Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Dell to introduce its Intel Ultrabooks at 2012 CES. Will they include Ivy Bridge processors?

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The jury is still definitely out on how well Intel’s new Ultrabook platform will do in the market, especially initially as prices remain on the high side. But the company keeps adding vendors to the Ultrabook fold, with Dell apparently ready to finally join the party.

According to DigiTimes, Dell will launch its Ultrabooks at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. The svelte laptops will then go on sale in the first quarter of next year, joining models from Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo. Our sister site CNET is reporting a similar rumor, and even speculates that Dell could be choosing the timing of its announcement to coincide with Intel’s introduction of its Ivy Bridge chips at CES.

Despite claims that it hasn’t helped lower prices on Ultrabooks sufficiently, Intel has been ponying up big marketing dollars to its partners to support the new laptops. Presumably Dell will be the latest to step up to that trough.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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IDF 2011: Intel makes the case for more cores

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Summary: On the final day of the Intel Developer Forum, CTO Justin Rattner made the case for more powerful PCs and servers with tens or even hundreds of processing cores.

On the final day of the Intel Developer Forum this week, CTO Justin Rattner made the case for more powerful computers, or more specifically for many more cores. During his keynote Intel demonstrated a range of interesting applications-both consumer and business-that harness the power of multi-core and many-core PCs and servers. And he sought to debunk the widespread belief that you need to be “some kind of freak to actually program these things.”

(You can view Webcasts of the IDF keynotes here.)

Five years ago at IDF, Rattner introduced the Core microarchitecture and the shift to using more cores running at lower speeds, rather than one or two very fast cores, to improve performance and power-efficiency. At the time, he said, no one could have imagined that a few years later we’d be talking about processors with tens or even hundreds of cores. This includes not only CPU core (what Intel refers to as IA cores) but other specialized cores such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and accelerators-a concept known as heterogeneous computing.

Intel’s main product in this emerging segment is the Knights family of processors based on the company’s Many Integrated Cores (MIC) architecture. Some customers are already testing Knights Ferry, a development chip, and reporting that can port existing multi-core applications to the MIC architecture and realize good speed-ups, according to Rattner. Based on these results, Intel will “soon” launch Knights Corner, a processor with more than 50 cores manufactured using the company’s most advanced 22nm process. As part of a separate Tera-scale Computing Research Program, Intel Labs recently announced a prototype Single-Chip Cloud Computer (SCC) with 48 cores designed for scale-out cloud applications. Finally Intel has been busy creating better tools to address the challenge of programming these many-core processors, he said.

Rattner showed results of a series of application tests on systems ranging from one to 64 cores. The tests were not limited to traditional High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications-which often lend themselves to systems with many cores and threads-but also included business and consumer applications such as home video editing. The results looked very good (though the devil is always in the details with benchmarks), in some cases showing speed-ups that were close to linear. In other words, doubling the cores nearly doubles performance. “This has given us a lot of confidence that people are going to be able to put this architecture to work,” Rattner said.

Andrzej Nowak from the CERN openlab, a collaboration with companies such as Intel to develop computer technology for the Large Hadron Collider, talked about the group’s many-core efforts. The massive collider generates 40 million particle collisions per minute producing 15 to 25 petabytes of data per year (a petabyte is equal to 1,000 terabytes). To analyze all of this data, the openlab uses software that consists of millions of lines of code and 250,000 Intel cores distributed across hundreds of data centers. Nowak said the fact the same programming tools from Xeon server processors also work on the MIC architecture makes it easier to port this software. Because the workload is “heavily-vectorized and highly-threaded,” it scales almost linearly with the number of cores and threads. “We will take any amount of cores you can throw at us,” Nowak said.

To prove that many-core can work on both the server and clients, Rattner highlighted a series of real-world applications. Noting that many Web applications were really a collection of databases accessed by many users concurrently, Rattner said traditional servers were not designed for these sorts of workloads. He demonstrated how a different type of server, with a 48-core processor and in-memory database, could address this problem by handling about 800,000 transactions per second. Similarly, on the client side, Brendan Eich, the CTO of Mozilla and inventor of JavaScript, said that when he created the scripting language “in 10 days in May 1995? it was not designed for parallel applications. Intel Labs announced Parallel Extensions for JavaScript, code-named River Trail, which leverages multi-core and many-core to speed-up JavaScript applications. In the demo, a 3D Nbody Simulation in Firefox ran at 3 frames per second on a single processor and at 45 frames per second using all of the cores. Intel said these extensions will enable a new class of browser-based apps in areas such as photo and video editing, physics simulation, and 3D gaming.

One of the more intriguing demos was an LTE wireless base station, developed as part of a project with China Mobile, which uses standard PC parts including a second-generation Core i7 processor. Rattner said Intel will be doing field trials with China Mobile and other partners next year, adding that that it will try a similar approach with routers and switches. Communications and networking gear generally uses programmable logic devices or specialized ASICs, but Intel believes that it can match the performance with off-the-shelf multi-core CPUs. In the final demo, Intel showed how a PC can use facial recognition to decrypt and display only the correct images from a photo album on the fly. This demonstration used both the IA cores and on-die graphics in Sandy Bridge.

“I hope at this point there is no question in your mind that the time is now– if you haven’t already started–to build multi-core or many-core applications and you don’t need to be a ninja programmer to do it,” Rattner said.

If this isn’t ambitious enough, Intel has an even bigger goal in mind: an exascale computer by 2018. An exaflop is one quintillian (10^18) floating-point operations per second. To put that in perspective, Nvidia’s Tesla C2070 GPU is capable of 515 gigaflops, or billions of operations per second. The world’s fastest supercomputer the K Computer at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science in Kobe, Japan, is capable of 8 petaflops, or 8 quadrillion (10^15) floating-point operations per second.

The real challenge here, though, is power. Today’s petascale supercomputers already use seven to 10 megawatts, so simply scaling them up isn’t an option. An exascale computer would require several nuclear power stations to supply its six gigawatts of power. The practical limit for a datacenter is around 20 megawatts, which means we will need a 300x reduction in total system power to build an exascale computer. Intel’s Shekhar Borkar is leading the company’s effort to develop a prototype system by 2018 as part of the DARPA-funded Ubiquitous High Performance Computing project. Three other organizations, Nvidia, MIT and Sandia National Laboratory, are also developing prototype “ExtremeScale” supercomputers.

One way to reduce system power is to make the CPU more efficient. To illustrate this, Rattner demonstrated an experimental Pentium-class chip, code-named Claremont, which is capable of operating close to the threshold voltage of the transistors-the power required to switch a transistor on and off. CEO Paul Otellini had already given a quick preview of this chip running Windows earlier this week, but Rattner showed it running Linux and offered more details. Because Claremont operates within a couple hundred milliwatts of the threshold voltage, it sips power and can be run entirely from a solar cell about the size of a postage stamp. Intel got a 5x reduction in power using the older Pentium core, but it could achieve an 8x reduction using a newer core, Borkar said. Intel also showed Claremont’s “wide dynamic range,” meaning its ability to boost the frequency up to ten times to handle more intensive tasks, by running a Quake demo.

Rattner also talked about the Hybrid Memory Cube, a concept developed by Micron that consists of a stack of DRAM chips in a compact cube with an efficient, high-performance controller and interface. Intel said the HMC is capable of nearly 1Tbps of throughput yet it uses seven times less power than today’s DDR3 DRAM. Stacked memory is difficult to manufacture, and therefore still relatively expensive, but the HMC seems like a promising concept for networking equipment and servers.

We’re at a significant point in time where technology is no longer the limiting factor,” Rattner concluded.

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

New AMD Bulldozer release date rumored to be October 12

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The latest rumors surrounding the release date of AMD’s Bulldozer, or FX series, or Zambezi, desktop processors have them coming sooner than later (for a change). After being bumped from September to October, they now apparently will debut on October 12.

Better still, the price keeps dropping on them. The top Bulldozer, the eight-core FX-8150, should cost around $245, while another eight-core, the FX-8120, will be priced at just $205. The six-core FX-6100 will run $175.

At that price, the FX-8150 should seriously undercut the price of the Intel Core i7-2600K (currently around $315), unless Intel decides to drop its price. Considering that it is rumored to be readying the i7-2700K for release soon to counter the Bulldozer launch, Intel may very well be planning to make the i7-2600K more affordable.

[Via Fudzilla]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Dell delivers Inspiron One 2320 all-in-one desktop PC

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Summary: Days after Samsung released its first all-in-one PC, Dell has countered with yet another one for its Inspiron lineup. The Inspiron One 2320 uses Intel Core i5 and i7 processors — unlike the AMD-based Inspiron One 2305 — built into a 23-inch 1,920×1080-resolution display. Other base specs include 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, DVD burner, [...]

Days after Samsung released its first all-in-one PC, Dell has countered with yet another one for its Inspiron lineup. The Inspiron One 2320 uses Intel Core i5 and i7 processors — unlike the AMD-based Inspiron One 2305 — built into a 23-inch 1,920×1080-resolution display.

Other base specs include 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, DVD burner, built-in Wi-Fi, HD Webcam, and even an HDMI input to connect home theater devices to the display. As is de rigueur with many all-in-ones these days, the Inspiron One 2320 features touchscreen capabilities, a wireless keyboard, and the ability to wall-mount the display.

The $949.99 model comes with a Core i5-2400 processor and integrated graphics, while a $1,249.99 version bumps the memory to 8GB, the hard drive capacity to 2TB, and graphics to a Nvidia GeForce GT 525M discrete card. Upgrading to a faster Core i7 is promised in the company’s press release, but does not yet seem available on the Dell Website.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Monday, December 19, 2011

Intel preparing Sandy Bridge-E processors for November 15 release?

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HP doubles down on business tablets with $699 Windows-powered Slate 2

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Summary: Like Dell, HP is hoping that is can compete better with the iPad in a corporate setting, rather than on consumer store shelves. It’s just announced an updated version of its Slate business tablet that runs Windows 7 and features a slew of improvements. Dubbed the Slate 2, it comes with an Intel Atom Z670 processor [...]

Like Dell, HP is hoping that is can compete better with the iPad in a corporate setting, rather than on consumer store shelves. It’s just announced an updated version of its Slate business tablet that runs Windows 7 and features a slew of improvements.

Dubbed the Slate 2, it comes with an Intel Atom Z670 processor and promises an improved six hours of battery life. It now includes Swype’s finger-swiping software to input text on the 8.9-inch touch screen. (You can also use the optional Slate Digital Pen for stylus input.) The Slate 2 also has a front-facing Webcam, rear-facing 3-megapixel camera, a pair of USB ports, an HDMI output, and an SD memory card slot.

Enterprise-friendly features include an embedded security chip with HP ProtectTools to manage its settings, Computrace Pro support to remotely erase data in case of theft, and optional accessories like the Point of Sale Case, which includes a barcode reader and magnetic stripe reader.

At $699, the Slate 2 is priced lower than Dell’s similar $859 Latitude ST, though the Latitude comes with a bigger 10.1-inch screen. Of course, these are both pricier than the cheapest iPad 2 (even a 3G model), but Dell and HP are clearly betting that corporations (and their IT departments) will feel more comfortable using Windows slates than Apple tablets.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Sunday, December 18, 2011

IDF Preview: Ivy Bridge, Ultrabooks and tablets, Windows 8 and more

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Summary: Next week is shaping up to be a blockbuster with the Intel Developer Forum and Microsoft’s Build conference, plus DEMO and TechCrunch’s Disrupt. I’ll be at IDF in San Francisco where Intel will be talking Ivy Bridge, Ultrabooks and tablets, Windows 8 and more.

Next week is shaping up to be a busy one in the tech world. Intel will be holding its annual developer conference in San Francisco. Meanwhile, several hundred miles down the road in Anaheim, Microsoft will be holding its Build conference where it will disclose more details on Windows 8. To top it off, software companies will be making their pitches at DEMO and TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF, both in the Bay Area.

I’ll be at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) where, as usual, CEO Paul Otellini will provide the big picture, Mooly Eden will give his pitch for reinventing the PC and CTO Justin Rattner will look into his crystal ball for the future of computing in keynotes. But there will also be more than 150 talks on topics ranging from Intel’s upcoming microarchitecture, code-named Ivy Bridge, to Ultrabooks to tablets to Windows 8.

At the top of the list is Ivy Bridge, Intel’s next microarchitecture and the industry’s first processors manufactured using a 22nm process. Back in May Intel revealed that Ivy Bridge will use a new 3D tri-gate transistor structure and demonstrated working chips. The new design allows Intel to cram more transistors onto a chip, continuing Moore’s Law, while increasing transistor performance and reducing power. Ivy Bridge processors are already in production in Intel’s development fabs in Oregon and will be available in laptops, desktops and servers next year.

With Ivy Bridge right around the corner, I’m hoping to hear more about it next week and there are several sessions devoted to the new microarchitecture. Intel Fellow Mark Bohr will give an overview of the 22nm tri-gate technology while Intel engineers will talk about how the technology will be used “to deliver new levels of processor performance, power conservation and architectural feature extensions.” Other talks will focus on specific features such as HD videoconferencing using Intel’s Quick Sync video encoding and Media SDK 3.0 and cryptography using the new processor-based random number generator, code-named Bull Mountain.

Chips that use less power will be the key to Intel’s efforts to reinvent the PC for a world in which users are spending more time with tablets and smartphones. Earlier this year Intel introduced the Ultrabook concept, and at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin last week, Acer, Asus, Lenovo and Toshiba all announced their opening salvos in this category. These laptops have 11- to 13-inch displays, are very thin and lightweight, and use low-voltage second-generation Core processors (Sandy Bridge) and solid-state drives (SSDs). They should also cost less than $1,000, though some of the first ones may cost a bit more.

Intel has previously said that Ultrabooks could account for 40 percent of all laptops sold to consumers next year, and it has put a lot of time and money behind making them happen, so it’s no surprise they will be a big theme next week with numerous sessions on topics such as the different designs and enhanced power management to extend battery life. Intel and LG Display will also hold a joint talk on next-generation displays for Ultrabooks that have Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) and Panel Self-Refresh technologies to save power. I also expect to hear a lot more about how Ultrabooks will evolve to be more like tablets with instant-on, longer battery life, multi-touch displays and Windows 8. This week Intel CFO Stacy Smith told analysts at an investor conference that future generations of Ultrabooks would be more like convertible tablets.

Of course Intel also wants to compete head-to-head with the many companies designing chips using the ARM architecture for tablets and smartphones. Many people will want to hear whether Intel is making progress with its Atom SOCs. Intel will have several sessions on tablets including talks on designing Android tablets based on the Medfield SOC processor, and developing new apps and porting existing Android apps for the x86 architecture. Intel engineers will also give an update on the Atom roadmap including the next-generation 32nm Atom platform code-named Cedar Trail-M. Intel has a long way to go in tablets, but Atom is used in many other places and there will be sessions on using the low-power platform in netbooks, classmate PCs, desktops, servers (in a joint talk with Dell and Sea Micro) and embedded applications. It’s worth noting that the word “smartphone” barely appears in the agenda, and is only mentioned in passing, though there are a couple of sessions on Intel’s MeeGo operating system.

Finally I’m looking forward to hearing more about Windows 8. Lately Microsoft has started posting a lot more details on features of Windows 8 and next week’s Build conference will no doubt generate a lot of headlines too. At IDF, Intel engineers and Microsoft program managers are promising a “glimpse” into Windows 8 and what the two companies doing to enable a new computing experience. One of the big changes in Windows 8 is that it will run not only on x86 processors from Intel and AMD, but also on ARM-based chips from Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Rumors are swirling that Samsung will demonstrate a tablet running Nvidia’s Kal-El quad-core processor and Windows 8 at Build. So I’ll be interested to see how Intel positions x86 platforms against this coming wave of new Windows 8 devices. I’m also hoping to get a better idea of how the Metro-style user interface will co-exist with the conventional Windows interface on laptops and tablets.

In short, it should be a very interesting week. I’ll be covering all of it here so check back for lots more from IDF.

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Lenovo, Toshiba announce first Ultrabooks

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

OCZ releases RevoDrive Hybrid: 100GB SSD, 1TB hard drive, $499

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IDF 2011: Intel talks Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks, shows working Haswell chip

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Summary: Mooly Eden, head of Intel’s PC division, aims to convince developers that Intel can reinvent the PC for a world of tablets and smartphones.

The job for Mooly Eden, the head of Intel’s PC division, with this morning’s IDF keynote was clear: to convince developers that Intel can reinvent the PC for a world of tablets and smartphones. During his speech Eden revealed that Sandy Bridge is Intel’s fastest-selling chip ever, provided new details on Ultrabooks including a Windows 8 preview and new Ivy Bridge-based systems due in 2012, and showed the first working system with a processor based on the next-generation Haswell architecture.

Today the industry sells more than 1 million PCs each day and there are 1.5 billion PCs in use worldwide, Eden said. The growth has been especially strong in developing markets, he noted. But Eden said that the PC must evolve to continue this growth, and he admitted that the transition won’t be easy.

Throughout its 30-year history, the personal computer has proven highly adaptable noting in particular the introduction in 1995 of Pentium MMX and CD-ROM drives, which transformed PCs into multimedia devices, and in 2003, the Centrino platform that started a mobile computing revolution. Now Intel is planning another transformation of the PC with the Ultrabook, he said.

Eden announced that Intel has sold more than 75 million of its second-generation Core processors, known as Sandy Bridge, to date. In a side-by-side demo, he showed the performance of a Core i7 Sandy Bridge versus an older Core 2 Duo on several tasks including image editing, video editing and augmented reality.

Next up is Ivy Bridge, which has 1.48 billion 3D tri-gate transistors manufactured on a 22nm process. By comparison, Sandy Bridge processors have 1.16 billion planar transistors on 32nm. Though Ivy Bridge is technically a shrink, or a “tick” in Intel’s tick-tock cadence, Eden said it actually more than a smaller, denser chip. “Ivy Bridge is not a tick,” he said. “This tick is actually a tick-plus.”

He listed some of the key features including backward-compatibility with Sandy Bridge systems; power management features such as Power Aware Interrupt Routing, which dynamically routes interrupts to cores that are already awake to save power rather than waking up cores that are asleep; and significantly improved 3D graphics and media performance. “You’ll be surprised by the performance that Ivy Bridge is going to deliver,” he said. In a demo, Eden showed an Ivy Bridge system playing 20 simultaneous HD streams and then playing a highly-detailed flight simulation game.

Eden recapped the basic features of the Ultrabook, a concept first introduced at Computex in June, including a thin and light design, good performance and responsiveness, long battery life, and solid security at an affordable price. He did not mention the previous price target of less than $1,000. He said that Intel designed Ivy Bridge to in such a way that even at low voltage for Ultrabooks, it can deliver better performance than the existing laptops. For example, he showed how the company boosted Turbo mode so a 17-watt low-voltage Ivy Bridge processor can reach the same frequencies as a standard 35-watt Sandy Bridge mobile processor.

Next he demonstrated a series of hardware and software technologies. The first ones included Rapid Start, which Intel claims can boot a system from hibernate in less than five seconds; and Smart Connect Technology, which lets the computer connect and receive updates while it is asleep. This was followed by some new security features. Noting that about 12,000 laptops are left behind airports every week, Todd Gebhart, an executive at McAfee, said the company will release a new application next year that will let users lock the data or completely wipe the data from an Ultrabook. Intel also demonstrated a couple of identity protection features that it claims prevent hackers from accessing your online accounts–even if they know your user ID and password–and make online transactions more secure. Later in the keynote, Intel demonstrated new display technology, eDP 1.3 with Panel Self-Refresh, that it claims can increase battery life by 45 minutes to one hour; and Thunderbolt I/O on a Windows laptop streaming 700Mbps of video. Eden announced that Acer and Asus will offer platforms with Thunderbolt next year.

Eden talked about Intel’s $300 million Ultrabook investment fund and said that Intel had already started to drive down the price of these systems. Acer, Asus, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba will all be selling Sandy Bridge-based Ultrabooks this year-some for under $1,000. He also gave a preview of several next-generation Ultrabooks from Compal, Foxconn, Inventec, Pegatron and Quanta with Ivy Bridge processors and 13.3-inch displays.

With Microsoft demonstrating Windows 8 at its own developer conference this week, Eden noted that Intel and Microsoft have been collaborating for 20 years, and said they’ve been working together on Windows 8 to reduce system power and take advantage of the new graphics capabilities. Brett Carpenter, from Microsoft’s Windows ecosystem group, showed Windows 8 running on both a tablet (with a 32nm Intel Atom processor) and on an Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook. The Aspire S3 woke from sleep in about two seconds, and Carpenter showed the Metro-style user interface. He highlighted that the new UI is hardware-accelerated, has live tiles that can be programmed using existing tools and languages, and allows developers to create “chrome-less,” or full-screen, apps.

Saving the best for last, Eden held up a Haswell processor on stage and showed a desktop system with a working Haswell chip. He said the goals for Haswell were a 20x reduction in power, all-day battery life and 10 days of connected standby time. Haswell will complete the Ultrabook transition, he promised.

See also:

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Friday, December 16, 2011

Next Amazon Kindle Fire tablet could come in a few months. Should you really buy the first version?

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Are you sure you want to rush out and buy that Kindle Fire tablet that Amazon is announcing tomorrow? According to some sleuthing by Ryan Block, co-founder of gdgt.com, you may be getting a slate that’s being rushed out to make the upcoming holiday shopping season — and that will be soon be replaced by a better version.

By now, you may know that the Kindle Fire appears to be based on the RIM PlayBook, which hasn’t exactly set the world on, er, fire. While that fact alone may not be big problem for Amazon shoppers — after all, it won’t be burdened with the idiosyncrasies Research in Motion baked into the PlayBook user experience — early adopters might want to know a few other things about how Kindle Fire v1.0 came to be.

According to Block, there were a few hiccups along the road. Amazon’s own Kindle product team wanted no part in developing the Fire, and some hardware issues have forced the company to use a slower processor than it would have liked to. His sources conclude that it’s “supposed to be pretty poor.”

Nonetheless, the Kindle Fire could work fine for many tablet buyers if the hardware performs decently, and the interface is usable enough (more on that here). But Block is now reporting that Amazon will be releasing another Kindle Fire in the first quarter of next year, and it’s the one about which the company is really excited. Why that is, we’re not sure, but it apparently is.

In other words, you just might want to save your tablet dollars for Kindle Fire 2 if you really desire Amazon’s best. That is, if you can bear the wait.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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IDF 2011: Intel's Cedar Trail Atom aims for netbook-tablet hybrids

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Summary: At IDF this week Intel gave an update on its Atom roadmap and talked about how the upcoming Cedar Trail SOC will work in hybrid devices that blur the lines between laptops and tablets.

Tablets get all the attention, but the majority of Intel’s Atom processors are still used in netbooks with a traditional clamshell design. At IDF this week, Intel gave an update on its Atom roadmap, and talked about how the upcoming System-On-Chip (SOC), code-named Cedar Trail, will work not only in netbooks but also in hybrid devices that blur the lines between laptops and tablets.

Cedar Trail will replace the current Atom N4xx and N5xx processors, known as Pine Trail, which are primarily used in netbooks. Intel said the first Cedar Trail processors, which will be manufactured using a 32nm process, will ship in the fourth quarter. Intel has a separate processor line, the Atom Z6xx series, or Oak Trail, for tablets. This will be replaced in 2012 by a new SOC code-named Medfield. A third SOC on the roadmap for 2012, known as Clover Trail and also manufactured on 32nm, will be used for both tablets and hybrid devices. Cindy Ng, an Intel marketing manager, said the company was on track to move Atom to Intel’s 22nm tri-gate technology in 2013.

Intel listed four reasons why device makers should choose Atom over competing solutions: Intel’s advanced process technology; the company’s manufacturing capacity (Intel has shipped more than 100 million Atom chips); the ability to use multiple operating systems including Windows, Chrome OS, Android and MeeGo; and the additional features that Intel has been developing. These features make system boot up faster, receive notifications while in sleep mode, synchronize files with other mobile devices and stream images and video to external displays wirelessly.

Atom is already the most popular solution for netbooks, though recently AMD’s low-power C- and E-Series Accelerated Processing Units have found some success too. But with Cedar Trail Intel is also aiming for hybrid devices that blend some of the features of netbooks and tablets. These devices typically have a keyboard/touchpad and a touchscreen display measuring 10- to 11.6-inches. Hybrids are thinner than netbooks, but not as thin as tablets. And they have the I/O options typically found on laptops and netbooks plus many of the sensors (GPS, compass, accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light and proximity) found on tablets.

The Cedar Trail platform includes the 32nm Cedarview processor and a separate NM10 Express chipset that also supports touch input and GPS. To make it easier to integrate other sensors, the Cedar Trail platform can also be used with a USB sensor hub manufactured by other chipmakers such as ST Microelectronics.

The hybrid isn’t an entirely new concept. Convertible tablets with swiveling displays have been around for years and lately computer makers have been experimenting with other hybrid designs using sliding keyboards (Samsung Sliding PC 7 and Asus Eee Pad Slider), rotating displays (Dell Inspiron Duo) or keyboard docks (Asus Eee Pad Transformer). But these are niche products. With Cedar Trail, Intel is hoping to better define this category, incorporate more tablet features, and find a bigger audience. To make things even more confusing, some Ultrabooks will also have a lot of the hardware characteristics of hybrids as well, but they will use Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge Core processors that provide better performance.

The hybrid has never really caught on, and so far users seem to be opting for a separate laptop and tablet. But the time may finally be right for this in-between category. The introduction next year of Windows 8, which will include both a Metro-style user interface for tablets and the traditional Windows desktop, could give a boost to this hybrid category.

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Intel rolls out Sandy Bridge-E processors. Is their extra power worth the price?

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Summary: Today is the day that Intel widens the CPU performance gap between itself and AMD with the release of Sandy Bridge-E processors, an update of its Extreme Edition chips using the company’s latest and greatest microarchitecture. The centerpiece of the new rollout is the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, a six-core 3.3GHz screamer that jumps to 3.9GHz [...]

Today is the day that Intel widens the CPU performance gap between itself and AMD with the release of Sandy Bridge-E processors, an update of its Extreme Edition chips using the company’s latest and greatest microarchitecture.

The centerpiece of the new rollout is the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, a six-core 3.3GHz screamer that jumps to 3.9GHz with TurboBoost and comes with 15MB of cache. It’s unlocked so you can overclock it to your heart’s content, but requires a new socket, the LGA2011, and a motherboard built for the new X79 chipset. Intel will be offering a liquid cooling solution, the RTS2011LC, for the new chips, but Sandy Bridge-E processors won’t come shipped with a cooler.

Also available is the six-core Core i7-3930K, which features 3.2GHz clock speed (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) and 12MB of cache — as well as a much cheaper price tag. While the i7-3960X is priced around $1,000 — like all top Extreme Edition chips in the past — the i7-3930K will “only” cost around $550. A third Sandy Bridge-E processor, the Core i7-3820, will be released in 2012, though it’s a quad-core CPU that’s only partially unlocked.

Benchmarks of the i7-3960X from sites like Hot Hardware, PCMag, AnandTech, and Tom’s Hardware show that it inevitably earns the “fastest desktop CPU ever” title, though not without caveats. It uses huge amounts of power, especially when overclocking, and doesn’t outpace the much cheaper Core i7-2600K by that much on certain benchmarks.

Then again, there will always be buyers of the chip despite its super-high price. If you’re one of them, and you prefer to buy a desktop already configured with the processor, boutique system builders Maingear, Origin and Digital Storm are ready to oblige you. Maingear is now offering the i7-3960X in its Shift and F131 desktops, Origin in its Genesis desktop, and Digital Storm is introducing the new ODE Level 4 desktop with the new processor. All three vendors will overclock the Sandy Bridge-E CPU for you to well above 4GHz.

Are you one of the few well-heeled enthusiasts who will be shelling out a grand to buy the new Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition? Or will you “settle” for the cheaper Core i7-3930K? Let us know your thoughts in the Talkback section.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Samsung introduces Series 7 All-In-One PC, its first desktop sold in U.S.

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Summary: Now that the rumors that Samsung would purchase HP’s computer business have subsided, the company is getting to work expanding its footprint in the U.S. For the first time, the electronics giant has introduced a desktop PC for the American market. The Samsung Series 7 All-In-One PC joins the all-in-one trend, offering a 23-inch touchscreen display [...]

Now that the rumors that Samsung would purchase HP’s computer business have subsided, the company is getting to work expanding its footprint in the U.S. For the first time, the electronics giant has introduced a desktop PC for the American market.

The Samsung Series 7 All-In-One PC joins the all-in-one trend, offering a 23-inch touchscreen display that’s only 16 millimeters thick, with the system components buried in the unit’s base. The result is a different, slightly sleeker look than the typical all-in-one delivers. You can lay the screen flat in order to make the best use of the touchscreen interface.

Samsung will debut two configurations of the All-In-One. The $999 DP700A3B-A01US includes the Intel Core i3-2120T processor running at 2.6GHz, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, wireless keyboard and mouse, built-in Wi-Fi, DVD burner, and integrated graphics. The beefier $1,199 DP700A3B-A02US packs a 2.7GHz Core i5-2390T CPU and 8GB of RAM instead.

The Series 7 All-In-One PC will be available on October 10. While it delivers a sexier design and slightly bigger screen, you can get an all-in-one from HP with similar specs for less if you don’t want the touchscreen (see the Omni 220xt, for example).

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Acer's new A100 is first 7-inch tablet to run Android Honeycomb

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Summary: Despite its top exec arguing that tablets were a fad, Acer has introduced a new 7-inch slate that is also the first to run the latest, more tablet-friendly version of Android (a.k.a. Honeycomb). The Iconia Tab A100 is available now starting at $329.99. Specs-wise, the A100 is pretty typical of Android tablets these days: Nvidia Tegra [...]

Despite its top exec arguing that tablets were a fad, Acer has introduced a new 7-inch slate that is also the first to run the latest, more tablet-friendly version of Android (a.k.a. Honeycomb). The Iconia Tab A100 is available now starting at $329.99.

Specs-wise, the A100 is pretty typical of Android tablets these days: Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, front-facing Webcam, HDMI output, and MicroSD slot. It features built-in Wi-Fi, but not a 3G cellular option. The 7-inch tablet weighs 0.92 pounds and sports a 1,024×600 resolution screen.

But what’s notable in Acer’s press release is the fact that it emphasizes how well-suited the A100 is for “moms and families,” as if 10-inch tablets are the masculine domain. Does size matter so much that men need bigger tablets and women naturally want a more petite option?

In any event, Acer keeps the A100’s price low by offering only 8GB of storage for its $329.99 model. If you want to double that capacity, you can pay an additional $20. No 32GB or 64GB flavors appear available.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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iBuyPower to offer record-setting overclocked AMD Bulldozer CPU in new gaming desktop

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Summary: You may recall that last week AMD touted the exploits of a pair of pro overclockers, who were able to juice one of the chip company’s new FX, or Bulldozer, processors to a world-record 8.429GHz. Now gaming PC vendor iBuyPower, which worked with AMD on that record-setting project, is giving you the opportunity to have [...]

You may recall that last week AMD touted the exploits of a pair of pro overclockers, who were able to juice one of the chip company’s new FX, or Bulldozer, processors to a world-record 8.429GHz. Now gaming PC vendor iBuyPower, which worked with AMD on that record-setting project, is giving you the opportunity to have the same overclocked set-up in your own desktop.

Dubbed the Guinness World Edition, the PC will ship with the new AMD FX-8150 eight-core CPU and will be “similarly configured” to the system that broke the record. One obstacle iBuyPower will have to overcome: getting that same clock speed without using liquid helium for cooling, which the overclockers had at their disposal.

No word on pricing or exact availability for the new desktop, though iBuyPower says “later this fall” as a release date. You can probably also add “not cheap” as a price.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Intel refuses to slash CPU pricing for laptop makers building Ultrabooks

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The see-saw battle continues between Intel and the notebook vendors it’s wooing to create its new Ultrabooks. Manufacturers have complained that part costs are too high to sell the systems for $1,000 or less, and Intel has not only thrown big marketing money their way, but also supplied a bill of materials that shows that the magic price point for Ultrabooks can be reached.

The biggest sticking point is clearly the price of the Core i5 and i7 processors Intel wants inside Ultrabooks, which run around $300. The chip giant is offering vendors a 20-percent discount, but according to DigiTimes, is balking at the 50-percent discount that manufacturers are seeking to prop up their own profit margins.

Intel is refusing because it would depress prices for its mobile CPUs across the board, impacting its profitability. The company currently earns 60-percent gross margins on its processors. Laptop makers counter that the high price for the chips will limit their own profitability in selling Ultrabooks, which Intel has predicted will account for 40 percent of the notebook market by the end of next year.

By holding firm to its prices, Intel is taking a risk that AMD’s low-power notebook offerings won’t be a more attractive proposition to buyers looking to spend less than a grand on a new laptop, and that its Ultrabooks are in the same league as the MacBook Air, which has clearly inspired the new platform. With the first Ultrabooks set to debut soon, we won’t have long to wait to see if the strategy was worth it to Intel.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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HP goes 3D with new TouchSmart 620 all-in-one desktop, 2311gt monitor

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Consumers haven’t been racing to embrace 3D in their homes, but that hasn’t stopped HP from rolling out some new products that add the third dimension to your PC experience.

The company that made headlines when it recently considered dropping its personal computer business continues to release new desktops, with the TouchSmart 620 3-D edition being its latest model. In addition to its 3D capabilities via the 23-inch display (using the inevitable 3D glasses), the touchscreen-enabled system can recline up to 60 degrees and swivel 180 degrees so you can make use of the HP TouchSmart software. Unfortunately, HP hasn’t disclosed additional specs for TouchSmart 620, other than that it will make use of “premium graphics and processors” and start at $1,599.99 when it’s released on November 15.

If you don’t need a new desktop but still crave 3D, there’s the 2311gt monitor. The 23-inch LED-backlit display includes a pair of passive 3D glasses, and according to Engadget, sports 1080p resolution. In addition, it bundles Cyberlink PowerDVD and DDD TriDef software to convert software and games from 2D to 3D. The 2311gt is available now for $299.99.

Finally, HP has updated its Wireless TV Connect device to wirelessly transmit 3D content from your PC to your HDTV. You plug the box into your computer’s HDMI output jack and it uses WHDI technology to stream signals to your set. The new Wireless TV Connect is expected in December for $179.99.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Monday, December 12, 2011

ARM's big (and little) plans to go beyond smartphones

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Summary: ARM already owns smartphones and tablets, but the company has even bigger things in mind. At its annual developer conference last week, ARM and its customers talked up plans to push the low-power architecture into everything from smart watches to servers.

ARM already owns smartphones and tablets, but the company has even bigger things in mind. At its annual developer conference last week, ARM and its customers talked up plans to push the low-power architecture into everything from smart watches to servers.

The conference, known as ARM TechCon, began only a week after the company announced its newest low-power design, the Cortex-A7. The company claims the A7, code-named Kingfisher, is the most efficient processor it has ever produced. Although it is a low-power core with a design similar to the Cortex-A5, at speeds of 1GHz or greater it should deliver performance that rivals the Cortex-A8 currently used in many high-end smartphones. The A7 core can be used in a cluster of one to four cores and ARM says a dual-core manufactured using a 28nm process will be 20 percent of the size of a dual-core A9 on 40nm enabling less expensive chips and devices. The primary target is sub-$100 Android smartphones, starting in 2013, but the A7 can also be used in enterprise storage, MP3 players, digital cameras, TVs and set-top boxes, broadband modems and smart meters.

At the opposite extreme, ARM has another new design in the works, the Cortex-A15, which is a high-performance follow-on to the A8 and A9. ARM first announced the A15, code-named Eagle, a year ago, but the first chips won’t arrive until 2012. Like the A7, the A15 can be used in clusters of one to four cores, but it is designed to run at speeds up to 2.5GHz. Texas Instruments’ OMAP 5 with a 2.0GHz dual-core manufactured on 28nm is likely to be the first A15-based SOC when it ships in the first half of 2012. The A15 is designed for high-end smartphones and tablets, but it should deliver sufficient performance to extend into laptops, all-in-ones and even servers. It has several new features–hardware virtualization, support for more than 4GB of memory (with 40-bit memory address extensions) and memory error correction-geared specifically to servers.

With the A7, ARM also introduced a new architecture called big.LITTLE that combines clusters of low-power A7 cores, for simple tasks, and high-performance A15 cores, for more demanding chores, on a single chip. This concept, known as heterogeneous multiprocessing, has been around for a while. Cray has tried it in supercomputers, IBM’s Cell processor used in the Sony PlayStation3 console is a heterogeneous processor with a main processing element and eight co-processors, and TI’s OMAP uses a mix of Cortex A and M cores, and DSPs (TI’s Brian Carlson calls it “the best core for the chore”). Nvidia’s Tegra 3 (Kal-El), which will reportedly be announced next week, pairs a 40nm high-performance quad-core A9 with a fifth “companion core”-also an A9 but using 40nm low-power transistors.

With traditional physical scaling slowing down, ARM’s chief technology officer, Mike Muller predicted most of the future gains in performance and energy efficiency would come from this sort of heterogeneous multiprocessing. The combination of low-power A7 and high-performance A15 cores should allow ARM’s customers to design chips with a wide range of operating frequencies and power on a 28nm HPM (High-Performance Mobile) process. Both the A7 and A15 use the same ARMv7 instruction set including the virtualization and 40-bit address extensions so any software that runs on one cluster will run on the other. The clusters are connected to one another over a bus that maintains cache memory coherency and firmware takes care of task switching so the process is invisible to the operating system and applications. ARM says that in typical mobile use 90 percent of tasks will run fine on the A7, resulting in power savings of 60 percent on MP3 playback, video streaming and casual gaming; greater than 40 percent on HD games; and 10 percent for browsing Flash-heavy sites when compared with a dual-core A9 only.

Many of the A15 and big.LITTLE SoCs will also use the upcoming Mali-T604, ARM’s first GPU based on the next-generation Midgard architecture. Midgard is designed not only for 3D graphics but also for GPU computing. ARM says the Mali-T604, which can be used in configurations of one to four cores, will deliver 5x better graphics performance than the current Mali-400MP used in Samsung’s Exynos 4210 among other processors. The Mali-T604 also supports Khronos OpenCL, Microsoft’s DirectCompute and Google Android’s RenderScript APIs for hardware acceleration of other applications. And it uses the same big.LITTLE cache-coherent interconnect, which means the GPU can read data directly out of the caches in the A7 and A15 CPU clusters–rather than having to move the data around the system-increasing performance and reducing system power. (ARM’s Jem Davies wrapped up all the Mali-T604 updates from TechCon in this post.)

On the final day of its conference ARM announced a true 64-bit version of its instruction set. The purpose of the new ARMv8 instruction set is to allow ARM-based systems to address more than 4GB of system memory, in particular for use in desktops and servers. It is a superset of the existing ARMv7 instruction set so systems will still be able to run all of the legacy 32-bit applications. AppliedMicro demonstrated a prototype of its X-Gene processor, a 3.0GHz multi-core chip based on the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set. This week Calxeda, a start-up backed by ARM among others, announced its EnergyCore ARM-based server SoC-and HP said it would test the chip in its Redstone Server Development Platform-but this is based on a quad-core A9 running the 32-bit ARMv7 instruction set. Other companies such as SeaMicro are likely to follow with their own ARM-based server processors.

Put it all together and ARM is clearly laying the groundwork to expand beyond mobile phones and challenge x86 in netbooks and laptops, desktops and servers. The introduction of versions of Windows 8 and Microsoft Office for ARM-based SoCs from Qualcomm, TI and Nvidia should also be a big boost for the ARM architecture.

Intel will defend its turf in two ways. First, it will leverage its lead in process technology speeding up development of Atom SoCs with 32nm Medfield next year, 22nm Silvermont in 2013 and 14nm Airmont in 2014. Second, Intel is pushing Ultrabooks to make laptops using the Core architecture look and feel more like tablets. I also expect to see AMD shift its focus more to its Brazos family of low-power processors based on the Bobcat core next year. This will include the Wichita and Krishna 28nm APUs, part of the Deccan platform for netbooks and ultra-thins, and reportedly an update to the 40nm Desna APU, code-named Hondo, for Windows 8 tablets.

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Intel's Ivy Bridge integrated GPU will support 4K resolution

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Summary: Here’s something else to look forward to when Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors ship next year: Their integrated GPU will be able to handle 4K display resolution. Not only can it support up to 4096 x 4096 pixels, but it also can run multiple monitors simultaneously showing 4k videos. This is just one of the GPU’s [...]

Here’s something else to look forward to when Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors ship next year: Their integrated GPU will be able to handle 4K display resolution.

Not only can it support up to 4096 x 4096 pixels, but it also can run multiple monitors simultaneously showing 4k videos. This is just one of the GPU’s improvement over Sandy Bridge’s integrated graphics — Intel also promises significantly faster performance and DirectX 11 support.

While 4K support sounds really cool, you’ll be hard pressed to find a plethora of compatible content. Yes, YouTube supports the format, and more pro video cameras are starting to shoot in the 4K format, but that still doesn’t add up to much currently. Furthermore, there aren’t any 4K displays to show all those pixels, though Intel’s clout could spur the industry to produce more 4K content and new monitors that can handle it. One question we may be waiting a long time to receive an answer for: Could the Ivy Bridge GPU run games at that high a resolution at playable frame rates?

[Source and image: VR-Zone]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Sunday, December 11, 2011

AMD launches FX "Bulldozer" desktop chips: Eight cores for $245

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Summary: The long-awaited day for AMD fanboys has arrived. The chip company has finally released its first Bulldozer desktop processors under the FX series name, including a flagship eight-core CPU that’s priced at just $245. Four FX processors are launching today, including a pair of eight-core chips, a six-core one, and a quad-core one. The octo-cores include [...]

The long-awaited day for AMD fanboys has arrived. The chip company has finally released its first Bulldozer desktop processors under the FX series name, including a flagship eight-core CPU that’s priced at just $245.

Four FX processors are launching today, including a pair of eight-core chips, a six-core one, and a quad-core one. The octo-cores include the 3.6GHz FX-8150 for $245 and the 3.1GHz FX-8120 for $205, while the hexa-core chip is the 3.3GHz FX-6100 for $165. The quad-core FX-4100 runs at 3.6GHz and is priced at just $115. Each has a Turbo mode that lets it run even faster, and all are unlocked so overclockers can goose them to even higher clock speeds. In fact, the FX-8150 recently set a world record for the highest frequency for a CPU.

But how do the new chips compare to their Intel equivalents? According to Bulldozer reviews at AnandTech, HotHardware, and Tom’s Hardware, it appears that the FX-8150 is no match for the Core i7-2600K on many benchmarks, though it performs more in line with i5-2500K, which runs around $220. While the Bulldozer chip handles multi-threaded benchmarks well, it suffers compared to Sandy Bridge processors on lightly threaded apps and even on power consumption, supposedly one of its strong suits.

So it seems that AMD hasn’t delivered much of a knockout punch to Sandy Bridge, though enthusiasts will still be happy to have a more competitive alternative than the aging Phenom II processors. And real-world performance won’t exactly mirror benchmark testing, so many buyers may still be happy with the FX series. However, Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips are on the horizon, and they should reset the competitive landscape once again in a mere few months.

Are you planning to buy a new Bulldozer processor or a desktop with an FX CPU? Let us know your thoughts in the Talkback section.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook gets Intel Core i7 CPU, SSD: $1,299

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Summary: Considering that Intel was pushing vendors to keep its Ultrabook prices below $1,000, charging $300 more than that doesn’t exactly jibe with the plan to undercut the MacBook Air pricing.

Acer was able to keep the price on its first Aspire S3 Ultrabook under $899 by using a hybrid hard drive setup instead of a purely solid-state-drive solution. But for its latest iteration, the company is beefing up the S3’s specs — and its price tag.

The Aspire S3-951-6432, now available at major retailers, will come with a 240GB SSD and no hard drive, along with a Core i7-2637 processor. As a result, Acer claims that the new laptop is slightly lighter and will eek out an extra hour of battery life over the S3-951-6646 (7 hours compared to 6 hours). Specs are otherwise the same (13.3-inch screen, 4GB of RAM, 0.51 inches at this thinnest point, roughly 3-pound weight), but the price is significantly higher — $1,299.99.

Considering that Intel was pushing vendors to keep its Ultrabook prices below $1,000, charging $300 more than that doesn’t exactly jibe with the plan to undercut the MacBook Air pricing. At the same time, you get better specs on the $1,300 S3 Ultrabook than the $1,300 Air configuration, which only comes with a Core-i5 CPU and a 128GB SSD drive. Will someone spending that much on a super-light laptop choose a better-equipped Windows model than a MacBook? Acer is sure hoping so.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Will HP's computer division spin-off lead to plummeting PC prices?

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Lots of new options for all-in-one desktops

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If there is a bright spot for desktop PCs this year, it is all-in-ones. More than a third of consumer desktop PC sales are now all-in-ones. During Apple’s iPhone event earlier this week, CEO Tim Cook noted that the iMac is the top-selling desktop in U.S. retail. Even businesses seem to be warming up to the idea of all-in-ones.

So it is no surprise that the choices for all-in-ones are expanding. In the past few weeks, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and HP have all introduced all-in-ones for both home and work. Here’s a look at some of the new options out there.

The Dell Inspiron One 2320 looks very similar to the previous Inspiron One 2305-both of which are based on a 23-inch 1080p multi-touch display. But the new version is smaller and nearly an inch thinner, and Dell has revamped the internals starting with Intel’s second-generation Core i5 and i7 processors. The Inspiron One 2320 starts at $950 with a 2.50GHz Core i5 quad-core, 6GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive and DVD burner. Step-up models include a faster processor, 8GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics, a 2TB hard drive and a Blu-ray writer. The older 2305, which is still available starting at $700, is based on AMD Athlon II dual- and quad-core processors.

Dell’s 23-inch all-in-one for small businesses has also received a refresh. It looks similar to the Inspiron One-and is based on a 23-inch display-but it is slightly larger and has fewer configuration options. The Vostro 360 starts at $700 with a non-touch display, Core i3 dual-core, 2GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive and DVD burner. Higher-priced models include a multi-touch display and more memory. In a blog post, Dell’s David Chen listed other options including Core i5 processors, hard drives up to 2TB and a Blu-ray player, but those do not seem to be available yet on Dell’s Vostro 360 product page.

Though better-known in the U.S. for TVs and smartphones, Samsung has been making a push with PCs. Its laptops have gotten solid reviews and the company recently released its first all-in-one desktop, the Series 7. Samsung gets high marks for a fresh design that places all of the system components in the base leaving a thin, 23-inch 1080p display that folds all the way flat. The Series 7 also uses surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch sensing, rather than capacitive touch, to track two input points at once, and has Samsung’s own Touch Launcher software. The Series 7 starts at around $1,000 with a low-voltage Core i3 dual-core processor, 6GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive and a slot-loading DVD burner that sticks out of the front of the base. The step-up model has a faster processor and more memory, but the Series 7 is missing a few options usually found in $1,000-and-up all-in-ones such as discrete graphics and Blu-ray. CNET’s Rich Brown just gave Samsung’s Series 7 an Editors’ Choice award.

Like Samsung, Toshiba has recently branched out from laptops and started offering all-in-ones in the U.S. The DX730 Series, which has a 23-inch touchscreen, is available directly from Toshiba and will soon be available at Best Buy. The DX735-ST5N01 from ToshibaDirect is $1,000 with a low-voltage Core i5 dual-core processor, 6GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive and DVD burner. The step-up model adds a Core i7 quad-core processor and costs $1,100. Best Buy will be selling what appear to be the identical configurations-only with 4GB of memory rather than 6GB-for $900 and $1,000, respectively. In August, Toshiba announced the DX1210, which has the same basic design but with a smaller display–a 21.5-inch touchscreen. Oddly this system costs a bit more at ToshibaDirect ($930) than the 23-inch model with an identical configuration from Best Buy.

HP has been pushing its TouchSmart PCs for years, and now the company is doubling down on all-in-ones. Last month it announced seven new all-in-one products creating what it claims is the “largest all-in-one portfolio in its history.”

The budget HP Omni series, which does not have touchscreens, includes the 20-inch Omni 120 and 21.5-inch Omni 220. The Omni 120 starts at $400 with AMD’s low-power E-Series dual-core processor or $500 with Intel’s Pentium G620 dual-core processor. Though it is part of the same family, the Omni 220 has a completely different, cantilevered design which makes it look like an iMac in black. It starts at $800 with a Core i5 quad-core, 6GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive and a Blu-ray player. The Omni all-in-ones also have an impressive menu of configuration options including faster processors, hard drives up to 2TB, and AMD Radeon or Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics.

The HP TouchSmart consumer line include three new models: the 20-inch TouchSmart 320, 21.5-inch TouchSmart 420 and 23-inch TouchSmart 520. All of them have multi-touch displays. The TouchSmart 320m is based on AMD’s A-Series processor (also known as Llano) with Radeon HD graphics. The base $600 model has a dual-core processor, 4GB or memory, a 500B hard drive and a DVD burner. The TouchSmart 420t is based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge and starts at $700 with a Core i3-2100 dual-core, 4GB of memory, a 750GB hard drive and DVD burner. The TouchSmart 520 comes with either the AMD A-Series, starting at $800, or Intel’s second-generation Core processors starting at $900.

HP has updated the existing TouchSmart 600 series, which is also based on a 23-inch display but has a different design. These start at $1,100 and up and use Intel’s standard-voltage processors up to the 3.40GHz Core i7-2600 quad-core. Like the Omni series, the TouchSmarts have loads of configuration options including many processor choices, up to 8GB of memory and hard drives up to 3TB. Most models also have AMD and Nvidia discrete graphics options and the 23-inch models are also available with a Blu-ray writer.

HP has a confusingly long list of business all-in-ones too, but there are only two new ones: the simple HP Pro 3420 with a standard 20-inch display and the more upscale TouchSmart Elite 7320 with a 21.5-inch touchscreen. Both are based on Intel’s second-generation Core processors. The Pro 3420 has a basic design and starts at $660 with a Pentium dual-core processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive and a DVD burner. The TouchSmart Elite 7320 uses the same design as the new consumer TouchSmart models. It starts at $850 with the same basic specs, but with a faster Core i3 dual-core processor.

Lenovo is the other major Windows player here with both IdeaCentre consumer and ThinkCentre business all-in-ones. Of course, the iMac, which got Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt I/O back in May, is still the one to beat and the only major all-in-one that extends up to 27-inches.

Microsoft Windows 8, which is due sometime next year, is designed around tablets but it could also have a big impact on all-in-ones. Custom touch solutions such as Samsung’s Touch Launcher and HP’s TouchSmart may be redundant once developers begin building HTML5 and Javascript apps for Windows 8’s Metro-style interface. But the overall user experience should be much better and more consistent with Windows 8.

More recent coverage of new all-in-ones:

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Friday, December 9, 2011

OCZ to slash SSD drive prices by 30 percent in 2012 thanks to TLC NAND flash memory

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Summary: We all know that the biggest impediment to the greater use of solid state drives in desktops and laptops is cost. While they don’t have moving parts and take up less space than traditional hard drives, SSDs still can’t deliver cheap enough cost-per-gigabyte storage to stop from the PC industry from freaking out over a [...]

We all know that the biggest impediment to the greater use of solid state drives in desktops and laptops is cost. While they don’t have moving parts and take up less space than traditional hard drives, SSDs still can’t deliver cheap enough cost-per-gigabyte storage to stop from the PC industry from freaking out over a looming hard drive shortage.

Prices for SSD drives have certainly dropped over time, but OCZ is gearing up to lower the entry price significantly as early as the first quarter of 2012. That’s when the company’s first SSDs using its new TLC (triple-bit-per-cell) NAND flash memory will start shipping. TLC can be as much as 30-percent cheaper as MLC (multi-layer cell) NAND flash.

As you might imagine given initial plans for TLC flash to be used in USB drives and memory cards, TLC-based SSD drives will suffer from worse endurance than their pricier brethren, though OCZ says TLC flash will still last for four years. The company claims that its Indilinx nDurance technology will help with TLC’s limited redundancy (offering only about 10 percent the number of writes that MLC offers).

If the hard drive shortage has indeed made this SSD’s time to shine (as Fudzilla argues), then OCZ couldn’t have timed the introduction of its TLC drives any better. Solid-state drives still won’t be dirt cheap, but any significant downward price pressure will only help deflate competitors’ prices.

[Via X-bit labs]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Dell officially introduces Latitude ST Windows 7 tablet for enterprise, healthcare, education markets

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Summary: Dell hopes you keep that iPad at home when you come to work and instead use its new Latitude ST tablet to get your productivity on. The company has just launched the Windows 7 slate with an eye to the corporate market, as well as healthcare and education workers. Dell says the Latitude ST is ideal [...]

Dell hopes you keep that iPad at home when you come to work and instead use its new Latitude ST tablet to get your productivity on. The company has just launched the Windows 7 slate with an eye to the corporate market, as well as healthcare and education workers.

Dell says the Latitude ST is ideal for these settings, combining Windows 7 Professional with the company’s Electronic Medical Records and Connected Classroom services. Dell is also collaborating with a slew of business partners to get the tablet certified for their apps.

We don’t know much about specs at this point, other than the Latitude ST uses Intel Atom processors, sports a 10-inch screen, offers stylus support, and includes front and rear cameras, USB and HDMI ports, and an SD memory card slot. As Engadget points out, the link to the product page on Dell’s blog post isn’t working, so other details are scarce.

The Dell Latitude ST will launch on November 1, with pricing yet to be announced. Can it provide a viable alternative to the iPad in an enterprise setting? Let us know your thoughts in the Talkback section.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Thursday, December 8, 2011

HP goes all in with a bevy of new all-in-one desktops for home and business

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Intel delays release of Cedar Trail-M netbook platform, new Atom processors

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Summary: Intel has had to push back the release date for its latest netbook platform, Cedar Trail-M, and will also delay the launch of its new Atom CPUs. Once slated for release next month, Cedar Trail-M is now expected in November, reports DigiTimes. The delay is apparently due to a combination of graphics drivers problems and [...]

Intel has had to push back the release date for its latest netbook platform, Cedar Trail-M, and will also delay the launch of its new Atom CPUs. Once slated for release next month, Cedar Trail-M is now expected in November, reports DigiTimes.

The delay is apparently due to a combination of graphics drivers problems and the lack of Windows 7 certification. Cedar Trail-M will feature DirectX 10.1 support from its integrated GPUs, and is based around the new Atom N2600 and N2800 processors. Intel has decided to push back the release of new Atom CPUs for nettops — the D2500 and D2700 — until November as well.

Such an announcement made in 2009 would have been a major event as netbooks were all the rage. But as DigiTimes deftly puts it, “Since netbooks are no longer a mainstream product in the IT market,” the delay barely registers a yawn in a 2011 tablet-crazed world, and even Intel has shifted its focus to its pricier Ultrabook platform.

Are you excited at all about the forthcoming Cedar Trail-M platform? Do you have still any interest in netbooks? Let us know in the Comments section.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ultrabook sales off to a disappointing start, thanks to high prices

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Intel has invested a lot of money into launching the new Ultrabook laptop platform, hailing the ultra-thin form factor as the future of notebooks. While that still may be the case down the line, initial signs are that Ultrabooks aren’t setting the world on fire, sales-wise.

According to DigiTimes, two of the main Ultrabook vendors — Acer and Asus — are expected to ship fewer than half the target number of systems for the fourth quarter that they expected: around 100,000 instead of 200,000 or 300,000 units.

The site’s sources claim that the first Ultrabooks available are priced too high to excite consumer demand. While Acer’s Aspire S3 (pictured) costs $899, other Ultrabooks cost as much or more than the lowest-priced MacBook Air ($999), the obvious inspiration for the Ultrabook platform. Even priced at $899, these laptops may be too costly for consumers who will settle for a $500 notebook instead, especially as the economy continues to sputter.

As Intel rolls out Ivy Bridge and Microsoft rolls out Windows 8, Ultrabooks may become more attractive to buyers, DigiTimes points out, especially if vendors can continue to find ways to lower the price tag for the new laptops. Thus far, however, those buyers haven’t responded to the new platform in the way Intel may have hoped.

Have you purchased an Ultrabook yet? Let us know your thoughts in the Talkback section.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Nvidia's Tegra 3 marks start of 'different cores for different chores'

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Summary: Tegra 3 is the first quad-core for tablets and smartphones, but the real story is the fifth core–the start of a trend toward combining different cores on a chip to boost performance and at the same time extend battery life.

The headline on the Tegra 3 processor, which Nvidia made official yesterday, is that it is the first quad-core processor for tablets and smartphones. But it is Tegra’s fifth “companion core,” only recently disclosed, which is the real story and the start of a trend in which more chipmakers will combine different processing cores on a single chip to boost performance and at the same time squeeze more battery life out of mobile devices.

The Tegra 3 processor is based on four ARM Cortex-A9 cores running at speed up to 1.4GHz and a 12-core GeForce graphics processor. That’s a lot of horsepower for a tablet or smartphone, and Nvidia is promising “PC-class performance levels” and three times the graphics performance of the Tegra 2. In particular, it is emphasizing mobile gaming with advanced features such as realistic physics effects, dynamic lighting and stereoscopic 3D. Nvidia says more than 40 games will be available by the end of the year with more in development.

The problem with all this performance is that it comes at the cost of battery life, and that’s where the extra companion core comes in. The fifth core is also based on the Cortex-A9 architecture, but it is designed to run at only 500MHz. That’s sufficient to handle lightweight tasks-checking e-mail and Twitter feeds in the background, browsing basic Web sites, listening to music and watching videos-without using as much power as the four main cores. Tegra 3 automatically switches between the main cores and the companion core depending on the workload. The result, according to Nvidia, is 60 percent lower power consumption than Tegra 2 and up to 12 hours of battery life during HD video playback.

In a previous post, I noted that this idea-known as heterogeneous multiprocessing-isn’t new. But it is about to become more mainstream as chip designers look for new ways to scale performance and cut power. Texas Instruments’ OMAP 5 platform, which will start shipping next year, combines dual Cortex-A15 cores with two Cortex-M4 processors and Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX544 graphics. And ARM will be making heterogeneous multiprocessing available “off-the-shelf” to all chip makers with its Big.Little architecture that combines two or four “big” A15 cores with two or four “little” A7 cores. Broadcom, Freescale, Samsung, ST-Ericsson and TI, among others, have licensed both the A7 and A15 and could offer Big.Little processors starting in 2013.

In comparison to Tegra 3, these are more heterogeneous designs in the sense that they mix and match very different cores and should therefore be able to stretch across a broader range of performance and power levels. They will also be manufactured on a more advanced 28nm process, which helps with performance, power and cost.

But Nvidia deserves credit for being first to push the envelope here. The first device to offer Tegra 3 is likely to be the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, a 10-inch tablet that will start at $499 with 32GB of storage and Android 3.2 (the keyboard dock is an extra $149). It should be shipping by the end of the year. The first Tegra 3 smartphones, perhaps including the rumored HTC Edge, should follow later in 2012.

John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine.


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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

IDF: Intel shows off liquid cooler, DX79SI motherboard for Sandy Bridge-E processors

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Summary: It’s been rumored that Intel would offer a liquid-cooling solution instead of a stock cooler with its new Sandy Bridge-E “extreme” processors, and multiple enthusiast sites have indeed snapped photos of the new cooler on the IDF exhibition floor. From the photos, we can determine that the RTS2011LC cooler has been created in conjunction with Asetek, [...]

It’s been rumored that Intel would offer a liquid-cooling solution instead of a stock cooler with its new Sandy Bridge-E “extreme” processors, and multiple enthusiast sites have indeed snapped photos of the new cooler on the IDF exhibition floor.

From the photos, we can determine that the RTS2011LC cooler has been created in conjunction with Asetek, which had previously announced it was working on a Sandy Bridge-E liquid-cooling solution. According to Legit Reviews, Intel reps said it’s similar to the Corsair Hydro H70 kit that Asetek designed, but that parts were updated, including a 120mm fan. The fan even includes blue LED lights. While designed with the LGA2011 socket, it will also work with Intel’s 1155, 1156, and 1366 sockets.

Also shown was the new DX79SI motherboard Intel will offer to pair with the Sandy Bridge-E chips. Based on the X79 chipset, it features three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, quad-channel DDR3 memory, a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and the skull graphic that Intel has featured on past high-end mobos. (More details here.)

Hopefully, Intel will provide more info about Sandy Bridge-E as IDF continues, but these parts should at least whet your appetite a bit.

[Photo: Hot Hardware]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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Intel prepares to bulldoze Bulldozer with launch of Core i7-2700K processor

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Long rumored as Intel’s first response to AMD’s Bulldozer platform, the new Core i7-2700K processor has been officially launched as the fastest Sandy Bridge desktop chip. The quad-core CPU should already widen the performance gap between the Bulldozer flagship FX-8150 and Sandy Bridge’s high end, though at an approximate price of $330 (according to CPU World), the i7-2700K is nearly $100 more expensive.

At 3.5GHz (with a 3.9GHz Turbo Boost), the new Core i7 is 100MHz faster than the Core i7-2600K, which has already bested the FX-8150 in pretty much all benchmark testing to date. And as the “K” in the product name denotes, it has an unlocked clock multiplier to ease overclocking. No word yet on whether the new processor introduction will lead to a price cut in the i7-2600K to make it even more competitive with the Bulldozers. (Signs point to “no” as there’s some evidence the processor’s price has spiked in Europe after the launch of Bulldozer.)

Already, boutique system maker Maingear has announced that it is offering the new Core i7 in its Shift and F131 desktop PCs, giving users the option to have the company overclock it to 5GHz or higher. An F131 with the i7-2700K starts at $1,228, while a Shift equipped with one starts at $1,985. No doubt other gaming PC companies will announce their own systems with the new chip in the coming days.

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.


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