Video: Nvidia Laughs At Intel’s Next Generation Netbook Platform “Pine Trail”

December 16, 2009

Nvidia's claims that Intel's next-generation netbook platform dubbed Pine Trail can't play Flash HD content or Blue-ray movies and mainstream games

At a meeting in San Francisco today, I sat down with Nvidia’s director of marketing David Ragones for an update on the company’s netbook solution, ION, unveiled a year ago.

Although ION is about a year old, Nvidia claims that last year’s ION is still 5 to 10 times faster than Intel’s next-generation netbook platform, dubbed Pine Trail and available in next year’s netbooks.

“Intel hasn’t closed the gap. So they’re now coming out with their next-generation but the media performance is still relatively poor”, says Ragones.

And we’ll have more on Pine Trail tomorrow after a media briefing Intel is hosting, also in downtown San Francisco (yes that’s the week!), where the chipmaker will probably show some Pine Trail equipped netbooks and hopefully some performance numbers.

Until then, we’ll have to take Nvidia’s words for it.

Despite positioning ION at the premium segment of the netbook market ($399 and above), Nvidia claims that as much as 100 netbook models equipped with its graphics chip.

“ION energises the Intel Atom processor. It’s perfect if what you want to do is view HD content, play mainstream games and do simple image and video editing tasks”, adds Ragones that used the Sims video game to prove his point. “Sims 3 is the number 1 top selling game in the world, and this is a game you can only run on an ION netbook.”

Follows a video excerpts of my conversation with Ragones.

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Posted by TechPulse 360

Analysis: AMD/Intel $1.25B Settlement Is Cheap!

November 12, 2009

For analyst Jack Gold, the AMD/Intel legal settlement announced today is a win-win for both companies. It will give badly needed cash to AMD, while it  will help Intel remain a dominant player in all aspects of the computer chip marketplace in both current and future devices.

Viewed in this way, the $1.25B payment to AMD from Intel looks cheap!

More on Gold’s commentary:

Today, Intel and AMD announced that they are dropping all existing litigation between them – AMD’s persistent attacks on what it claims are Intel’s predatory sales practices and Intel’s counter claims of AMD’s unlawful appropriation of Intel IP transferred to GlobalFoundries when AMD divested its fabs to this joint venture. The legal wrangling has been an obsession for AMD and a diversion for Intel for several years now, and neither can afford to engage in such maneuvers anymore. The settlement is a win-win for both, although it may not have much affect on Intel’s continuing governmental anti-trust investigations around the world, and the win-win may be a little different than most analysis has indicated.

Intel’s payment to AMD of $1.25B may be seen by some as an admission of guilt that it indeed was behaving badly as AMD claimed. However, I see this another way, rather that Intel is offering AMD a badly needed cash infusion – a lifeline to make sure it stays afloat. Strategically, Intel can not afford to let AMD go out of business. It needs the competition – both to make sure it stays “paranoid” enough to design and manufacture industry leading chips (look what happened to Intel last time AMD was not competitive), and also to avoid the reality of complete monopolization of the PC market and all the additional scrutiny it would entail (yes, even more than Intel is already receiving). AMD gets much needed cash with which it can complete its transition to a fabless semiconductor company and to complete designs of its next generation processor and graphics chips to make it more competitive. So this is a Win-Win for both companies.

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Data Center Battles Global Warming With Extreme Measures

September 24, 2009

Contracting ceilings. Liquid-cooled racks of servers. Oxygen levels so low employees need frequent breaks.

The test center makes use of a smoke machine to trace the flow of cool air, says Claude Fiori of T-Systems

The test center makes use of a smoke machine to trace the flow of cool air, says Claude Fiori of T-Systems

These are some of the extreme measures Intel and partner T-Systems, a division of Deutsche Telekom, are employing to lower the power consumption of a prototype data center in Munich.

The companies discussed the test center at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon and expect to publish results of their experiment later this year.

Data centers in the U.S. consume about 1.2 percent of the nation’s electricity – about as much as all color TVs – making greater efficiency a useful exercise in the battle against global warming.

The aim of the experiment is to look at the efficiency of the facility as a whole rather than at each of its piece parts individually. That is reason for the 15 percent oxygen level – a security and cost saving measure.

A fire that breaks out won’t be able to burn on its own, saving the center the cost of installing water and gas fire protection systems, says T-Systems’ Claude Fiori, head of GDU-IAS Workers can stay in the room for four hours before needing a break.

The center also makes use of smoke machine to trace the flow of cool air and pumps chilled liquid into racks of servers. Its 7-ton ceiling rises and falls with the push of a button, allowing administrators to adjust it between 8 and 14 feet high for optimum center cooling.

Also to better control temperature and humidity, the walls are coated with an aluminum-backed paper for insulation.

With the U.S. government preparing to release data center energy-use benchmarks, centers may have no choice but to improve efficiency, says Fiori. “We have to look at green IT.”

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Intel Looking Cautiously At Smart Grid

September 23, 2009

The world’s largest chipmaker has been looking at the smart grid for about a year. But the slow speed of the market and hesitancy utilities have to swap out older equipment for new is giving it pause.

The smart grid is a mulit billion dollar opportunity for chipmakers.

The smart grid is a mulit billion dollar opportunity for chipmakers.

The smart grid offers a gargantuan opportunity for a company interested in finding new uses for its computer and consumer-electronics chips. Buildings consume about 40 percent of the nation’s power and are responsible for more than 40 percent of its CO2 emissions.

Clearly new ways of doing things need to be found. At the heart of this change is the need for grid devices to have more intelligence and therefore the ability to channel information and control to utility administrators and consumers. It is the ideal job for today’s powerful semiconductors.

But equipment in the grid is typically designed for a 10 to 20 years lifespan. That makes it difficult to quickly incorporate new generations of chips that come out every year or two.

At the same time, adopting technical standards is critical, says Lorie Wigle, general manager of Intel’s eco-technology program office.

Wigle says Intel has 20 people working on an opportunity that for chipmakers of all stripes (not just those making computer chips) could be billions of dollars. Part of the task so far has been to identify where chips might go. Smart substations, plug-in hybrids, in-home displays and renewable energy systems are just some of the spots she has earmarked.

But she is convinced the utility mindset must change. So far, utilities are focused on installing smart gear to reduce costs, putting in a smart meter, for instance, to eliminate the need for a meter reader to drive to a home.

They are not yet thinking of supplying information to consumers, she says. “A lot of the utility activities are moving a lot slower than we might like,” she adds.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Is Intel Having Trouble Filling IDF?

September 16, 2009
Intel is now offering free full-conference passes to attend IDF next week. A $1,600 value!

Intel is now giving away free full-conference passes to cheers its CEO at IDF next week. A $1,600 value!

UPDATE: Intel deactivated the promo code. Probably after friends and readers of TP360 flocked their sites, racking 10s of thousands of dollars in savings and a free Maroon 5 ticket!

That’s an offer you can’t refuse, even if you’re not in the chip business!

Intel is offering to attend “the biggest technology event of the year” – yes, it’s own Intel Developer Forum (or IDF) – that starts next Tuesday for… FREE, a $1,600 value!

“Simply use promo code GCPCEL3 to receive your complimentary full-conference pass. Register now.”

Not only will you attend “eye-opening keynotes,” “invaluable technical sessions,” “participate in inspiring technology tracks,” and “engage colleagues around the corner or around the world on the new IDF Community Map,” but also attend a live concert performance by Maroon 5, as well as breakfasts, lunches, cocktails, etc.

What’s not to like?

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AMD Beats Intel, Nvidia At Supporting Windows 7 High-End Graphics

September 2, 2009

On the heels of yesterday’s Intel briefing, AMD is touring Silicon Valley this week to talk about its own strategy and vision ahead of the Windows 7 launch, due on Oct. 22.

Although most of the information is still under wraps until AMD’s own Sept. 10 event, we caught up with worldwide marketing vice-president Leslie Sobon at AMD’s headquarters in Sunnyvale where she was keen to point out some of the work the chip designer did to optimise its upcoming notebook and desktop platforms to support Windows 7 high-end graphics capabilities aka DirectX 11.

“We’ll have the first DirectX 11 games enabled on our graphics cards. You’re not going to see that from Intel… or nVidia either… It’s all about the compute shader… The first pieces of what comes out for DirectX 11 is in the gaming side but it actually translates even into entertainment and video visual quality,” explains Sobon.

Consumers don’t care about the processor

During our conversation, Sobon also commented on the complexity consumers are facing when choosing a new computer.

“Mainstream consumers don’t care about the processor in their system. They care about whether or not they can watch Hulu HD or if the Flip camera video actually runs on their PC. They don’t care if it’s a Turion, or an Athlon or a Core i5… they didn’t care for many many years,” explained Sobon.

AMD will support GPU overclocking

On overclocking – which is a way to increase the speed/frequency/clock of individual PC components like the CPU or the memory -, the AMD executive confirmed the chip designer’s commitment to continue offering a wide range of options for PC enthusiasts to boost or “overclock” every part of their computers, including soon the graphics processor (GPU)!

“What aren’t we doing to help overclockers. We’ve got the chipset that enables it, AMD overdrive that lets you optimise at your heart’s content on the platform side, as well as on the CPU side… We have the overclocking record,” adds Sobon.

For more on AMD plans, we’ll have to wait Sept. 10th!

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Trying To Make Windows 7 Green Is No Easy Task

September 1, 2009

Down deep, Microsoft believes Windows 7, its latest operating system, will be more energy efficient than its predecessor.

Laptop batteries will run longer and need less frequent recharging. Desktop machines will suck less electricity from the wall socket.

But trying to determine exactly how much power will be saved is a difficult question to answer. That’s because it depends a great deal on how computer makers design and build the new machines that run the OS, which is due out Oct. 22.

One laptop may be small and light, and sacrifice power savings for reduced size and weight. Another might be built for speed, with higher performance components and less concern about energy conservation.

That’s why “we don’t have that as part of our discussion today,” said Michael Angiulo, a Microsoft general manager who offered a technical briefing Tuesday in San Francisco on the software’s efficiency. Power savings will vary machine to machine.

Efficiency improvements and better life will depend on teh choices computer manufacturers make, says Microsofts Michael Angiulo

Efficiency improvements and better life will depend on teh choices computer manufacturers make, says Microsoft's Michael Angiulo

Under the hood, Windows 7 does have some features that make it greener than its predecessor, Windows Vista.

One advance is called “timer coalescing,” which better schedules the work a processor does. Tasks are grouped and sent to a processor core simultaneously so the processor finishes jobs quicker and returns itself to a deep sleep. Microsoft worked on the technology with chipmaker Intel.

Better software management techniques also play a role. The management software allows a processor to be scaled up to higher energy states when that extra performance is needed and not before.

In one demo, a laptop running a DVD achieved 20 percent better battery life with Windows 7 than with Windows Vista.

Another demo showed Windows 7 booting in just 11 seconds, saving battery power in the process. “This shows what system manufacturers can do,” said Ruston Panabaker, principal program manager. The computer was built around a laboratory “reference design” from Intel and ran high performance hardware.

So how soon will commercially available PCs see the same startup speeds? The answer is not easy to know. “We’re not the people to answer that question,” said Angiulo. It depends on the OEMs.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Larrabee Needs Solid-State Drives To Be Interesting, Intel says

August 13, 2009
Hard-disk drives will hold back the performance benefits of Intels upcoming high-end graphics chip Larrabee

Hard-disk drives will hold back the performance benefits of Intel's upcoming high-end graphics chip Larrabee

With the first generation of Intel’s high-end graphics chip – code named Larrabee – only a few months away from shipping, Intel is trying to set some expectations in regards of its performance.

Speaking at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., Intel’s desktop “performance guy” François Piednoël pointed that the performance and the user experience of a Larrabee-based PC will be “less interesting” with a hard-disk drive installed, highly recommending a solid-state drive (SDD) instead.

Hard-disk drives are what is holding PC performance back

Luckily, it so happened that the Santa Clara, Calif., chipmaker had recently shipped its next-generation 80GB SSD for about $220. At this price, Piednoël argues, consumers will begin to pay attention on this new category of devices.

“On a lot of benchmarks you will get more performance benefits to put an SSD into a laptop than having a discrete graphics card… This accelerate dramatically the user experience.”

A statement that I largely agree with having experienced a jump of performance after I installed a Kingston’s SSD on a MacBook used for video editing. The jump in performance was immediately noticeable and would have only been possible if I had upgraded the processor and/or the Nvidia discrete graphics.

With that in mind, Intel’s heavy investment in SSD technologies makes a lot more sense. “The CPU and the SSD are intimately linked. The faster the SSD is, the more you need processing power, and vice-versa.” CQFD.

Follows 2 video excerpts of Piednoël’s presentation at the Flash Memory Summit:

And why Intel is so interested in SSDs:

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Verbatim: Mobile Phones Drive Flash Memory Sales

August 12, 2009
Verbatim continues its push in Flash memory with this tiny and tough USB drive

Verbatim continues its push in Flash memory with this tiny and tough USB drive

You’d be surprised what an old storage company like Verbatim – which started by selling data cassettes 40-years ago – can bring to the rapidly changing flash memory market.

For Mark Rogers, the company’s marketing manager for its 6-year old Flash business, it’s all about:

  1. Lifetime warranty on all Flash products (both cards and USB drives); replacing any faulty devices, no questions ask. Kingston also offers a lifetime warranty on its Flash memory cards, but only 5-years for its USB drives; for Sandisk its 2-years and just 1-year for PNY;
  2. A standard password protection feature (for Windows only, not Macs) available on most of Verbatim drives;
  3. Enough performance to speed up Windows, thanks to the USB keys “ReadyBoost” compatibility;

And in conjunction with this week Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., Verbatim introduced new USB keys – the TUFF-’N'-TINY line – that are among the smallest and sturdiest in the market.

Mobile phones are main driver of Flash memory cards sales

However, despite being the fourth top selling brand of USB flash drives in the U.S., Verbatim is yet to ship a solid-state drive (SSD) that would compete with the likes of Intel/Kingston, STEC, etc.

“But we’re in the process of launching an ExpressCard SSD [announced at the Consumer Electronics Show last January and already shipping in Europe] which is based on a removable form-factor. Verbatim is in the removable media business and we chose to start our entry in SSD in that manner ,” said Rogers.

More on our exclusive interview with Verbatim in the video below:

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Intel Earnings Could Be Vaporware

August 6, 2009

Intel reported solid second-quarter sales last month and offered an upbeat outlook for the second half of the year. Wall Street rejoiced this unexpected good news.

Were Intels improving sales based on real PC demand or inventory restocking? The answer is unclear

Were Intel's improving sales based on real PC demand or inventory restocking? The answer is unclear

But the improving market for computer chips that Intel described could be more smoke than fire.

IDC reported Thursday that much of the improvement in PC chip sales during the period was due to refreshing inventory, not the result of improving demand for personal computers.

For instance, Intel’s shipments of its Atom processor for netbooks rose 34 percent from the first quarter, suggesting vendors had held off purchases and were now restocking their shelves.

“The significant sequential ‘snap-back’ rise in Intel’s overall processor shipments—particularly Atom shipments—while AMD’s overall shipments were about flat, indicate that the PC processor market didn’t recover in 2Q09,” says analyst Shane Rau. “Instead, the market balanced out due to Intel driving Atom processors into (vendors) who manufacture the systems, particularly in China and Taiwan.”

So what does that say about the rest of the year? Clearly with inventories now at more normal levels, the market can’t rely on further restocking. The fortunes of companies such as Intel will now rise and fall on the strength of PC demand itself – something that has been anything but certain this year.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

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