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Intel's Atom D510, D410 processors get benchmarked
Intel's Pine Trail may not be out in full force just yet, but it looks like German website CarTFT has gotten ahold of a couple of Intel's latest processor / motherboard combos (intended primarily for nettops) and gone ahead and published a few early benchmarks. As you may have expected, however, the boards don't exactly represent a huge leap over current systems in terms of performance -- especially when compared to an Atom 330 processor paired with an Ion chipset. Indeed, the Atom 330 / Ion pairing actually beat out both the Atom D510 and D410 in a number of real-world Windows 7 performance tests, although the new Atoms did of course come out top when it came to raw processor performance. Then again, the new boards do also both come in at under $100, and they each boast some reasonably good improvements in power consumption, which should be enough to get plenty of folks to overlook look a few shortcomings.
Acer Aspire One 532 spotted in database with Atom N450 'Pine Trail' processor
It's no secret that we're facing down a tidal wave of new netbooks at CES in January, with all signs pointing to Intel unleashing its brand new graphics-friendly Atom N450 chip based on its new-generation Pine Trail platform. So, before we get all netbook'd out, let's allow ourselves a small amount of excitement at this Acer Aspire One 532 spotted within the bowels of the internet (Acer's driver pages). A bit of Google work uncovered specs that include an Atom N450 processor with Intel GMA 3150 and a 10.1-inch 1280 x 720 screen. It's been listed for 299 Euros in one of these random, bean-spilling online stores, so that gives a decent reason to hope that a new generation of Atom won't mean a major leap in pricing. Is that a whiff of holiday optimism we smell in the air?
NVIDIA Ion 2 already ordered up by Acer?
If you need yet more reason to delay purchasing a current generation netbook, we're hearing that Acer has eagerly scooped up an order for NVIDIA's Ion 2 chips, which will eventually be found partnering Intel's forthcoming Pineview hardware in machines of the future. With Intel now integrating graphics processing and the memory controller into the CPU packaging, the Ion 2 is expected to serve much more like a discrete GPU than the Ion chipset of today. Plans to support VIA processors are also still firmly in place, should you wish to experience the improved graphics performance outside of the realm of Lord Intel.
Atom N450 netbook torrent undammed on January 11 next year?
Well, well, here's something to spice up that upcoming post-CES malaise. The second Monday of the first January of the 2010th year of the Gregorian calendar seems set to be the day Atom-powered netbook lovers have been waiting for. DigiTimes today reports that the long (much too long) awaited move to the Pine Trail platform is set to go off with a pretty major bang of vendor support come next month. Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, and MSI are all said to have lined up their N450 wares -- we know that for a fact with Lenovo -- and are now awaiting Lord Intel's predetermined date to start shipping. We're also hearing the even faster N470 chip will start making the rounds in March 2010, meaning that the first quarter of next year will see more netbook innovation than the last year and a half combined.
Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 netbook becomes the latest climber on Intel's Pine Trail
We still have nothing but leaked roadmaps and insider information about the details of Intel's Pineview processor and Pine Trail platform at this point, but that's not stopping a number of manufacturers from prepping their products for the supposedly upcoming unveiling. There was a nettop last month, Lenovo's latest IdeaPad last week, and now, thanks again to the FCC, we know there's a new netbook coming from Fujitsu packing the 1.6GHz Atom N450 processor. The LifeBook MH380 sports a 10.1-inch LCD with a resolution of 1366 x 768, 802.11b/g/n wireless, and, well, that's all our government-funded spies have revealed so far. We're guessing CES will be a time of great knowing. [Thanks, Matt]
Lenovo IdeaPad shown to possess Pineview CPU by FCC photo shoot
Remember that Pine Trail fast-tracking we were talking about? Yeah, it's for real. Intel's latest submission to the FCC reveals details of a new member of Lenovo's IdeaPad netbook range, and is the first confirmed sighting of the Pineview processor every netbook diehard has been waiting for. The documentation suggests an S10-3 moniker for the new 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 machine, which is likely to pair up that Atom N450 with 2GB of RAM and 250GB of storage. Click past the break to see the sticker with all the specs on it, and do make your voices heard in the comments below regarding that buttonless touchpad -- a Synaptics ClickPad, perchance?
Intel purportedly fast-tracking Pine Trail platform, forgetting all about N270 / N280 at CES
Say it with us now: "freaking finally!" The world at large seems perfectly fine with using Atom N270 and N280 CPUs for the rest of eternity (judging by the latest netbook sales figures, anyway), but techies like us are sick and tired of dabbling with the same underpowered chips and the same lackluster capabilities. At long last, we're hearing that Intel will supposedly officially announce the Pine Trail platform in late December, with a raft of netbooks based around the new Pineview chips hitting the CES show floor in January. The 1.66GHz Atom N450, dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 and Atom D410 are expected to be all the rage at the show, with the existing N270 and N280 making an expedited trip to the grave. Good riddance, we say.
Next-gen Atom N470 to relax netbook spec restrictions slightly further
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]
Slew of Pine Trail packing portables announced, processor release slated for early Jan?
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.
Intel's Pine Trail Atom D510 already spotted in Chinese nettop
Remember when we first heard that a mythical Atom D510 was on Intel's roadmap way back in June? Yeah, turns out that memo was spot-on, and while the chip maker has since gone official with the next-gen architecture, we've yet to see it within any machine outside of a trade show floor... until now. Halfway around the world, the KND K1850 all-in-one nettop is said to be packing a dual-core 1.66GHz D510 (Pineview) chip, an 18.6-inch display, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and a DVD drive. There's also inbuilt WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader and a few USB ports, though there's no indication that it'll ever ship to anywhere outside of Asia. 'Course, about four billion other machines from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo will, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll all have the exact same specifications. Oh, joy.[Via Slashgear]
Eyes-on with Intel's Pine Trail CPU/GPU hybrid and new Gulftown gaming chip (update)
See that tiny little thing? That's not just a CPU, it's Intel's next-gen Atom Pine Trail CPU / GPU hybrid, and it's set to pop in all sorts of devices here at IDF. Intel was demoing it in a nettop running 480p video, but they assured us it was capable of 1080p playback -- we'll believe it when we see it, obviously. Also on display here at IDF: demo machines running 32nm Arrandale chips, with Intel's Clear HD video playback system, and the next-gen Gulftown gaming chip, which has six cores and will slot right into your X58 mobo to provide more power than you possibly need sometime next year. Check it all in the gallery! Update: So the first Intel rep we spoke to was a little confused -- Pine Trail only supports 480p playback, although it can apparently do 720p if pushed. Native HD isn't on Intel's roadmap until the next generation of these chips, so If you want HD right now, Intel's pointing manufacturers to the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, which usually ends up costing about $30 extra at retail. So to recap: Intel's integrating graphics into its CPU dies, but in order to play back HD content, you still need a separate video processor to handle the decoding. How very efficient. %Gallery-73726%
MSI confirms Pinetrail-having, touchscreen Windows 7 Wind U150 for 2010
MSI has confirmed some previous whisperings of a Windows 7-running, resistive touchscreen netbook which will boast Intel's much anticipated Pine Trail chipset -- the Wind U150, which should present some competition for the ASUS T91. The real question is timing for this one: MSI has also said that Intel's chipset will arrive at CES 2010, which makes sense in the context of previous rumors we've heard that Acer and ASUS are freezing new netbook production until 2010, pending Pine Trail's debut. Intel, however, has remained steadfast in its avowal that the chipset is still on track for release this year... so what does it all mean? Your guess is as good as ours. MSI also simultaneously confirms the Wind U210 for the beginning of September, on AMD's Yukon platform. The U210 will run Windows XP and start at $379, with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.[Via Slashgear]
New Atom architecture Pine Trail on schedule for this year, says Intel's Eden
The ever-entertaining Mooley Eden, Intel's General Manager of Mobile Platform Group, wants you to know as succinctly as possible that the rumors of Atom evolution Pine Trail's delay have been greatly exaggerated. "Pine Trail is on schedule. You can quote me on that... The three chip solution down to two chip solution [is] coming this year." Now how about a hint as to where we'll first see this chip, eh Eden?
Acer and ASUS reportedly freeze netbook releases until 2010
Looks like even Acer and ASUS are getting bored with the Atom N270 -- Digitimes says the two companies are suspending development of new netbooks until the first quarter of 2010 when Intel's next-gen Pine Trail platform with the Atom N450 is set to arrive. What's more, Acer's also apparently postponing that dual-boot Android / XP machine since it's found demand to be low -- we could have told you that months ago, but whatever. Still, turning off the netbook spigot will be a big step for the two companies most responsible for the segment's overheated product cycle, but don't you worry about them -- they'll have plenty of CULV thin-and-light machines to obsessively iterate in the meantime.[Via SlashGear]
Intel Atom N450 "Pineview" processor delayed until next year?
We'd recommend taking this one with a hefty grain of salt for the time being as Intel isn't saying anything on the matter itself just yet, but DigiTimes is reporting / speculating that Intel's Atom N450 "Pineview" processor (and the Pine Trail platform that goes along with) has been delayed until next year. That processor, as you may recall, was apparently on track to debut sometime in the last quarter of this year, but DigiTimes says Intel has decided to push it back a bit so as not to shake up the netbook market too much in the second half of 2009.Update: DigiTimes has further clarified saying the N270 will take up the slack on 2H2009 in part due to low orders of the relatively high cost N450 and worries that the Pine Trail platform could cannibalize sales of next gen thin-and-lights and Calpella-based laptops.
Intel's Atom N450 'Pineview' coming to netbooks in October?
Get ready to say goodbye to the N270 processor and 945GSE graphics team slow-dancing with your netbook right now, Intel's single-core Atom N450 "Pineview" processor is rumored for a possible October release, at the earliest. The Atom N450 is part of Intel's "Pine Trail" platform architecture that moves the GPU and memory controller onto the CPU die for a smaller package that consumes less power (or the same if Intel jacks the clock speed) when coupled with intel's NM10 "Tigerpoint" chipset. Expect to see Atom N450-based netbooks elbowing for space against Snapdragon- and Tegra-flavored smartbooks everywhere by the end of the year.
Intel details next-generation Atom platform, say hello to Pine Trail
Intel has been doing a lot of talking about big new processors and platforms as of late, and it's now gotten official with one that's soon to be ever-present: its next-generation Atom platform, codenamed Pine Trail. In case you haven't been tracking the rumors, the big news here is that the processor part of the equation, dubbed Pineview, will incorporate both the memory controller and the GPU, which reduces the number of chips in the platform to two, and should result in some significant size and power savings. As Ars Technica points out, the platform is also the one that'll be going head to head with NVIDIA's Ion, which is likely to remain more powerful but not as affordable or efficient, especially considering that NVIDIA can't match Intel's on-die GPU. Either way, things should only get more interesting once Pine Trail launches in the last quarter of this year.
