Yahoo, Intel have high hopes for Internet TV

Yahoo and Intel built their success upon widespread use of personal computers, but the two companies hope products to be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January will mark the beginning of their Internet-fueled expansion to the world of TV as well.

The two companies have attracted several significant manufacturing and content allies in the attempt to bring new smarts and interactivity to a part of the electronics world that has remained a more passive part of people's digital lives.

Intel and Yahoo showed off Net-enabled TV prototypes in August, but the companies' technology will be presented in more finished form at the electronics show within products by Samsung, Toshiba, and a number of new partners that have signed on since the debut.

What exactly are they trying to achieve? For Yahoo, it's establishment of the Widget Channel, a software foundation that can house programs for browsing photos, using the Internet's abundant socially connected services, watching YouTube videos, or digging deeper into TV shows -- and through which Yahoo will be able to show advertisements.

For Intel, it's a foothold in an industry whose microprocessors have typically been cheaper, less powerful, and less power-hungry.

Yahoo is confident the products will catch on, in part because it's set "very low" licensing requirements, said Patrick Barry, vice president of Yahoo's Connected TV initiative.

Ericsson and Intel collaborate to create anti-theft mobile broadband modules in Laptops

Ericsson antoday that it is collaborating with Intel to ensure that Ericsson’s Mobile Bnounced roadband Modules are interoperable with Intel® Anti-Theft PC Protection Technology for notebooks to offer a secure and reliable anti-theft solution for mobile broadband users. The collaboration addresses solutions to minimize the negative consequences when notebooks are lost or stolen, and in conjunction independent encryption software when sensitive data is lost while on-the-go and to prevent unwanted data intrusion.

The need for taking the profit out of stealing laptops and protecting sensitive and important information continues to grow with the increased popularity of mobile broadband notebooks. Theft or loss of notebooks can have enormous financial consequences for both consumers and enterprise users, especially when sensitive data on the notebook is lost or obtained by unauthorized persons.

Through this collaboration between Ericsson and Intel, a theft management service residing in the network can send a message via SMS to the mobile broadband module inside the notebook, which securely transfers the message to Intel’s Anti-Theft function inside the processor platform, which takes appropriate actions, such as completely locking the computer, making it unusable. When the notebook is located and recovered, an unlock message can be sent to the notebook that makes the data accessible again.

The solution builds on Ericsson’s Mobile Broadband Modules, which are tightly integrated in and optimized for notebooks, and Intel’s Anti-Theft PC Protection technology, which can lock a stolen or lost notebook. Intel Anti-Theft Technology provides an intelligent mechanism built into the processor platform that detects potential theft situations and responds according to IT policies. Anti-Theft PC Protection technology can be programmed to respond to repeated login failures and expiration of a timer that requires regularly scheduled connection to a central server.

When a loss or theft is detected, Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection technology can lock the laptop, rendering it useless, by blocking the boot process, and when working in conjunction with third-party encryption hardware or software can protect data by deleting cryptographic keys or similar essential code for decryption.

The theft management service can also take advantage of built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in the Ericsson mobile broadband module, which can send location data to a central server. The location function can be utilized to determine a theft situation when the notebook is moved outside a pre-defined area - a so called geo-fence to locate a lost notebook.

Ericsson Mobile Broadband Modules are already optimized with Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology to achieve excellent battery life and will in addition be validated to guarantee the interworking with Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection Technology. The solution will be available in commercial data protection products starting second half of 2009.

Intel’s Atom is a gem

Intel's Atom. The specs of this chip do not fail to impress. Power is low enough for fanless operations. Die size is unbelievably less than 26mm2 - that’s a lot of dies per wafer. And performance is where it needs to be.

Talking about performance, Tech Report ran a comparative review of Intel’s desktop Atom 230 and the VIA Nano L2100. Even though the VIA device pretty much cleaned up in all the tests, when IE7 was used to compare browser performance, neither platform was appreciably slower than the quad-core system that the reviewer used every day.

Out of all the tests that Tech Report carried out, the browser comparison tells us all we need to know. Since most people use their PC for Internet use, a PC based around an Atom or Nano processor would be good enough for most users needs.

But the majority of people who are in the market for a PC don’t want to buy an Internet appliance type device and be restricted because of its lack of flexibility. Since a PC in the home will generally be used by more than one person, flexibility in the platform is a must.

Which brings us back to the Atom. To date Atom based devices have only been available with Intel chipsets. Also, platform choice has been limited. Netbook type devices come with small screens, small keyboards and little flexibility. Atom based systems that come bundled with a full-size screen and keyboard are still limited by their lack of or limited expansion.

All of this seems to indicate that there is an unwritten law that says Intel won’t be happy at all to see full-sized desktops and laptops powered by the the Intel Atom processor. And let’s not forget that Microsoft is trying real hard to put its very popular Windows XP operating system to rest.

I’m sure that there are many who would be interested in buying a full-sized Atom based laptop that is fanless, ships with a solid state drive (SSD), and probably most important of all, especially for business, ships with the venerable and loved Windows XP operating system.

I’m also sure that there are many others who would like a similar hardware and software setup in a traditional desktop PC, where there is room for at least three or four expansion slots.

Restraint of trade
Having recently finished rebuilding an automotive engine, I was doing some research on engine oil that I could use.

As it so happened I came across a bunch of lawsuits involving Dupont, which concerned the use of its Teflon product in oil additive solutions. Dupont had stopped supplying Teflon to these oil additive companies, as the chemical giant believed that its product wasn’t being used as directed.

Of course, the oil additive companies responded and sued Dupont. Dupont lost because it couldn’t legally stop a company from buying its product for something else that the Dupont hadn’t intended - that’s restraint of trade.

So why haven’t we yet seen full-sized Atom based laptop and desktop computers? Has Intel, unofficially, already dictated what Atom platforms are allowed?

A PC Perspective piece from last July said that Atom motherboard vendors had complained about the number of restrictions that Intel had imposed: Apparently, vendors are not allowed to build Atom boards that include PCI Express and digital video outputs. These boards are also restricted to just one memory slot.

All of this is worrying. As a US consumer, why can’t I have the option to buy an Intel Atom based motherboard that has PCI Express, digital video out and two DDR2 memory slots. Why should a monopolist like Intel impose on others that which serves its own interests best?

Because the majority of these Atom based motherboards are designed and manufactured in the Far East, I don’t know if the US restaint of trade laws have any jurisdiction there.

But these products do get imported into the US. So if it can be proved that Intel action caused the US consumer to suffer higher costs because of its foreign anticompetitive behaviour, maybe US law or the FTC can bring Intel to book.