Monday, December 8, 2008

Intel puts big bet on small chips

Intel stock has sunk to about $13 in the stock market rout, its lowest levels since Bill Clinton's first term. So is it a bargain now?

Sure - if the chipmaker can figure out how to dominate cell phones the way it has PCs.

That won't be easy. Though Intel supplies about 80 percent of the world's computer chips, it so far has failed to repeat that success outside the PC business.

It shut down its consumer electronics business in the last downturn, and today doesn't offer the low-power chips at the heart of hit devices like Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone, Nintendo's DS, and Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

To turn that around, Intel is banking on its tiny Atom processor, which it hopes will soon be ready to power next-generation phones.

"Atom is the heartbeat of Intel; it is the growth strategy," said Pankaj Kedia, Intel's director of business development for mobile Internet devices.

Will it work? Investors should pray it does. Just look at Intel's financial warning from a couple of weeks ago: Sales this quarter will fall far short of Wall Street's expectations, to about $9 billion - from a growth perspective, it might be the company's worst holiday season on record.

Yes, Intel's core business selling PC and server chips remains wildly profitable thanks to its manufacturing prowess, patent portfolio and mammoth scale; the company generated $3 billion in cash last quarter alone, carries little debt, and has a $12 billion war chest.

But the issue is growth. While Intel may be one of tech's big fish, the PC pond these days is stagnant or shrinking. Research firm IDC projects that consumers and businesses will spend less on computers in 2009 than they did this year, the first sequential decline since 2001.

Some of the blame for Intel's plight lies with a global recession that has finally smacked the technology industry, but that's not the whole story. Intel is also scrambling to adapt to a tectonic shift in the digital world, where attention is moving away from powerful Intel-based PCs and toward more energy-efficient and mobile gadgets. The faster Intel proves it can navigate the changed landscape, the sooner its fortunes - and stock price - are likely to improve.

Focus on Atom

So during a recent visit to the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, the discussion centered on Atom, the tiny chip that arrived this spring that's the centerpiece of Intel's mobile growth strategy.

Atom isn't ready for phones yet - so far it's mostly turning up in low-cost laptops like the Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) Mini 9 and the HP Mini 1000. But unlike Intel's bread-and-butter computer chips, Atom is designed from the ground up for small, low-cost, energy-efficient devices (think phones), not performance-focused PCs.

It's a Corolla in a company that has specialized in Corvettes - and Intel is convinced that upcoming versions will be efficient enough to begin appearing in phones.

"By 2010, Atom will be competitive in every aspect of mobile computing," promised Pat Gelsinger, an Intel senior vice president and engineering veteran.

Why does Intel need phone chips? Because, as Willie Sutton put it when asked why he robbed banks, "that's where the money is."

From Manhattan to Mumbai, people around the world open their wallets to buy more than 1 billion cell phones every year, and today practically none of the spoils end up in Intel's pockets. Instead, handset makers like Nokia (NOK), Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) and Samsung buy chips from companies like Qualcomm (QCOMM) and Texas Instruments (TI).

Common sense dictates that if Intel can cut itself into just a fraction of the cell phone market, voila - it will have the growth it craves.

"Where Atom's going, Intel has potential to gain market share where they have not been in the past," said Jim McGregor, director of semiconductors at the In-Stat research firm. "In cases where customers demand performance, it has potential."

Of course, cracking new chip markets isn't easy, and the cell phone business may prove an especially tough nut for Intel.

The king of the hill in cell phone chips, ARM Holdings (ARMH), plays a tough game. Rather than make its own chips as Intel does, ARM licenses its blueprints to companies like Qualcomm, TI and Samsung, and lets them customize and build the chips built on their own. The result: ARM gets a modest and comfortably profitable licensing business (operating profits so far in 2008 are about $126 million on sales of $397 million), and its customers get the security of knowing their phones aren't built on a cookie-cutter, industry-standard chip.

Some of the most powerful names in the tech industry seem to like that setup; IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) recently signed on to manufacture ARM-based processors, and Apple has engineers working on ARM-based chip designs for future versions of the iPod and iPhone.

To win despite those odds, Intel will have to woo high-profile ARM customers over to Atom - and that may be harder than it sounds. Case in point: the chip giant ended up with egg on its face in October, after Intel executives slammed the Internet performance of Apple's iPhone, suggesting it would work better with an Atom chip. The next day a more senior executive apologized effusively. Intel didn't comment on whether Apple CEO Steve Jobs personally called to demand the backpedaling, but it's safe to assume he didn't send flowers.

Still, analysts agree that there's no company better positioned to take on ARM than Intel. "Everybody's heard of Intel inside," said Will Strauss, president of the Forward Concepts research firm. "Nobody's ever heard of ARM inside."

Consider that alongside the fact that Intel was already running a tight ship before tough times hit, and it's easy to feel good about Intel's chances of figuring out phones, and rescuing its stock.

But this much is also true: It'll feel a lot better to see an Atom chip shipping in an iPhone or a BlackBerry. And for now, it's anyone's guess when that will happen.

Kontron and LynuxWorks Release Intel COTS Safety Critical Platform

Kontron and LynuxWorks today released an Intel based COTS platform for safety critical, deterministic real-time embedded applications, using the Kontron PENTXM2 single board computer running the LynxOS-178B RTOS.
"By porting the world's only RTOS certified as a Reusable Software Component (RSC) by the Federal Aviation Administration onto a server class single board computer, LynuxWorks and Kontron have created the perfect solution for the new wave of dedicated safety critical applications built in the Intel environment," commented Richard Pugnier, marketing communications director at Kontron. "A growing number of such systems are seeking to exploit the immense base of development expertise and code available in the x86 domain. This solution allows avionics, vehicle electronics and other safety critical applications to adopt this path whilst reducing development time, cost and risk."
"Leveraging the development effort targeting a large European global positioning system program, our LynxOS-178 is now ready for deployments in harsh environmental conditions on the Kontron PENTXM2 rugged conduction cooled SBC. With that, our customers benefit from an instant boost in their schedule and not only can go to market aggressively with an outstanding head start, but can also create a complete range of new opportunities," added Joe Wlad, director of certification, marketing and services at LynuxWorks.
The Kontron PENTXM2 uses the 1.67 GHz dual-core Xeon, Intel's advanced low-power x86 technology, combined with the Intel E7520 server class memory controller hub (MCH). The PENTXM2 is available with up to 4GB of DDR2-400 SDRAM. When paired with the support of VITA 31.1 backplane networking, the PENTXM2's VITA 38 intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) feature provides for easy scaling into a multiprocessing system. The PENTXM2 provides a dual SATA-150, a triple USB 2.0 port and an EIDE interface for an on-board disk or compact-flash support. LynuxWorks LynxOS-178B is the only hard real-time RTCA/DO-178B level A operating system to offer the interoperability benefits of POSIX(R) with support for the ARINC 653 APplication EXecutive (APEX) on a x86 platform. It has LynxOS, a mature UNIX(R)-style operating system (born in 1988) that was designed from the ground up for hard real-time determinism at its core.

Intel All Set To Develop Self-Powered Sensors

With the aim to invent something extraordinary and unique, Intel is creating self-powered microchips. The unique thing about these microchips would be that it could be implanted in the human body, a mobile phone, a building, or anyplace else where people wish to gather information.

During a meeting on Friday with reporters in San Francisco, Intel CTO Justin Rattner described it as "wireless identification and sensing platform," or WISP and it was among several other technologies described by Rattner during the meeting.

Rattner described, "All of the inventions are designed to be energy-efficient. The WISP sensors would use Intel technology for drawing power from the environment. These are install-and-forget kind of systems."

He added, "The power would come from wireless transmissions, such as a Wi-Fi hotspot, a cellular tower, or a TV broadcast, making it possible for the sensors to continuously gather information in almost any environment."

Sensors implanted in street sweepers were used to monitor air quality throughout the city, in an experiment conducted by Intel in San Francisco.

"We could, in fact, litter the planet with these things. Rather than depend on satellite information, we could literally get instantaneous, near-global indication of the state of the planet," Rattner reported.

Moreover, these self-powered sensors could one day even land into human body and thus help a lot to observe health-related activities, such as heart beating. Researchers could even be capable of detecting viruses in the environment one day in order to determine the potential health risks, if they could shrink detectors to the molecular level.

Rattner said, "Within the data center, sensors could be used to map the heat levels of the different systems in order to create a thermally aware load management system."

Roadmap points to future Intel netbook chips

Details have emerged of a future 32nm Intel chip for netbook-style devices that will merge the processor and chipset into a system-on-a-chip (SoC) component.

Codenamed Medfield, the processor is expected sometime in 2010, and will be preceded by Pineview, another future netbook processor due in 2009.

The information originated from a roadmap in a report published by UBS Securities in the US, and has been seized on by various technology newswires. An Intel spokesperson told vnunet.com that Medfield is an Intel codename, but declined to give any further details.

According to the reports, Medfield will integrate virtually all of the functions of a PC onto a single chip, including the memory controller, I/O and graphics accelerator. It will also be available in dual-core and single-core versions.

Pineview is also expected to ship as a high integration SoC, but will be built from a 45nm process, the same as Intel's current Atom processor that powers the majority of the netbook models now on the market.

Intel claims opto-electronic breakthrough

A breakthrough in opto-electronics detectors by Intel promises to address the shortage of network bandwidth which some believe could lead to the collapse of the internet. The system could also improve inter-chip and on-chip communications.

A paper published in Nature Photonics details the performance of an Avalanche Photo Detector (APD) based on silicon rather than the normally used indium phosphide.

Intel's research team created a sensor for light detection and amplification using silicon and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor processing to give a "gain-bandwidth product" of 340GHz, which they claim is the "best result ever measured for this key APD performance metric".

'Gain' is an electronic system's ability to increase the signal power of the device, and Intel claims that its research could "lower the cost of optical links running at data rates of 40Gbit/s or higher" and "proves for the first time that a silicon photonics device can exceed the performance of a device made with traditional, more expensive optical materials such as indium phosphide".

"The gain [multiplied by] the bandwidth is a fixed number," said Dr Mario Paniccia, of Intel's Photonics Technology Lab, explaining the significance of a 'gain-bandwidth product'.

"Commercial APDs made with indium phosphide have a typical gain bandwidth of 120GHz. For use in 10Gbit/s long-haul communications links, typical APDs would cost $200 to $300 [£134 to £202].

"Because of the high gain bandwidth we're achieving here in a low-cost device, we can produce a device that gives better performance at 10Gbit/s, and can also operate better at 20Gbit/s and 40Gbit/s and higher."

Dr Paniccia added that, depending on the application, Intel could adapt the device to focus on speed, distance or power savings.

"We can reduce the laser power, but still get the same gain as current APDs, " he said. "The potential applications of the new APD range from communications interconnects to quantum cryptography, biochips and eventually chip-to-chip and on-chip interconnects."

Questioned about commercialisation of the product, Paniccia admitted that Intel still has to optimise the device for performance and increase its sensitivity. "We are working to drive this aggressively into our platforms and also looking at the reliability of these systems," he said.

Dr Paniccia explained that optics would evolve in the next five to seven years, but that it will be difficult to replace copper at distances of under six inches for chip-to-chip interconnects.

"Predicting something five years ahead - an eternity in this industry - would be difficult," he said. "On-chip interconnects are still quite a way out. Ten plus years."

Intel trumpets world's fastest silicon photonic detector

Intel researchers are claiming "world record" performance with their latest push in silicon photonics — or chips with friggin' laser beams.

The vendor published results from a new silicon-based photodetector, which uses light pulses to make stupidly fast connections rather than more conventional (and slower) electrical interconnects.

A team lead by Intel researchers created a silicon-based Avalanche Photodetector (APD), a fancy bit of atom-wrangling in a light sensor that can amplify weak signals directed on to silicon. The research was (naturally) published in the trade journal Nature Photonics

Intel said it uses standard silicon and CMOS processing to achieve a "gain-bandwidth product" of 340 GHz. That figure is the best result ever measured for a APD performance metric, the company claims.

"This opens the door to lower the cost of optical links running at data rates of 40Gbps or higher and proves, for the first time, that a silicon photonics device can exceed performance of a device made with traditional, more expensive optical materials such as indium phosphide," said Intel.

Chipzilla expects affordable photonic kit to play a major role in its schemes to cram 10's, even 100's of cores into future processors. All the compute capability Intel is dreaming up will require speedy links, and using standard fabbing technology may help bring volume economics to optical communication.

Other companies like Sun Microsystems and IBM are also hard at work to chip the light fantastic with less exotic materials, although the work is still in the early stages.

The research was jointly funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with manufacturing and process aide from the memory firm, Numonyx.

Intel has provided a handy Flash animation to explain how the APD detects and amplifies optical signals.

There's also publicity shot of a ladybird/ladybug crawling across the experimental chip. Someone apparently made this insect a unit of measurement without telling us.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Intel, AMD to Cut Down the Number of Employees

As the global financial downturn continues, major companies in the IT industry are expected to register revenues lower than estimated, thus determining some major cost reduction plans, which could also include major layoffs. After recently lowering its fourth quarter estimations, Sunnyvale, California-based chip maker AMD is expected to set forth a number of cost reduction measures, including the layoff of some of its personnel. In addition, Intel is also expected to lower its Q4 predictions and to come up with several cost-reduction measures as well, in an attempt to diminish the effects of the financial slump.

Despite the fact that, this year, Intel launched its highly successful Atom processor, which helped it maintain a steady growth rate during the last quarter, the company is still expected to cut approximately 6 to 7 percent of its total headcount, in an attempt to salvage Q4 2008 earnings, thus saving as much as $1 billion annually. According to a recent article on EE Times, the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker could soon announce a lower revenue outlook, as opposed to the company's November 12 revision.

Additional measures that the Santa Clara chip maker is expected to take include lower bonus payments, a fact that could be influenced by the profitability numbers. These measures are believed to be put in place by sometime in late 2009, which is when the global economy is expected to slightly improve.

Current market expectations also include the number two player in the processor market, AMD, which has recently lowered its previsions regarding the revenue for the fourth quarter of this year. This is the reason why Intel's long-time archrival is also said to be considering reducing the number of its employees, as part of a series of cost reduction measures.

“We do think that Intel's product roadmap is much stronger than AMD's, possibly allowing it to outperform its competitor,” Craig Berger, an analyst for FBR Capital Markets, said, as cited by EE Times.

Intel: New silicon to redefine Netbooks

Move aside, Intel. New chips from Advanced Micro Devices, Freescale Semiconductor, and Qualcomm may redefine the Netbook and ultraportable market next year.

To date, Intel has pretty much defined Netbook performance and features with the popular Atom processor. "We're very comfortable with our product leadership but we don't take anything for granted. And we expect competition in this space. Stay tuned," said Bill Calder, an Intel representative.

Stay tuned indeed. As the Netbook market grows, other chip heavyweights want a piece of the pie. Netbooks--which typically weigh less than 3 pounds and have screens under 11 inches diagonally--got a lift this week when they became one of the top sellers at resellers on "Cyber Monday."

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, AMD is expected to introduce its ultraportable platform. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chipmaker is targeting "Yukon" technology at consumers that want "smaller, sleeker, and lighter notebook form factors that offer great performance," the company said.

AMD is hoping to one-up Intel by focusing on ultraportables that would have larger screens (ranging up to 13 and 14 inches), bigger keyboards, better graphics horsepower, and ultimately dual-core processors. (Though Netbook vendors are expected to come out with dual-core Atom designs, Intel says its current dual-core offering is targeted at Nettops, not Netbooks.)

Yukon, which AMD first discussed at a November analyst meeting, comprises the Huron single-core processor, RS690E graphics, and the SB600 chipset. A dual-core Conesus chip (as part of the "Congo" platform) with RS780M graphics silicon would come later.

In addition to standard 802.11n Wi-Fi, the Yukon platform also includes 3G broadband wireless, according to AMD slides.

And 3G may be the next big leap for Netbooks. A source at one large chipmaker said that a Japan-based telecommunications company may roll out a subscription-based "$1" Netbook with 3G. And this may also be the next big feature included on Netbooks in Europe where the form factor has proven to be popular.

Enter telecommunications chip giant Qualcomm, which comes at these devices from the opposite direction of PC chipmakers Intel and AMD. Qualcomm has been making and designing highly integrated chips for cell phones since it was founded in 1985.

The San Diego, Calif.-based company has been showing off a Netbook-like design based on its Snapdragon chip. (See photo.) While Snapdragon supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it is designed from the ground up as a 3G platform. And Qualcomm does this all on silicon that can fit inside a smartphone. Like a cell phone, Snapdragon-based Netbooks would have always-on connectivity.

In November, Qualcomm introduced a 45-nanometer chip (Atom is 45nm too) with "two integrated computing cores" running at speeds up to 1.5GHz. The dual-CPU Snapdragon single-chip QSD8672 offers long battery life and a full range of 3G mobile broadband options.

Sampling of the newest Snapdragon chip is scheduled for the second half of 2009.

A Qualcomm spokeswoman said Thursday that the company is working with end-product Netbook manufacturers including Acer, Toshiba, and HTC, with products expected in the first half of 2009 using current Snapdragon technology.

The 3G wireless broadband technology uses integrated multi-mode modems including HSPA+ for up to 28 Mbps when downloading data and up to 11 Mbps when uploading. Other features include support for Linux and Windows Mobile, GPS, Bluetooth, 1080p high-definition video recording and playback and support for Wi-Fi and mobile TV technologies such as MediaFLO, DVB-H and ISDB-T.

The integrated 2D and 3D graphics support display resolutions up to WSXGA (1440 x 900).

Freescale--formerly Motorola's chipmaking arm--also plans to get in on the Netbook act. It plans to announce its entry into the Netbook market at CES with an addition to its i.MX application processor family.

Freescale says its processor will be the "only one in the space that offers a dual-core graphics engine targeting OpenVG and OpenGL, which enables 2D and 3D graphics as well as Flash and SVG." (SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics.)


Intel unveils Nehalem desktop processors

Intel Corp. has introduced what it claims to be its most advanced desktop processor.

The Core i7 is the first member of its Nehalem micro-architecture. It speeds up high performance applications like video editing and immersive 3D gaming by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption, said Ricardo Banaag, country manager of Intel Technology Philippines Inc., in a briefing.

Featuring on-die power control and Intel’s 45 nanometer high-k metal gate manufacturing process, the Core i7’s so-called “Turbo Boost” technology adjusts the clock speeds of one or all of the four physical cores to boost performance while maintaining power consumption, said Banaag.

“The device brings to computer enthusiasts better processing performance without compromising power consumption,” said Banaag. “It gives them enough computing muscle previously available to high-end computers, thus allowing them to handle process-intensive applications like 3D gaming and video rendering.”

Today’s home PC users are big consumers of multi-threaded applications, such as digital video and media, gaming and communications, Banaag said.

Banaag said the new Intel processor will likely attract PC enthusiasts wanting richer user interface and experience.

When asked if the release of the Core i7 processor will stop the manufacture of Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 quad processors, Banaag said they will maintain all lines, noting that the strategy is in line with Intel’s aim to promote the “Core” brand.

The Core i7 processor and the X58 Express Chipset-based Intel desktop board DX58SO Extreme series are now available through PC manufacturers and boxed retail product via online sales.

The new processor line, which includes an “Extreme Edition” version, will carry an “i7” identifier, the first of several new Intel identifiers to come as products are launched next year.

Banaag said a desktop powered with Core i7 sells at a P65,000.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Intel launches 'fastest processor on earth'

Flying in the face of prevailing industry trends, Intel treated Australasian media, channel partners and assorted followers from the gaming world to what in the current climate counts as a lavish launch of its Core i7 processor in Sydney last week. According to Intel the Core i7, the second Intel processor series to use the company’s 45-nanometre process, runs 40% faster than the fastest chip in Intel’s existing Core 2 line.
Challenged over the timing of the launch of what Intel is billing as “the fastest processor on earth”, Phillip Ingham, Intel general manager Australia, admitted that 2009 would be an “interesting year”. However, he said Intel had traditionally taken a long term view and was more focussed on the struggle to meet Moore’s Law than economic cycles. The company was already planning for 2012, when it expected to be using a 32-nm process, and researching as far out as 2015, when 8-nm processes would be employed.
At the heart of the Core i7 are four cores which are capable of running up to eight threads, all of which are visible to the Task Manager in both Windows XP and Vista.
The processor’s piece de resistance is its on-chip “Turbo Boost” software which automatically adjusts the frequency of each core to optimise performance depending on the thermal environment and whether the application is using a single thread or all eight. At the launch event, Intel staged two convincing demonstrations of the capability of the Core i7 compared to the Core 2. In the first, a Core i7 powered PC achieved a frame rate of around 40 frames per second when converting a high definition video clip from one format to another.
This compared with about 25 frames per second achieved by an equivalent Core 2 system running the same task. In the second demo, both systems ran a graphics-intensive gaming type simulation involving fire and smoke.
While both systems ran the demo at near identical speed, the simulation running on the Core i7 was based on real time calculations according to Newtonian physics, whereas the simulation running on the Core 2 system was rendering from pre-calculated values.
Most of the early Core i7 systems to be commercially available will be aimed at high end gamers, but Ingham predicted that the increased performance of the chip would re-invigorate voice recognition applications and perhaps make face recognition technology more viable.
But will gamers stump up for a premium processor that could add $2,000 or more to the price of a desktop PC?
Chris Dagher, system product manager at Altech Computing, which this week is launching a Core i7-based desktop retailing for around A$8,000 ($9,460), said the initial response from a review in an Australian Sunday newspaper had been encouraging.
“There are plenty out there who don’t mind the price, these are people who want the best,” Dagher said.
Acer product specialist Aaron Jambrovic, whose company is launching Core i7 systems in the A$7,999 to A$8,999 price range, said that it was obvious that volumes were lower at the high end of the desktop PC market. However the Core i7 would appeal to a wide range of users, from graphics industry users and hard core gaming enthusiasts to students, though the latter wouldn’t necessarily be paying for a Core i7 PC themselves.

Intel loses interest in netbooks

When AMD said two weeks ago that it was not really that interested in netbooks, people in the know thought it was leaving the field to Intel.Apparently Intel is re-evaluating the Netbook market as possibly not the next big thing to hit the IT industry, even if it is making a lot of cash from the Atom processor.
Stu Pann, vice president in the sales and marketing group at Intel, said Intel thought Netbooks would be for emerging markets and younger kids, and there is some of that.
But the bulk of the Netbooks sold today are Western Europe, North America, and for people who just want to grab and go with a notebook.
In other words, the people buying them are going to want a better more powerful bit of hardware somewhere else.
Intel has worked out that if you own a netbook it is not something you are going to want to use every day. In fact it is probably unbearable to use longer than an hour.
For once it looks like Intel is following AMD which said it was not interested in netbooks because too many people were unhappy with the experience then were having with the gadgets.

Bush regrets Iraq intel, immigration flap

George Bush said Iraq was both his biggest disappointment and his greatest accomplishment during his eight-year tenure as U.S. president.
"(The) biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq," Bush said in an interview with ABC News that aired Monday. "A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. And, you know, that's not a do-over but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."
Yet Iraq also provided him with his greatest accomplishment, Bush said.
"I keep recognizing we're in a war against ideological thugs and keeping America safe," he said.
The failure to enact immigration reform was another disappointment, Bush said.
"I firmly believe that the immigration debate really didn't show the true nature of America as a welcoming society. I fully understand we need to enforce law and enforce borders," Bush told ABC News. "But the debate took on a tone that undermined the true greatness of America, which is that we welcome people who want to work hard and support their families."

Intel donates $6 million to United Way of the Columbia-Willamette

Intel Oregon employees and retirees in 2008 donated $2.9 million to the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.The Intel Foundation will match the employee and retiree contributions, bringing the total Intel Community Giving Campaign to almost $6 million, a 12 percent increase from last year and a new record for Intel.Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) largest presence is in Washington County, where it employs about 15,000 workers in Hillsboro, Aloha and Beaverton.

Intel Core i7's microcode sparks discussion

Computer experts enjoy talking about processor bugs. Newly-introduced products are a welcome opportunity to air stories about the flaws that AMD and Intel euphemistically call "errata". Unlike other microprocessor manufacturers, AMD and Intel publish the details of discovered flaws; AMD writes about them in what is called a Revision Guide, while Intel uses its Specification Updates. Both the Revision Guide for AMD Family 10h Processors and the Specification Update for the Core i7 describe dozens of bugs. The CPU vendors rate some of the bugs as critical enough to fix them with a revised mask set for the next production batch, which results in a new CPU stepping. Other bugs are fixed via microcode updates. These special updates are written to the processor by the mainboard's BIOS during initialisation, or loaded into the processor's respective memory areas via special drivers by operating systems like Windows and Linux. Some bugs are considered extremely rare or only occur in very particular conditions, and are not worth correcting. Yet another type of bug is disclosed particularly to software developers so that they can allow for these bugs and 'program around them' when developing operating systems or applications.
Some CPU bugs are rated as critical by security experts; they could, for example, potentially be exploited to execute malicious code. In mid-2007, OpenBSD and OpenSSH founder Theo de Raadt kicked off a discussion about some particular bugs in Intel Core 2 processors. He criticised Intel for specifying ways in which operating systems are to handle TLB invalidation. This issue involves discarding certain buffers called Translation Lookaside Buffers (TLB) and is pointed out in the Specification Updates for all of Intel's Core 2 processors as well as an application note published by Intel. The vendor also recommends that programmers strictly adhere to the specified TLB invalidation process with Core i7 processors; Volume 3A of the Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual explains the details of how to handle the cache structures of current Intel processors.
The potential danger of CPU bugs is difficult to assess. More of these bugs appear as the range of processors' features increases. Some of them are, for example, related to the virtualisation features that – together with protected operating modes and with main memory areas protected by memory controllers (AMD: Secure Virtual Machine, SVM; Intel: Trusted Execution Technology, TXT) – are actually designed to provide increased security. However, this is the very area targeted by the Blue Pill attack already demonstrated two years ago; a rootkit has now become freely available. Another potential attack via the System Management Mode included in all current x86 processors has also been described, and Kris Kaspersky of Endeavor Security, who was also present a the most recent Intel developer forum, discussed the potential risks of numerous further CPU bugs at the "Hack in the Box" security conference. However, his presentation – which he has now published – did not include the promised proof of concept. He did say that the chip makers are making an effort to reduce bugs and the number of CPU bugs are falling with each new processor release.

Hitachi, Intel To Jointly Develop Enterprise SSDs

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and Intel (NSDQ:INTC) said Tuesday they have agreed to jointly develop enterprise-class, solid-state hard drives. The two are collaborating to develop drives featuring SAS and Fibre Channel interfaces aimed at the enterprise data center market, said Brendan Collins, vice president of marketing at Hitachi GST.
The drives, which are expected to be available for OEM qualifications during the first quarter of 2010, will be branded with the Hitachi name, and will be sold and supported by Hitachi, Collins said.
Hitachi brings to the joint development its system-level expertise and support of large OEMs, while Intel brings its flash memory expertise, Collins said. "When you bring the two of us together, it's a compelling solution that neither of us could do on [our] own," he said.
There has been a flurry of activity in the past year as storage vendors started looking seriously at the potential of solid-state drives in the enterprise market.
Intel in October introduced a line of solid-state drives based on the SATA interface for the server, workstation and storage system market. Those 32-GB drives followed the introduction earlier this year of solid-state drives for the PC and notebook market.
Other vendors, including Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba and SanDisk (NSDQ:SNDK), are also offering solid-state hard drives.
On the OEM side, Sun Microsystems last month said it would begin to offer solid-state drives in its new Storage 7000 Unified Storage Systems, part of Sun's Open Storage platform, under which it aims to help customers build high-performance storage products using commodity components.
Sun follows EMC (NYSE:EMC) which early this year introduced solid-state drives as part of its Symmetrix array line.
The primary difference between the Hitachi GST-Intel design and those of other offerings, including Intel's current products, is the interface, Collins said.
"For the enterprise, the large OEMs aren't considering the other products because they don't offer SAS or Fibre Channel married to flash," he said.
Intel, in the meantime, will continue to offer its line of SATA-based solid-state drives, Collins said.
"But 90 percent of the enterprise market is SAS and Fibre Channel," he said. "Intel will sell some SATA-based drives into the enterprise market, such as one or two drives for a blade server. But the vast majority of the market is for SAS and Fibre Channel."
Hitachi GST's first generation of solid-state drives will feature single-level cell technology, in which one bit of data occupies one cell of the flash memory, Collins said. The second or third generation may feature multilevel cell technology, in which four bits of data occupy one cell of the flash memory, he said.
Single-level cell technology is more suitable for performance and data reliability, while multilevel cell technology is more suitable for capacity.

Intel joins $3.2B Clearwire investment

Intel Corp. is one of five investors that have put $3.2 billion into wireless broadband company Clearwire Corp.
Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire announced Monday that it has received the cash. The investment was announced in May.
Intel is the only company of the investors that now holds a seat on Clearwire’s board. The other investors are Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Bright House Networks LLC.
Trilogy Equity Partners, which is also investing in Clearwire, will also have a director on the board: John Stanton the Bellevue, Wash., investment firm’s chief executive officer and chairman. Craig McCaw, who founded Clearwire, is the company’s chairman.
Clearwire, which sells Internet-access and phone service on its WiMax mobile broadband network, has just combined its network with the wireless Internet business of Sprint Nextel Corp. Clearwire will operate as an independent company, and its stock will trade as CLWR on the Nasdaq exchange. It is now trading as CLWRD and will continue to do so for its first 20 days of trading.
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), headquartered in Santa Clara and employing 5,500 in Folsom, has been experimenting with WiMax for years from its Hillsboro, Wash., campus. The company plans to sell WiMax-capable chipsets to laptop manufacturers. Intel rolled out Wi-Fi capable chipsets in a $300 million advertising campaign five years ago, and quickly established itself as the dominant brand in Wi-Fi processing.
Sprint and the cable companies that invested in Clearwire will sell the WiMax broadband service to their own customers. Google will create services to run on the network and will likely redesign its own mobile operating system to work on WiMax technology.

Intel Gets Ambitious With Flash Memory


Flash memory, so far identified with consumer products, is set to become commonplace in large enterprises.
Intel and Hitachi said they will jointly develop and deliver flash-based solid state drives for servers, workstation and storage systems. The first products are expected to be available in early 2010.
"Intel is already in mass production of 32-nanometer lithography," says Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing for Hitachi. "If you already have that it gives you a big advantage in being able to deliver a lot of flash technology at low cost."
The new solid state drives are intended to complement hard disk drives in business environments and in storage applications where high performance and power efficiency are the main requirements, say the two companies.
The drives will be branded, sold and supported by Hitachi and will use Intel's NAND flash memory technology and manufacturing. Intel and Hitachi jointly developed the controller for the flash memory and future development on the product will be shared by the two companies.
Solid state drives (SSDs), once popular in just consumer products such as ultra light notebooks are slowly spreading into business applications. SSDs are less fragile than hard disk drives and offer high response times but they tend to be also much more expensive than the latter.
"Though it has always been fast enough, this is the first time that SLC (single level cell) flash is actually mature enough in terms of data integrity and endurance for large enterprise customers," says Collins.
Other hardware companies such as Sun Microsystems are also evangelizing SSDs for enterprise users.
Intel and Hitachi are yet to determine pricing on their upcoming flash drives but say it is likely to still cost about eight times that of hard disk drives.

Lenovo arms ThinkPads with Intel's built-in security

Lenovo Group Ltd. is slated this month to launch ThinkPad laptops armed with Intel Corp's new anti-theft technology coupled with Absolute Software Corp.'s Computrace technology.
The companies jointly announced this morning that Lenovo's ThinkPad T400 notebook computers will be some of the first to ship with Intel's Anti-Theft PC Protection and Absolute's product built in. The two technologies will enable the laptops to automatically detect and respond to a potential theft situation in accordance with the user company's IT policy, Intel said.
Intel noted that if a laptop is reported stolen, an IT technician can remotely render the machine inoperable. And when the laptop is turned on, the anti-theft technology will "check in" with its home base, where engineers can remotely delete data and lock the system. In a statement, Intel noted that its technology works with Absolute's to enable IT techs to remotely handle security and management jobs on a laptop computer -- even if it's turned off or has an inoperable hard drive.
"The notebook lost in the airport or stolen from a car can be devastating and is a common nightmare in the back of every business traveler's mind," said George Thangadurai, general manager of Intel's Anti-Theft Program, in a statement. "The collaboration with Absolute and Lenovo is aimed at helping solve that problem."
Lenovo has been strongly pushing its ThinkPad line this year. Last February, the company unveiled its ThinkPad X300 laptop, an ultrathin machine that was designed to compete with Apple Inc.'s MacBook Air laptop. Then in August, Lenovo threw its hat into the increasingly hot netbook ring with the launch of its $399 Windows XP-based IdeaPad S10 netbook PC, which runs Intel's Atom processor. Also in August, the PC maker unveiled the ThinkPad W700, a 17-in. widescreen mobile workstation designed for high-end gamers and power users.
Now this week, Lenovo is throwing the wrapper off of the anti-theft technology for its laptops. Any ThinkPad T400s with Intel's Centrino 2 Processor Technology will ship with the anti-theft technology already built in. It can be activated and by the user company's IT department, which also can program it to adhere to specific corporate IT policies. And if the embedded Computrace theft-recovery and data-deletion technology is activated, it can be managed through Intel's Anti-Theft PC Protection.

AMD accuses Intel of trying to stall EC antitrust case

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices has accused Intel of deliberately stalling a European Union antitrust investigation through Intel's appeal to Europe's second highest court in October, a senior AMD executive said Wednesday.
Intel complained to the Court of First Instance (CFI) in Luxembourg that the European Commission, Europe's top antitrust authority, was "discriminatory" and "partial" in its pursuit of the long-running case against the world's biggest chip manufacturer.
It demanded access to AMD documents cited in the Commission's formal charges and an extension to the mid-October deadline for written responses to those charges. Intel allowed the deadline to pass without responding to it.
Jens Drews, AMD's director of government relations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, dismissed Intel's move as posturing, designed to drag the case out. "This seems to be another attempt by Intel to delay the Commission's proceedings; proceedings which have yielded evidence and formal charges that Intel illegally abused its monopoly power," Drews said. Similar arguments were made by an official close to the Commission's antitrust case. He said that the case handlers would continue building their case, despite the failure of Intel to submit a written response, and in spite of its appeal to the CFI.
The Commission refused to grant Intel the extension it requested, having already granted the company an extension in an earlier part of the case, the official said, pointing out that the Commission had fulfilled its legal obligations by granting Intel the right of response.
He added that if the antitrust case handlers put the whole case on ice, pending the CFI's ruling "that would amount to an open invitation to companies to apply similar delaying tactics in future."
Intel denied it is trying to stall proceedings, explaining that its appeal to the CFI is grounded in "fundamental fairness issues," said its London-based spokesman Robert Manetta.
Intel has been accused of abusing its dominant position in the computer chip market, and more specifically, of attempting to shut its nearest rival AMD out of the CPU market.
Intel allegedly sold chips below cost and paid rebates to a computer maker and a chain of retail stores, which have not been named officially, in exchange for a commitment to only sell the company's processors and not rival products. The chip maker also allegedly paid the computer maker to delay the launch of products based on AMD chips.
Intel claims it is innocent and has said it expects to be cleared of the charges.

Intel is tops, Nvidia is bottom of the Chip top 20

INTEL IS AT THE TOP and Nvidia is at the bottom of the 2008 Top 20 chip rankings, according to industry analyst outfit Isuppli.
Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and ST Microelectronics occupy the top five positions. AMD is at number 11 and Nvidia is number 20 in the ranking.
Economic factors played havoc with this year's Top 20 with memory chip manufacturers being some of the hardest hit. South Korea-based Hynix slid from Number six to Number nine. Hynix is looking for people who want to invest in the foundering foundry company.
Micron is expected to post a 9.2 percent revenue decrease in 2008 and Hynix's revenue should dive by about 29 percent in 2008, Isuppli said.
The world's Number two chipmaker, Samsung Electronics, is set for a 9.1 percent revenue decline for the year.
Isuppli also said that 2008 will go down as "a year to forget" for memory chip suppliers.
Infineon, which is ranked at Number 10, expects 2009 revenue to fall at least 15 percent from the previous year.
Global semiconductor revenue is expected to decline by two percent in 2008 due to a 16.9 percent plunge in sales of memory integrated circuits.
Texas Instruments, Renesas Technology, and Sony are also expected to see their chip making profits slump.
Still, it is a lot better than 2001 when chip sales fell by 48.2 percent. It was also good news for Qualcomm which is expected to jump five places to Number eight in the rankings in 2008.

Friday, November 7, 2008

AMD employee charged with stealing Intel secrets

A former Intel Corp. engineer has been charged with stealing trade secrets worth $1 billion from the chip maker while he worked for its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts alleged this week in a five-count indictment that Biswamohan Pani, 33, illegally downloaded more than a dozen confidential documents from Intel's computer system in California during a four-day stretch in June. He had already resigned from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, but remained on the payroll and still had access to the company's computers while he burned unused vacation days.

What Pani's supervisors didn't know then is that instead of taking the time to transition to the hedge fund job Pani claimed he had landed, he had actually started working for AMD and for a brief period was on both companies' payrolls.

Prosecutors say AMD had no knowledge of Pani's actions and did not benefit. But they say the information Pani downloaded was worth more than $1 billion in research and development costs, and included details about methods for designing microprocessors.

The indictment alleges that Pani "planned to use this information to advance his career at AMD or elsewhere by drawing on it when the opportunity arose, whether with his employer's knowledge or not."

Pani told investigators he had no intention of harming Intel, and was going to give the information to his wife, who also worked for Intel. Pani's lawyer has declined to comment.

AMD said it is cooperating with investigators.

"AMD has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the FBI has stated that there is no evidence that AMD had any involvement in or awareness of Mr. Pani's alleged actions," the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said in a statement.

Intel owns 80 percent of the worldwide market for microprocessors, the electronic brains of personal computers. AMD has the rest. Chip designs are among the companies' most closely guarded secrets.

Pani, who worked at an Intel facility in Hudson, Mass., had been charged with one count of theft of trade secrets in a criminal complaint filed in August in U.S. District Court in Boston. An indictment handed up to the court on Wednesday adds four new counts of wire fraud.

Pani faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted for theft of trade secrets, and up to 20 years on each wire fraud charge.

GIGABYTE India Unveils Latest Intel Core i7-Powered X58 Series Mobos

GIGABYTE has introduced in India its latest high performance X58 Series motherboards, the GA-EX58-EXTREME and GA-EX58-UD5, designed from the ground up to unleash the power of Intel's new Core i7 processors.

The GIGABYTE X58 Series is equipped with a host of new features including the new QPI interface, 3 channel DDR3 support, 3 Way SLI and CrossFireX support, Ultra Durable 3 technology and an extensive range of overclocking features.

GIGABYTE said the X58 Series was designed specifically to take advantage of the raw power of the next generation Intel Core i7 processors and the Intel X58 Express chipset, whose new evolution in computing architecture is able to deliver an amazing performance breakthrough from past processor generations. Replacing the Front Side Bus is the new Quick Path Interconnect, or QPI, whose 25.6 GBps transfer rate (double the bandwidth of the 1600 MHz FSB) eliminates the communication bottleneck between the processor and chipset.

The Intel Core i7 processors also feature an integrated memory controller inside the processor die and support 192-bit 3-channel DDR3 memory that delivers a 50% memory bandwidth enhancement and lower memory latency for fast memory access. The GIGABYTE X58 Series also features Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which is able to power down idle processor cores and dynamically reroute the power to the active cores for significant performance boosts, and at the same time, maintain greater energy efficiency.

The GIGABYTE X58 Series delivers 3 PCIe x16 Gen2.0 slots, supporting both ATI CrossFireX and 3 Way Nvidia SLI. Whether enabling the most powerful graphics configurations for extreme multi-GPU gaming, or multiple display support for up to six monitors, the GIGABYTE X58 Series has your 3 way graphics action covered.

The GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design features two ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers, which dramatically lowers system temperature by delivering a more efficient spreading of heat from critical areas of the motherboard such as the CPU power zone throughout the entire PCB. GIGABYTE's Ultra Durable 3 also lowers the PCB impedance by 50%, which helps to reduce electrical waste and further lowers component temperatures. A two ounce Copper layer design also provides improved signal quality and lower EMI (Electromagnetic Interference), providing better system stability and allowing for greater margins for overclocking.

In addition to the "cool blue" new look and feel of the GIGABTYE X58 Series, the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-EXTREME motherboard now features the new GIGABYTE Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2, a fusion thermal solution that combines the company's screen cooling technology, external heat sink and liquid cooling with chipset water block to deliver maximum thermal performance. The GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 features specially designed chipset heat sinks and high performance copper heat pipe with sintered process to provide ultra efficient thermal conductivity making sure your system runs ultra cool and ultra stable.

GIGABYTE said the X58 Series motherboards offer friendly overclocking features such as Precision OV (Hardware Overvoltage Control IC), Debug LED, onboard Power and back panel clear CMOS switches. The series also features comprehensive BIOS options for reaching higher limits with more detailed settings, including CPU frequency stepping, Over Voltage increments, memory multipliers and advanced memory timing controls, making it easy to tweak the highest levels of extreme overclocking performance from your system.

Additional GIGABYTE X58 Series Features:
- GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) Advanced: GIGABYTE's DES Advanced features improved algorithms that provide a more accurate power saving calculation, enabling it to deliver better energy saving capabilities and enhanced system performance. This motherboard energy saving technology also features hardware-based Dynamic 4-Gear Switching. With support for VRD 11.1, GIGABYTE's DES Advanced allows the motherboard to switch to 1 Gear phase switching during idle, allowing for a dramatic increase in power savings.

- Advanced Multi-Phase VRM: GIGABYTE X58 Series motherboards are equipped with 2-Phase power for the North Bridge and memory, allowing users to reach higher memory frequencies and enjoy better performance. Compared with only one phase solutions, this ensures longer power component lifespan and higher overclockability due to cooler working temperatures and better efficiency.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition runs up against the peak performance of the x86

 The first three processors in Intel's new Nehalem generation shouldn't really have come out until mid-November, but Intel obviously wanted to forestall AMD's first 45-nanometre server processors, which are already being listed by online dealers. The market leader in semiconductors has at any rate allowed the world's press to start reporting today on the test kits that were distributed a few weeks ago. These contain the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition – 3.2 GHz – and Core i7 920 – 2.66 GHz – 45-nm four-core processors developed under the codename Bloomfield, the DX58SO motherboard – codenamed "Smackover" – with the X58 – Tylersburg 36S/I10R – chipset, the LGA1366 processor socket and three DDR3-1066/PC3-8500 memory channels, two processor coolers, and one of the X25-M solid-state disks (SSDs) presented some time ago – DX58SO Smackover X25-M.

As with the Atom, Intel has again reactivated hyper-threading (HT, Intel's implementation of simultaneous multi-threading, SMT) in the Nehalem generation processors. HT was introduced with the Pentium 4 and later abandoned. Each of the four Core i7 cores thus reports a second "logical" or virtual core to the operating system, so that in certain situations better use is made of the available arithmetic and logical units. Hyper-threading is just one of many Nehalem innovations, however. Another is that Intel has now definitively turned away from the front side bus architecture. The memory controller is now in the processor itself, no longer in the Northbridge of the chipset. This is intended to shorten latency times appreciably when accessing RAM. As in the K10 generation of the AMD64 processors, all four cores of the Core i7 – each of which has 256 kilobytes of L2 cache – now have a memory controller – with three DDR3 channels, an – 8 MB – L3 cache shared jointly by all cores, as well as a QuickPath Interconnect (QPI, up to 25.6[ gigabyte/s]) housed on a chip, with 731 million transistors jostling each other in an area of 263 square millimetres. For comparison, in its Phenoms and quad-core Opterons fabricated in 65-nm technology in Dresden, AMD currently squeezes 450 million transistors on to an SOI die with an area of 285 square millimetres.

Although we are talking here about Intel's handpicked test specimens of its new processors, the first benchmark results do nevertheless show their enormous potential. In the SPEC CPU2006, and with high optimized code thanks to Intel's latest C/C++ and Fortran compilers in version 11 beta, which already use SSE4.2 commands, a Core i7 965 Extreme Edition scored 110 points in integer throughput – int_rate_base_2006 – and 85.1 points in floating-point operations – fp_rate_base_2006, measured under 32-bit Windows Vista in each case. This first representative of Nehalem thus overtakes not only all previous x86 and x64 processors, but also most of the tandems made from two quad-core Opterons – 2360 SE: 92.7/84.7 points – and, in floating-point throughput, approaches two 3.2-GHz Xeons. Unusually, we had to carry out the CPU2006 tests under 32-bit Windows instead of 64-bit Linux, because the 64-bit code of the benchmark suite requires 2 gigabytes of RAM per core, thus a total of 16 gigabytes for eight cores, but the Core i7 processors with 2-gigabyte DIMMs on boards with six slots can only drive a maximum of 12 gigabytes of RAM. Unbuffered DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs with a capacity of 4 gigabytes cannot yet be supplied.

In more practical benchmarks, the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition can't so clearly outdo its predecessor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9770, which also has a clock frequency of 3.2 GHz, particularly in applications that compute with a single thread or with only a few threads in parallel. The Core i7 965 was in any case just 8 per cent faster than the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 on an X48 motherboard with PC3 12800 memory – DDR3-1600 – in the BAPCo SYSmark 2007 benchmark, and in 3D games the Nehalem's lead was negligible most of the time – BAPCo SYSmark 2007 X48-Mainboard. Only World in Conflict, which obviously exploits several cores, ran somewhat faster on the Core i7 965. With some other games, even a Core 2 Duo E8600 – 3.33 GHz – held the lead.

Multi-threading applications, such as compiling a Linux kernel, ran 26 per cent faster, and the Cinebench R10 rendering benchmark ran 34 per cent faster. Hyper-threading yielded marked advantages in compiling – 22 per cent – and rendering – 11 per cent, and HT only minimally slowed down the BAPCo SYSmark 2007.

For our benchmarks, we had activated the new Turbo Mode, in which the processor over clocks itself unless all cores are working to full capacity. Depending on the CPU's version, Turbo Boost raises the clock frequency by one or more steps, each step being 133 MHz. That is the basic frequency of the processor, which governs the higher clock frequencies of its arithmetic and logical units, the L3 cache, the memory controller, the memory modules, and the QPI. In our measurements, both Core i7 965 and Core i7 920 could be over clocked by one step in each case, which gave a performance boost of at best 5 per cent – but this makes the computer's power consumption rise markedly under full load. At 194 watts with the CPU under full load and 82 watts in no-load operation, the system with the Core i7 965 was nevertheless still somewhat thriftier than the comparison system with the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 and with the same fittings as far as possible – the graphics card being a Radeon HD 4550 in each case. By the way, we used a standard, but quite lively SATA hard disk instead of the Intel SSD for our measurements.

With a very powerful cooler and on motherboards with overclocking functions, you can set a higher thermal design power (TDP) for the Core i7 than it nominally has – 130 watts. If you then enable even higher Turbo Boost multipliers, automatic overclocking will reach the 4-GHz mark with the expensive Core i7 965 Extreme Edition.

Besides the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition – list price $999 – and the Core i7 920 – $284, Intel also intends to release a Core i7 940 – 2.83 GHz – $562. The Lynnfield – quad-core, possibly without HT – and Havendale – dual-core plus graphics – versions of Nehalem that are intended for medium-range boards with an LGA1160 socket won't come out until the third or fourth quarter of 2009. Besides Intel itself, at least Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, Foxconn, and MSI intend to release LGA1366 boards with an X58 chipset, some with the SLI function. Any such board will cost more than 200 euros. Of course, Intel must now prove it can deliver the Core i7 and the X58 chipset as planned. Data sheets for the new products are not expected until mid-November.s

Intel abandons UWB design effort

Intel Corp. ended its five-year research effort in ultrawideband. The news is another blow for the emerging technology for which support is tightening in the face of an expected recession.

UWB start-up WiQuest Communications closed its doors on Friday. On Monday (Nov. 3), start-up Alereon Inc. bought the UWB assets of Stonestreet One, a software developer, adding less than ten people to Alereon's 60-person staff.

To date, ultrawideband technology has been plagued by problems seemingly on every front—performance, power, price and global regulations—with significant market penetration still at least a year away, according to some observers. In the meantime, analysts and participants alike said they expect more closures and consolidation moves.

Intel launched an internal UWB design effort about five years ago under its new business initiatives group. About a month ago, Intel decided to scrap the effort after a regularly scheduled review by the company's product groups failed to find a sponsor for the design team.

"It was a typical make-versus-buy decision," said Stephen Wood, a technology strategist in Intel's corporate technology group who also serves as president of the WiMedia Alliance that promotes and sets compliance standards for UWB products.

Intel business groups determined they could source UWB technology from outside company if they need it. Intel has investments that give it access to intellectual property in two UWB start-ups including Staccato Communications, which recently rolled out a second-generation device.

One source who asked not to be named said Staccato could be one of the next UWB start-ups to fold because it has as little as two months of financing left. Staccato's chief executive said in early September the company was funded at least through the end of the year and a new round of funding was in the works with existing investors.

Staccato has absorbed three rounds of funding totalling about Rs.225.16 crore ($45 million) to date. The last round closed in January 2006.

Artimi Corp. is another UWB start-up rumoured to be a likely casualty of the shakeout. The company closed it last funding, a Rs.157.61 crore ($31.5 )series B round, in March 2007.

Calls to the company were not immediately returned, and a visit to its office found no one home, although the office management company said Artimi has not informed it of any plans to shut down.

Several sources suggested companies who need funding in the next year or so are the most at risk. Venture capitalists are tightening their belts in anticipation of a recession, a fact highlighted in a presentation from one top VC firm that said start-ups must make cuts and become cash flow positive.

"Overwhelming the issue [with the UWB shakeout] is one of dealing with an ungodly bad economy," said Wood. "The VC community is being very conservative in funding these programs," he added.

Intel scales down VMware investment

Intel plans to sell half of its stake in virtualisation firm VMware, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The chip maker is to get rid of 4.75 million of the 9.5 million shares it purchased in July 2007 for $219m (£137m).

Intel has already offloaded 500,000 shares apiece to Cisco and EMC, the parent companies of VMware, for around $26 a share, and said it will sell the remaining 3.75 million "approximately" on Tuesday.

The firm originally paid $23 per share for the stock, which peaked at $125.25 last October.

For its part, Cisco looks set to forge even closer ties to VMware after a number of joint announcements at this year's VMworld show. The networking giant will end up with about eight per cent of VMware's stock.

Intel phases out first 45 nm processors

 Intel Corporation announced the immediate phasing out of the first 45nm processors, along with several 65nm models. These include Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Duo Mobile and one Core 2 Quad CPU. In addition, due to migration to the Santa Rosa platform and NAND flash technology, Intel has also discounted its 1GB Turbo Memory used in ReadyBoost.


Three 45nm products discontinued

According to Intel, "Market demand ... has shifted to higher performance Intel processors." When discontinuing a product, Intel typically gives its vendors several months to determine future needs and to place orders. Intel will be taking orders for CPUs this round until January 9, 2009, and will continue manufacturing and shipping products as late as May 7, 2010. Turbo memory orders will be taken until March 27, 2009 and shipped until June 26, 2009.

Intel first released 45nm products earlier this year in January. Already they are phasing out both PGA and BGA versions of three 45nm products including:

Q9450 (2.66 GHz 1333 MT/s, quad-core, 95 watt, LGA775, Yorkfield 45nm)
E8200 (2.66 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Wolfdale 45nm)
E8190 (2.66 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Wolfdale 45nm)


Mobile and desktop 65nm products being discontinued include:

E6850 (3.00 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Conroe 65nm)
E6750 (2.66 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Conroe 65nm)
E6550 (2.33 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Conroe 65nm)
E6540 (2.33 GHz 1333 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Conroe 65nm)
E4600 (2.40 GHz 800 MT/s, dual-core, 65 watt, LGA775, Allendale 65nm)

T7400 (2.16 GHz 667 MT/s, mobile dual-core, 34 watt, Socket-M, Merom 65nm)
Celeron-M 530 (1.73 GHz mobile, 533 MT/s, single-core, 30 watt, Socket-M, Merom-1024 65nm)


1GB Turbo Memory and solid state drives

Intel first introduced Turbo Memory as a way to help PCs boot faster. During a demonstrating at Fall IDF 2005, a notebook was shown to be nearly instant-on with the technology. It was also rolled into OS technologies like Microsoft's ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost for Vista.

Products first arrived in May, 2007. Intel later extended this technology with version 2.0 in July, 2008. Yesterday, Intel announced it will discontinue all 1GB modules. Intel originally introduced 512MB and 1GB modules.

Intel also announced it is canceling 1GB, 2GB and 4GB Z-U130 solid state drives in favor of the migration to NAND-based flash products.

Intel Sees Gold in Solid-State Storage

Intel has quietly become more of a force in storage over the last couple of years. Just visit its Web site and you'll see a range of storage systems and RAID (define) controllers, for example.

The company also supplies plenty of chips to storage OEMs for disk arrays, switches and other subsystems. In fact, the company is developing quite a side business in what is known as Systems on a Chip, or SOCs (define), which are proving quite popular with storage suppliers.

But the big news is all about solid state drives (SSDs). In fact, it's big enough to get Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) co-founder Gordon Moore personally involved -- the same Moore who coined a well-known law about microprocessor growth.

"There have been a few times in the history of computing when a new technology becomes completely pivotal to changing the PC platform and the user experience," Moore said in a recent video presentation. "Solid-state drives have this capability."

An SSD is a storage device that continuously stores data on solid-state flash memory. There are no moving parts in a solid-state drive, which gives them some advantages over traditional hard drives. They draw far less power, for example. SSDs also provide fast data access because the drive doesn't have to spin up or move to the appropriate drive sector. That translates into faster boot times, too. And the absence of moving parts means heightened reliability.

"For the enterprise space, SSDs enable more performance from the storage system at a better total cost of ownership compared to HDDs," said Kishore Rao, product line manager of high performance for SSD at Intel. "They have higher performance while saving power and increasing reliability at the same time."

On the downside, SSDs are far more expensive than a hard drive. Intel is currently selling these products at bulk discounts (per 1,000) that work out to $595 each. The price to the consumer, then, will likely be more than double that.

However, Intel appears to be betting a whole lot of research dollars on the fact that flash memory prices are dropping and will continue to drop significantly. International Data Corp. (IDC) agrees with that optimism.

"The rapid decline in the cost of flash memory will translate into lower price points for SSD," said Jeff Janukowicz, IDC's research manager for solid-state drives. "These lower price points, coupled with increased SSD capacities, will make them competitive with HDDs in certain market segments, especially where capacity requirements are minimal."

Intel's SSD offerings

Intel has released a few SSDs, which it is selling to OEMs. These are known as the X18-M and X25-M and use multi-level cell (MLC) flash technology. They are aimed mainly at laptop and desktop computers. Validated for Intel-based computers, the X18-M is a 1.8-inch drive, while the X25-M a 2.5-inch drive.

"With no moving parts, SSDs run cooler and quieter and are a more reliable option than hard drives," Rao said. "In addition, SSDs remove input/output performance bottlenecks associated with hard disk drives and this helps to maximize the efficiency of Intel processors. Lab tests show that the Intel X18-M and X25M increase storage system performance nine times over traditional hard disk drive performance."

These devices, though, don't set any capacity records. The X18-M and X25-M are available only in 80GB capacities. Rao notes that 160GB versions will be available later this year or early next year.

Despite their lack of size, however, these 80GB drives have notched up some decent numbers. They achieve up to 250MB per second read speeds, up to 70MB per second write speeds and have an 85-microsecond read latency for fast performance. This is an order of magnitude or more ahead of hard drive latencies.

Of more interest to storage professionals, Intel is also coming out with a line of single-level cell (SLC) SSDs for the server, storage and enterprise environments. Called the Intel X25-E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drive, these products are designed to maximize IOPS (define) and come in 32GB and 64GB capacities.

"Since SSDs lower energy consumption, maintenance, cooling and space costs, an SSD-based data center will reduce overall infrastructure costs while increasing performance-per-square-foot by as much as 50X," Rao said.

But storage is a conservative world. Perhaps there will be a flood of shops testing SSDs in the coming months. But don't expect anything much in production environments for another year or two. Things might be different on the PC/laptop front, though. The probability is that popularity in the consumer market will eventually drive the technology into the enterprise.

"Going forward, the PC market presents the greatest opportunity for SSD demand," Janukowicz said. "The PC market is transitioning from one dominated by desktop PC shipments to notebook PC shipments. This transition increases the importance of mobility and durability requirements, dynamics that align very well with the benefits of SSD."

Greg Schulz, senior analyst and founder of StorageIO Group, agrees with this view, at least initially.

"The Intel Flash SSD drives are a step in the right direction for broader adoption in PCs, desktops, laptops and workstations, as well as in some storage appliance and entry-level based storage systems," Schulz said. "The Intel name and its OEM and channel presence will certainly make a difference. When this is coupled with improvements in power, capacity, write performance, price and operating system/platform integration, we should start to see more SSD devices appearing and being adopted over the next 12-18 months."

He tempers that argument, though, by citing that the economics of flash drives have to come down rapidly or adoption will suffer badly in the current economic climate. Otherwise flash-based SSD will continue to be seen as a nice to have or discretionary item.

The future's so bright

But Moore remains upbeat. He feels there is more than enough in the research pipeline to propel this technology rapidly into the mainstream.

"Two new generations of technology are already in development which will increase density and performance, and decrease cost per bit of SSD," Moore said. "This is unmatched by any other technology I can identify."

With an endorsement like that, solid-state storage seems more a matter of "when" than "if."

Soitec Has Record Jump on Speculation of Takeover Bid by Intel

 Soitec SA, whose silicon is used in the chips that power Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. game consoles, had a record gain in Paris trading on speculation that Intel Corp. may make a takeover bid.

Soitec jumped 1.54 euros, or 55 percent, to 4.34 euros at the close of trading in the French capital. That's the steepest increase since the company's initial public offering in February 1999. Soitec, based in Bernin in the French Alps, has a market value of 369 million euros ($479 million).

Speculation of a linkup with Santa Clara-based Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, was posted on the investment-news Web site Boursorama.com in late trading hours in Paris. Steve Babureck, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas in Paris, said the notion isn't new and a takeover of Soitec isn't likely.

Soitec is a developer of so-called silicon-on-insulator technology, which is used for tasks such as cutting atom-thin layers of substrates. The patents related to its technology belong to Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, a state-owned researcher, in an arrangement designed to prevent a takeover of the French company, said Babureck.

The patent ownership issue is ``a poison pill on Soitec,'' he said. Babureck rates the shares ``outperform.''

Soitec spokesman Olivier Brice said he wasn't aware of a reason for the share price move today.

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the company wouldn't comment on speculation.

Intel Set to Launch Nehalem Nov. 17

Intel will launch the next-generation Nehalem processor on Nov. 17, the company revealed Wednesday.

In an event invitation, Intel said it will unveil Core i7, the first processor of the Nehalem family, which is targeted at high-end desktops.

Test units of the Core i7 chips have already been shipped, with Web sites such as Tom's Hardware and PC Perspective praising its speedy performance. The Core i7 chip speeds range from 2.66GHz to 3.20GHz, according to retail Web sites.

Chips based on the Nehalem microarchitecture will go into some systems priced at under US$1,000 at launch, said a source familiar with Intel's plans.

The Core i7 920 quad-core chip running at 2.66GHz is priced at $329.99 at Isorm, an online retailer. The Core i7 940 running at 2.93GHz is selling for $639.99, while the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition running at 3.2GHz is priced at $1,149.99. The 940 and 965 also are quad-core chips.

Nehalem chips are an upgrade from Intel's Core 2 chips, which are currently used in laptops and desktops. The chip technology cuts bottlenecks of Intel's earlier Core microarchitecture to improve system speed and performance-per-watt. The chips will later be scaled down for consumer desktops and laptops, and should be released in 2009.

Nehalem chips, with two to eight cores, will include QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology, which integrates a memory controller and provides a faster pipe for the CPU to communicate with system components, Intel has said. Each core can execute two software threads simultaneously, so a desktop with four processor cores could run applications quicker by running eight threads simultaneously.

Down the line, Intel will be integrating graphics capabilities in Nehalem CPUs, which could cut down the need for an external graphics card and bring more power efficiency to desktops and laptops. High-end users, like gamers, might need a separate graphics card to meet their graphics needs.

Nehalem chips are manufactured using the 45-nanometer process, which is also used to make the company's latest chips.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Atom Could Challenge Intel's Higher-end Processors

The use of Intel's Atom chip in sub-notebooks could undercut sales of its higher-end chips, analysts said on Tuesday.

Atom chips are low-cost and low-power processors that mostly are being used in netbooks designed for Web surfing and e-mail. With Fujitsu's new LifeBook U820 tablet PC, introduced on Tuesday, Atom chips are now being used in laptops with small screens, packed with networking and multimedia features.

Tablet PCs usually feature Intel's more expensive Celeron and other dual-core chips, but using Atom chips in such systems could undercut sales of those higher-end chips, analysts said.

Other than the screen size, the U820 mini-notebook offers capabilities similar to those of traditional laptops. It weighs 1.32 pounds (598 grams), includes Bluetooth and 802.11n wireless capabilities, and has a built-in webcam and high-definition video decoding. It also has a built-in Garmin GPS (global positioning system) receiver for navigation. It can be configured with as much as 1G byte of RAM and includes a hard disk drive as big as 120G bytes, as well as solid-state drive options.

The U820 comes with a 5.6-inch swivel touch screen and runs the Windows Vista OS. A four-cell battery runs the tablet for up to seven-and-a-half hours, according to Fujitsu. Prices start at US$999.

The U820 is a mini-notebook targeted at consumers and mobile users looking for touch technology, said Kevin Wrenn, senior vice president of PC business and operations at Fujitsu. Atom's low-cost and low-power features were a consideration in adopting the processor for the laptop, Wrenn said. Upcoming laptops from the company with screens up to 12 inches will incorporate Atom, he said.

This laptop is the first of its kind running an Atom processor with this kind of advanced functionality, said David Daoud, an analyst at IDC. It is a sign that Atom-based devices are coming of age, and users looking for more functionality than what a netbook offers could adopt this ultramobile PC.

In an economic downturn, a PC with a low-cost Atom chip also could be more attractive over expensive alternatives, he said.

"That processor provides opportunity for reduced cost and cost avoidance during tough economic times," Daoud said.

Atom shipments are expected to witness healthy growth through the economic slowdown, IDC said in a study released on Monday. Atom shipments were good in the third quarter, totaling around 5 million units, IDC said.

For a tablet PC, the LifeBook U820 has an interesting price point, though the Atom processor's real appeal lies in its power savings over Intel's higher-end Celeron and Core processors, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64.

"Atom's low-powered consumption ... is like 10 watts. The lowest you'd ever get with Celeron or Centrino is 15-20 watts," Brookwood said. For a tablet PC, that is very impressive, and if it allows for a smaller battery, that's important, he said.

"I don't think you could build a tablet PC in that form factor with even a low-powered Centrino," Brookwood said. Laptops like Fujitsu products, with Atom, could cut into shipments of the lower-end processors, but the laptop is new and results have yet to be seen, Brookwood said.

Atom might bite into sales of Celerons first, followed by Pentium dual-core chips, which are on the lower end, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. With expenditure in check, people may instead opt for Atom-based systems.

"So far, there is not a lot of evidence that has happened, but it is certainly an area of concern," McCarron said.

The use of the Atom processor is evolving, said Bill Calder, an Intel spokesman.

"What you're seeing is an evolution of the category. We've seen some areas where [PC makers] have expanded and broadened the feature set," Calder said.

Intel Sheds Part of VMware Stake

Intel Capital, which owned 9.5 million VMware shares, intends to sell 3.75 million shares on the open market beginning Tuesday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

At the same time, Intel disclosed it had sold another portion of the stake to both Cisco and EMC last week.

Taken together, the sales comprise half of Intel's stake in VMware. Intel bought the shares for $218.5 million, or $23 a share, in July 2007.

"I don't think there's any strategic aspect" to the decision, said American Technology Research analyst Doug Freedman. The portfolio's managers "possibly want to offset some profits and losses."

On Oct. 30, Cisco bought 500,000 VMware shares, or 5% of Intel's stake, at $26.52 a share, for a total of $13.26 million. At the same time, Intel sold an identical block back to EMC for the same price. Just prior to VMware's partial spinoff from EMC in August 2007, both Cisco and Intel acquired holdings in the software company, entitling each company to appoint a director to VMW's board.

When the virtualization developer went public in 2007, EMC retained 89% of the company it bought in 2004 for $625 million. EMC is unlikely to sell the remainder of its stake in 2009, when tax provisions expire.

VMware quickly became a darling of tech traders last year, shooting to $125 within three months of its initial public offering. Since then, the stock has fallen to $31.81, as investors fretted about impending competition for virtualization software makers, namely from Microsoft.

Intel and Asus launch WePC

We do get custom PCs today, but yet, there is not much you can do when it comes to laptops and it isn't seldom that many of us have felt that we could have designed something a thousand times better. An article on Theinquirer.net says that Intel and Asus think just that way and have called upon the consumers to design their own PC.

These two giants have teamed up for a project named WePC, which is something like a collaborative computer design site, where anyone can submit their ideas and design their own dream laptops. "You Dream It. ASUS Builds It. Intel Inside It." is the motto of this site.


If you want it to be completely water/dust/fire proof, wind or solar powered, have WiMax, GPS, 3G, antitheft tracking, full-touchscreen or even have an inbuilt stereo system that really sounds good, then WePC is the way to go and let your creative juices flow. It goes without saying that you should also be ready to part with a large chunk of your bank balance.

Suggestions and designs uploaded to www.wepc.com can be voted for by site visitors. If your design gains popularity, it can be used by Intel and Asus designers in their next laptop models without them worrying about any copyright issues, though.

As a consolation, the best designs will receive a mystery prize, but what this mystery prize is, remains a mystery until it is revealed at some later date, or may be they will come up with another site to come up with ideas with what that gift should be?

This is not really about whether they want creative ideas for free or not, but it is about fame and glory that you can achieve. All you need to do is post your ideas there and then post them on your social networking site. So when your ideas are adopted, you still have something to brag about.

Intel Atom sales boost global chip market

The report, released on Monday, follows a mid-October IDC study, which found netbooks — the mini-laptops for which the Atom chip is designed — helped the overall EMEA PC market grow 27 percent in the third quarter of 2008 over the same quarter last year, largely fuelled by consumer demand.

Netbooks are small, relatively inexpensive laptops that are often purchased as a supplement to an existing desktop or laptop. Mature markets such as the US and Europe account for some of the highest netbook sales, according to IDC.

Worldwide shipments of processors for PCs and servers grew 15.8 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago, with revenue increasing four percent to a total of $8.3bn (£5.25bn), IDC said. By the end of the year, netbook shipments are expected to exceed 10 million units.

Recent netbook releases include late-October models from HP and Dell.

Without counting the Atom processor, the increase in shipments would only be about eight percent. However, this figure is still respectable, said IDC analyst Shane Rau.

"Not considering the effects of Atom, the overall market still grew at a decent pace," Rau said in a statement. "Intel's and AMD's shipments grew at a rate only slightly slower than typical for a third quarter; seasonal demand appeared reasonable up until September. By segment, while the mobile-processor segment grew aggressively, the server segment was soft."

Since September, however, the international financial crisis has grown more serious, and this is likely to have an impact on fourth-quarter figures, IDC said.

On Friday, Intel warned the credit crisis could hurt demand for its chips and lead to the insolvency of key suppliers, potentially resulting in product delays. Intel has forecast its fourth-quarter revenues at between $10.1bn and $10.9bn, weaker than typically seen in the period running up to Christmas. The company is to publish a mid-quarter update on 4 December.

In the overall x86 market, Intel's share was about 80 percent, up 1.1 percent from the same quarter a year ago, while principal competitor AMD lost 1.2 percent for a total of 18.5 percent. Via Technologies, which concentrates on mobile chips, controlled less than one percent of the total market.

In mobile chips, Intel accounted for about 87 percent of the market, AMD 11.5 percent and Via 1.2 percent. Intel shipped about 73.5 percent of all desktop chips, with 26.4 percent for AMD.

AMD gained share over Intel in the server and workstation market, rising less than one percent from the previous year to stand at about 14 percent. Intel lost about one percent, falling to 85 percent of the segment.

IDC said it would raise its chip forecast through 2008 to 18 percent growth, but said it is expecting to lower its estimates for next year.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Intel Core i7 arrives this month


At long last, Intel is set to roll out its latest update to the Core line of CPUs, and it's a big one. Called Core i7, it officially arrives this month, but a final, official date has still not been set. (Most have speculated that November 17 is the arrival date, but I've seen reports that it will officially be out before next weekend.) You will, however start seeing official reviews of i7-based systems starting tomorrow, so the time is nigh.

Here's the essential scoop on Core i7.

Formerly known by the code-name Nehalem (often misspelled Nahalem), this is a major upgrade to the Core 2 family of CPUs which have been the performance leader and standard-issue components on desktops and laptops since 2006. i7 will initially be available only on desktop PCs, though. Server and laptop versions are still in the works.

Architecturally, the new chip is said to mark the biggest single-cycle change since 1995's Pentium Pro. It's easy to see why: It's packed with loads of new features and looks to dust anything else on the market in performance. For example: The frontside bus (long a bottleneck in CPU design) no longer exists; it's replaced by Intel QuickPath, which now connects the CPU to I/O processing functions. I/O performance under this design should be improved by up to a whopping 10 times.

The first models are all quad-core designs, but i7 allows for up to eight cores on a chip. Those designs are likely to come in 2009. With all designs, all the cores and controllers are on a single die, unlike some earlier multicore CPUs.

Memory controller features are expanded, with support for DIMM slots in sets of three instead of two: Expect 3GB and 6GB RAM options to be the common alternatives.

Hyper-threading, a technology innovated back in the Pentium 4 era, is back. Theoretically it allows for more effective multitasking, though with such gargantuan power on the die, it will be hard to quantify what difference the return of Hyper-threading makes without some fancy benchmarkin'.

While I rarely review desktop PCs, I'm definitely looking forward to getting the first i7-based laptop on my desk. No ETA on those bad boys, alas. Stay tuned.

Intel’s Moorestown will make the iPhone less secure, says security analyst

It’s been speculated a while back that upcoming models of the iPhone might be using Intel’s upcoming Moorestown processor.

However that might be a bad move, at least according to independent security analyst Dino Dai Zovi, who gave an interview at Hack In The Box security conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mr Dai Zovi said “That will make the iPhone x86, and that will make a lot of attacks easier.” According to him “The iPhone uses the Arm processor, and most people are not familiar with it. If you’re doing exploits and vulnerability research, you need to know the specifics of the processor that’s running.”

Intel refused to comment on this, stating that as of now everything relating to Moorestown being used in the iPhone is just a speculation.In other news, Mr Dai Zovi also noted that the redux version of Mac OS X that powers the iPhone is less secure than its desktop countepart: “The iPhone is significantly less secure than the desktop version of OS X,” he said, noting that it’s missing a lot of security features that the full version of OS X includes.

Intel Chief: Next President Better Get Ready For Vast Potential Of International Conflict

As if the next president didn’t have enough to worry about, the nation’s intelligence chief has laid out a fairly daunting picture of the world over the next 25 years. The potential for international conflict, he said in a speech Friday, is huge.

In the short term, said Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, President McCain or President Obama still will encounter risks from Al Qaeda. The first months of the new presidency are a particular risk. But even if Al Qaeda fades, because of conditions in the Middle East, successor groups are likely to emerge. And no matter who wants to attack the United States, McConnell said, the risks of -- in particular -- biological attacks that could surpass 9/11 will rise, given the spread of technology. America should expect the threat of terrorism to stick around for the next 20 years or so.

But, McConnell said, the risk of international conflict elsewhere will rise between nations as China, India and Russia – in about that order – amass wealth and/or population, creating competition for resources as basic as food, water and energy. “In terms of size, speed, and directional flow, the transfer of global wealth and economic power, now underway, as noted from West to East is without precedent in modern history,” he said. Brazil isn’t part of that West to East shift, but its rise factors into things. Russia’s growth depends on diversifying its economy, he said. An estimated 1.4 billion people across 36 countries will lack basic necessities like access to agriculture, prompting intense competition for resources. Technology will help countries get ahead, he said, but won’t replace the need for traditional resources. And climate change and “global economic upheaval,” per the Washington Post’s paraphrasing of McConnell, will exacerbate all of the problems.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Intel-backed start-up tries to connect enterprise IT to the "cloud"

A start-up called Enomaly has developed virtualization management software that it claims will integrate enterprise data centers with commercial cloud computing offerings to form a single "virtual private cloud" that manages and governs both internal and external resources from a single console.

Founded in 2004 as a consulting company, Enomaly dropped its consulting business in early October to focus solely on its software efforts, which began in 2005 with an open source management tool that runs on top of the Xen hypervisor.

The vendor's primary offering now is the Enomaly Elastic Computing Platform (ECP), which co-founder and chief technologist Reuven Cohen says can manage multiple hypervisors and provide better integration with Internet-based services such as Amazon's EC2, which offers on-demand computing capacity. Enomaly also makes it easier to move workloads on virtual machines from one data center to another, even if separated by wide distances, Cohen says.

"The economic collapse is leading companies to look at alternatives to buying large amounts of infrastructure," Cohen says.

Intel helped bankroll the company's product development and is jointly building a next-generation content distribution engine with Enomaly, a custom system that Intel will market to its own customers, says Jake Smith, a technologist with Intel's server product group. (Compare server products.)

With ECP, Enomaly says, enterprises manage their own virtual servers and remotely accessed computing capacity with "an intuitive, browser-based dashboard [that] makes it easy for IT personnel to efficiently plan deployments, automate [virtual machine] scaling and load-balancing; and, analyze, configure and optimize cloud capacity."

Enomaly supports the Xen hypervisor, will support VMware within a few weeks and Microsoft's Hyper-V in 2009, Cohen says. Hypervisors lack migration capabilities that make it easy to move applications to services like Amazon EC2, and thus can be augmented with Enomaly's software to become more flexible, Cohen argues.

"They don't look at networking beyond their own infrastructure," Cohen says of the industry's major hypervisor vendors. "They assume you're going to stick within the context of their particular platform. In reality, there is a heterogeneous environment."

Because Enomaly is vendor-agnostic, the software provides the ability to bring into the cloud whatever virtual machine is best suited to run a particular application, an attribute Intel needs for its content distribution engine, Smith of Intel says.
Smith views Enomaly as a "cloud compute infrastructure built for cloud operators or those who want to operate their environment in the cloud from day one."

But he says VMware is better positioned than Enomaly to help enterprises bridge the gap between data centers and externally accessed cloud services.

"Just because you can do it technically doesn't mean you have production customers who have done that with you to date," Smith says. "Technically, Intel can build an 81-core chip but it doesn't mean we have it commercially available in production."

Enomaly says ECP provides the following benefits:

• Ability to combine many servers into a "single, seamless, sharable cloud."
• Automatically scale during times of high demand by accessing both "local and remote clouds."
• Partition public computing utilities such as Amazon EC2 into a quarantined private cloud.
• Ability to make data center resources rapidly available to any application, and ensure instant recovery and live maintenance of applications.

The open source download is available at Enomaly's Web site, and the company sells support and add-ons. About a half-dozen paying customers are using prototype installations of the technology, Cohen says, while many more use the open source software for free.

There are about 1,000 users in a beta program, including Microsoft, Oracle, GE, VeriSign and the U.S. Department of Energy, according to a 451 Group analyst report on Enomaly. Prototype projects include Intel's content delivery network and projects at France Telecom and Rackspace.

Cohen got his start in 1998 when he founded video streaming company Graphic Substance, and says he helped create the Napster interface. Most of his video streaming customers were in the World Trade Center, and thus his business ended after Sept. 11. Cohen then became involved in open source and content management, spending a few years as a freelance consultant before co-founding Enomaly.