. Intel's also pegged with plans for desktop-based Lynnfield CPUs and P55 chipsets to be announced between September 8-11. The first announcement is set for early August -- if Intel starts making a fuss about its new Xeon procs for servers at that time then we'll have a pretty good idea as to the validity of DigiTimes' claims.
Bit.Trip: Core to be 100th WiiWare game upon its July 6 release
Gaijin Games posted this semi-cryptic puzzle to its official blog yesterday, offering what seems to be the release date for Bit.Trip: Core, the follow-up to the retro-rhythm-Pong-shooter, Bit.Trip: Beat. The numbers "7+6+9" correspond to a date: July 6, 2009, which just happens to be a Monday. We've gotten confirmation from Gaijin Games that this is indeed the meaning of the image. "Absolutely," Gaijin's Chris Osborn told us. "And it will be the 100th WiiWare release!" Given that Nintendo saves its milestone Virtual Console releases for things like Zelda games, it seems like quite a distinction to be the hundredth game on WiiWare. [Via GoNintendo]
