Intel not dismissing rumors of Apple’s notebook transition to ARM chips

Earlier today my colleague Jordan Kahn told you about a story ran by the Japanese hit-and-miss blog, Macotakara, which in a nutshell calls for a brand new Mac product family. It is being described as radically “different from current products”, so much different in fact that Apple might market the mysterious products under a new product name. Well, Intel’s hearing those rumors as well! Their Ultrabook director Greg Welch specifically told CNET they’re very well aware of the reports involving MacBook prototypes rocking Apple’s own silicon based on ARM’s processor blueprints:

We hear the same rumors and it would be remiss of us to be dismissive. We endeavor to innovate so they’ll continue to look to us as a supplier.
We wouldn’t bet on the “continue to look to us as a supplier” part. So thought IBM until Apple ditched the PowerPC architecture and made a bold switch to Intel processors in 2005. So, is 2012 going to be like 2005? Only time will tell, but it’s intriguing that an Intel executive would actually comment on the rumors, don’t you think?

That, in and of itself, is significant enough to warrant a post for the sake of the discussion. If you do believe your rumors, Apple’s testing ultra-thin MacBook prototypes that sport ARM chips and might not contain Intel’s Ivy Bridge platform at all. The benefits?

Think thin, really thin, and power-savvy. ARM Holdings, a UK-based fables silicon firm, is known for power-efficient CPU designs they license to other companies. The vast majority of today’s mobile devices are based on ARM blueprints rather than Intel’s inefficient mobile processors. The world’s largest processor maker is very well aware that it fell behind in the mobile race. The company has not anticipated an explosive growth of smartphones and missed out on an opportunity to make up for lost ground with tablet chips. Today, if you’re building a tablet or a smartphone, you’re either Apple and therefore use in-house designed processors, or buy your chips from Nvidia, Samsung, Qualcomm or Texas Instruments. All those suppliers share one thing in common: The CPU part of their system-on-a-chip package is based on ARM’s blueprints. Apple, an early investor in ARM in the late 1980s, has a lot of experience incorporating those designs into their products, from the Newton PDA which was based around the ARM6-based ARM 610 architecture to the A4 and A5 chips. The A4 chip sports a single-core ARM Cortex-A8 CPU core paired with a PowerVR SGX 535 graphics processor built on Samsung’s 45-nanometer silicon chip fabrication process. The A5 has a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU with Neon SIMD accelerator and a dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics unit. Both chips are believed to benefit from performance enhancements developed by chip designer Intrinsity, acquired by Apple in 2010.


*thanks 9to5mac*

Send us a story or tip @ TipsForLimerain.com@gmail.com and follow our pages for the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
And like our Facebook page www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Forbes: Apple is fifth most innovative company, Google is #7 Don’t even ask about Microsoft.

Forbes has put together (via setteB.IT) a list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and Apple ranked fifth. Salesforce.com leads the pack, followed by Amazon (#2), Intuitive Surgical (#3) and Tencent Holdings (#4). Interestingly, Google is seventh most-innovative company in the world on the publication’s list. Other worthy mentions: Nintendo (#20), Activision Blizzard (#22), Starbucks (#19), PepsiCo (#50). The usual suspects don’t fare well, however. Adobe is ranked 54th (little wonder, with their confused CEO) and Apple’s court friend HTC is 56th. Steve Jobs best friend’s company Oracle is 77th and Microsoft is far down on the list, ranked 86th. The full list is available here. But wait, how do you measure innovation? Read on…




Forbes calls it the five skills of disruptive innovators and here they are:

Questioning allows innovators to challenge the status quo and consider new possibilities; Observing helps innovators detect small details—in the activities of customers, suppliers and other companies—that suggest new ways of doing things Networking permits innovators to gain radically different perspectives from individuals with diverse backgrounds; Experimenting prompts innovators to relentlessly try out new experiences, take things apart and test new ideas; Associational thinking—drawing connections among questions, problems or ideas from unrelated fields—is triggered by questioning, observing, networking and experimenting and is the catalyst for creative ideas.
That, and the usual stuff to consider such as sales, profitability, growth, market share, hype and other tangibles and intangibles.

*thanks 9to5mac*

Cross posted on 24/7Droid.com
Send us a story or tip @ TipsForLimerain.com@gmail.com and follow our pages for the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
And like our Facebook page www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Apple Created the Rockstar Group After They Dropped Out of Nortel Auction

A consortium of companies including Apple won the auction for Nortel's patents; however, Apple originally went into the auction alone. Only after Rockstar Bidco (RIM, EMC, Ericsson, Sony, Microsoft) dropped out of the bidding did Apple form a partnership to stake the group, according to TechCrunch.

By the fifth round of bidding, it was Rockstar Bidco that decided not to submit a bid. This brought the group of bidders down to three: Google, Apple, and Intel. Then something really interesting happened.

Following Rockstar's seeming exit, Apple asked Nortel for permission to talk to the group about a possible partnership. This request was granted. Following these discussions, Apple decided they wanted to partner with Rockstar and adopt their name and transaction structure. Essentially, Apple decided to stake the Rockstar group in this high-stakes poker game.

Eventually, Intel dropped out and partnered with Google; however, in the 19th round Apple's group was able to win with a bid of $4.5 billion.




*thanks iclarified*

Send us a story or tip @ TipsForLimerain.com@gmail.com and follow our pages for the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
And like our Facebook page www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Inspired by iPad and the Air, Intel talks up Ultrabooks and Android-friendly tablet chips

Forget about Chromebooks, here come the Ultrabooks. Ultra-what? Per Intel’s presser at the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan, Ultrabooks represent an entirely new class of notebooks that include the best features of tablets. If this sounds suspiciously familiar, look no further than the upcoming Mac OS X Lion operating system that is being pitched by Apple as “taking our best thinking from iPad and bringing it all to the Mac” or the MacBook Air’s iPad-like instant-on promise. Intel is playing exactly the same iPad card, their senior vice president Tom Kilroy telling Reuters:

We’re shooting for ultra responsive. You’ll have always-on, always-connected, much more responsive devices, similar to what you would see with a tablet today such as an iPad.
This sounds a lot like a catch-up to the MacBook Air’s all-flash instantaneous performance, cynics would argue. Ultrabooks are about Intel’s latest chips and reference designs. Intel also took the wraps off of its new fanless netbook platform code-named “Cedar Trail” and proposed a “Medfield” tablet reference design for sub-9mm designs, weighing less than 1.5 pounds and supporting a choice of operating system, per press release. So when can we expect first Ultrabooks to challenge MacBook Air’s dominance?

Intel says first Ultrabooks will be available in time for the holiday shopping season, priced in the sub-$1000 range and eventually settling at around $600 within a couple of years. Intel has high hopes for these machines, telling the news gathering organization that Ultrabooks should account for 40 percent of all consumer notebook sales by the end of 2012. Intel has been attempting to make a dent in mobile for years. The company’s latest moves in this space include the Oak Trail processor, their first designed specifically for tablets, and the new tri-gate transistor technology that crams more transistors onto chips, making them speedier yet at the same time power efficient.




Another part to this strategy is the Ivy Bridge platform. Billed as a Sandy Bridge successor, Ivy Bridge will improve graphics performance and power efficiency while enabling better responsiveness and stronger security. First Ivy Bridge chips fabbed on the new 22-nanometer tri-gate transistor technology are expected by April 2012. Intel will also launch “Haswell” processors in 2013, said to cut power requirements to half of today’s chips. Meanwhile, ViewSonic showed off a tablet yesterday engineered around the new Oak Trail chip. Acer is also expected to come out with an Android tablet with an Oak Trail chip inside and yesterday they showed off the ultra-thin UX2 notebook, depicted in the video below. A number of companies have been trying to replicate Apple’s engineering solutions with the MacBook Air, from Samsung’s Series 9 to Dell’s thin notebook.

*thanks 9to5Mac*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post.. For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Intel owns ‘full rights’ to the Thunderbolt trademark, not Apple (UPDATED with clarification from Intel)

Chip maker Intel had stressed they, not Apple, own all Thundebolt trademarks. Even though Apple and Intel collaborated on this high-speed I/O technology featured on the 2011 MacBook Pro and iMac families, the confusion arose when Patently Apple discovered that Apple filed for the Thunderbolt brand name trademark, their third since the technology debuted on the new MacBook Pro family in February of 2011. Few were convinced Apple owns the trademark, including Cult of Mac’s Ed Sutherland who asked, “Who the heck owns Thunderbolt, Intel or Apple?”

Deciding enough is enough, Intel has now made claims it owns the Thunderbolt trademark. Responding to an inquiry from Theo Valich over at Bright side of news, Intel’s senior communications manager Dave Salvator provided this statement:

As part of our collaboration with Apple, they did some of the initial trademark filings. Intel has full rights to the Thunderbolt trademark now and into the future. The Thunderbolt name will be used going forward on all platforms, irrespective of operating system.
[UPDATE May 20, 2011 3:15am Pacific] Intel’s representative has contacted the publication with additional clarification. To make a long story short, Intel and Apple have agreed that the iPhone maker will transfer their Thunderbolt trademark to the semiconductor giant. Valich explains:

Apple filed for the original trademark and is now transferring that trademark to Intel. At the same time, Apple will continue to have unrestricted use of the technology. 3rd party implementations such as Sony’s desire to use USB Connector instead of DisplayPort and the eventual change of technology branding (Sony’s IEEE1394 a.k.a. Firewire implementation was named i.LINK) will have to be ironed out as the time passes by.

I guess this invalidates Apple’s ahead-of-time November 2010 Thunderbolt trademark filed with the US and Canadian trademark offices in Jamaica. And what about another Thunderbolt trademark claim from Apple that surfaced in the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s database on May 11, 2011? The situation is getting murkier with each passing day, if you ask us.

Another interesting tidbit came when Valich asked Intel’s Salvator to reflect on future Thunderbolt implementations based on optical connectivity (current version uses copper wiring for cost reasons).

“The (Thunderbolt optical) cable could carry power in the same cable (running next to optical part of cable), but exact product plans are still to be announced”, Salvador said.

*thanks 9to5Mac*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post.. For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Is Intel going to build Apple’s A6 chips?

A report relayed by EETimes today has Intel chasing after the next generation Apple AX chips contracts that will go into iOS devices.

”Based on a number of inputs, we believe Intel is also vying for Apple’s foundry business,” said Gus Richard, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co., in a new report.”It makes strategic sense for both companies. The combination of Apple’s growing demand and market share in smart phones and tablets gives Intel a position in these markets and drives the logic volume Intel needs to stay ahead in manufacturing,” Richard said.”Intel’s manufacturing lead gives Apple an additional competitive advantage in these markets and distances it from Asian competitors that are knocking off its products,” he said. ”Furthermore, it would also serve to weaken Samsung who is a significant competitive threat to both companies.”
Before the release of the A5, reports had been that apple was looking at TSMC for their chip foundry work. However, since the A5 was revealed to be the work of Samsung, who has manufactured all of Apple’s iOS device processors, TSMC was assumed to be on the back burner.

Since Apple is suing Samsung (and vice versa) Apple may be stepping up its attempts to get its AX processor line manufactured somewhere else.

Intel, however, isn’t in the foundry business. It designs and builds its own integrated processor architectures. Apple and Intel have had a pretty good relationship since the PowerPC handover over five years ago.

*thanks 9to5Mac*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post.. For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Thunderbolt uptake expected as Intel promises development kits

Thunderbolt interconnect, a technology jointly developed by Apple and Intel which debuted February 24 on the new MacBook Pros, will become widely available to third-parties this quarter via the official development kit, Intel said yesterday. This is important for Mac users eager to take advantage of this technology.

Even though pundits had initially slammed Intel for limiting Thunderbolt to the new MacBook Pros, even saying this would spell doom for the new technology, the early release of an SDK means we can expect a lot of Thunderbolt-enabled products by the year’s end. In addition to Mac notebooks, Intel is working with other players to embrace Thunderbolt. At NAB 2011 several video and storage companion products from AJA, BlackMagic, Matrox, Sonnet, G-Tech, Promise and La Cie are being demoed.



Intel is advertising Thunderbolt at NAB 2011 as a go-to solution for modern video and audio editing and content production. This will benefit Apple, which announced FinalCut Pro X yesterday. Thunderbolt is essentially built around PCI Express and is backwards-compatible with Display Port.

The first implementation is based on copper cabling that allows for 10Gbps throughput in both directions – enough to transfer a full-length, high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds. Fiber optic variant that ups transfer speeds to a whopping 100Gbps should roll out by the end of the decade due to high costs.

*thanks 9to5Mac*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post.. For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Intel Starts Production of Z68 Chipset With SSD Caching

Intel has started production of the Z68 chipset which features SSD caching capabilities, according to VR-Zone.

Intel has also started production of their Z68 chipset this week along with other Cougar Point SKUs like H61 and Q65. All of them are based on the new B3 stepping therefore the SATA port 2-5 issue is fixed before they hit the market. Judging from the specs, it seems Intel has catered Z68 specially for enthusiasts which allows better processor overclocking, discrete graphics support and SSD caching capability. With these enhancements, Intel has priced the Z68 chipset some US$8 higher than the P67 counterpart. The launch for the Z68 chipset is slated for first week of May.

SSD Caching joins a regular hard drive to a solid state drive, putting the most frequently accessed data onto the SSD for quick access. The two drives appear as a single drive to users.

Before the release of the new MacBook Pros last week there were reports that the notebook would store the operating system on a dedicated SSD. While these rumors did not come true its possible that Apple was testing an implementation of SSD caching on their prototypes.







*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Intel Design Flaw to Delay MacBooks by Just Two Weeks?

A design flaw in Intel's 6 Series Cougar Point chipsets will only delay some MacBooks by less than two weeks, according to an AppleInsider report.

One person familiar with the matter tells AppleInsider that some -- not all -- of the company's upcoming MacBook Pros were affected by the situation. According to this person, the Mac maker elected to make minor tweaks to the logic boards of those models, but that those changes would translate to a delay of less than two weeks.

Intel says the problem with the chips was the potential for four of the SATA ports -- 2 through 5 -- to "degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives."

The problem does not affect SATA ports 0 or 1, and since MacBook Pros only make use of two SATA ports, Apple would only have to make minor changes to avoid any issues.

"There are two connections on the board -- one for optical drive, and one for HDD," said iFixit's Kyle Wiens. "The other internal devices (trackpad, keyboard, SD card reader, etc.) use USB."




*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

MacBook Air to Get Sandy Bridge CPU in June?

Apple may be planning to give the MacBook Air a speed bump by updating it with Intel's new Sandy Bridge processor, according to CNET.

Initial shipments of Intel's Sandy Bridge processor were snafued on January 31 by a minor glitch in the accompanying chipset, though the chipmaker will resume shipments of fixed chipsets as early as mid-month. The Sandy Bridge processor itself is not affected.

The MacBook Air refresh is expected in June, according to a source familiar with Apple's plans.

The MacBook Pros are also rumored to get an update which could come as early as March.




*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Intel Finds Design Flaw in Sandy Bridge Support Chip, Issues Recall.

Intel has discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. The chipset is utilized in PCs with Intel's latest Second Generation Intel Core processors, code-named Sandy Bridge. Intel has stopped shipment of the affected support chip from its factories. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the support chip which will resolve the issue. The Sandy Bridge microprocessor is unaffected and no other products are affected by this issue.

The company expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April. Intel stands behind its products and is committed to product quality. For computer makers and other Intel customers that have bought potentially affected chipsets or systems, Intel will work with its OEM partners to accept the return of the affected chipsets, and plans to support modifications or replacements needed on motherboards or systems. The systems with the affected support chips have only been shipping since January 9th and the company believes that relatively few consumers are impacted by this issue. The only systems sold to an end customer potentially impacted are Second Generation Core i5 and Core i7 quad core based systems. Intel believes that consumers can continue to use their systems with confidence, while working with their computer manufacturer for a permanent solution. For further information consumers should contact Intel at www.intel.com on the support page or contact their OEM manufacturer.

For the first quarter of 2011, Intel expects this issue to reduce revenue by approximately $300 million as the company discontinues production of the current version of the chipset and begins manufacturing the new version. Full-year revenue is not expected to be materially affected by the issue. Total cost to repair and replace affected materials and systems in the market is estimated to be $700 million. Since this issue affected some of the chipset units shipped and produced in the fourth quarter of 2010, the company will take a charge against cost of goods sold, which is expected to reduce the fourth quarter gross margin percentage by approximately 4 percentage points from the previously reported 67.5 percent. The company will also take a charge in the first quarter of 2011 which will lower the previously communicated gross margin percentage by 2 percentage points and the full-year gross margin percentage by one percentage point.




*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Microsoft Announces Support for SoC Architectures in Windows 8

Microsoft today announced that the next version of Windows will support System on a Chip (SoC) architectures, including ARM-based systems from partners NVIDIA Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. On the x86 architecture, Intel Corporation and AMD continue their work on low-power SoC designs that fully support Windows, including support for native x86 applications. SoC architectures will fuel significant innovation across the hardware spectrum when coupled with the depth and breadth of the Windows platform.

At today’s announcement, Microsoft demonstrated the next version of Windows running on new SoC platforms from Intel running on x86 architecture and from NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments on ARM architecture. The technology demonstration included Windows client support across a range of scenarios, such as hardware-accelerated graphics and media playback, hardware-accelerated Web browsing with the latest Microsoft Internet Explorer, USB device support, printing and other features customers have come to expect from their computing experience. Microsoft Office running natively on ARM was also shown as a demonstration of the potential of Windows platform capabilities on ARM architecture.

SoC architectures consolidate the major components of a computing device onto a single package of silicon. This consolidation enables smaller, thinner devices while reducing the amount of power required for the device, increasing battery life and making possible always-on and always-connected functionality.




*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Snow Leopard Already Running on New Sandy Bridge CPUs

Tonymacx86 has already managed to get Mac OS X Snow Leopard running on Intel's new Sandy Bridge CPU.

Today Intel lifted the Non-Disclosure Agreement on it's new Sandy Bridge LGA Socket-1155 next generation performance chipset and CPUs. The good news is, we've already successfully installed Mac OS X Snow Leopard!

The bad news is, until Apple uses these CPUs, it's a bit of a science experiment, as you'll need to use a "patched" non-standard Darwin kernel in order to boot the system. For those of you buying new systems anyway, we're opening a special section of the forum dedicated to Sandy Bridge.

The new processor brings a significant performance improvement; however, it is quite a bit of work to get things running. You can find some instructions at the link below to help you get started.




*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest limera1n, rubyra1n, and all tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4

Intel Debuts Second Generation 'Sandy Bridge' CPUs

Intel has debuted its second generation Intel Core Processor family of CPUs, codenamed 'Sandy Bridge'.

The 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family is the first "visibly smart" microarchitecture to combine visual and 3D graphics technology with performance-leading microprocessors on a single chip. Incorporating the newly architected Intel HD Graphics on each 32nm die enables significant graphics performance improvements over previous generation graphics, for both HD media processing and mainstream gaming. The chips improve performance and yet still offer great battery life and the ability to design thinner, lighter and more innovative laptops and all-in-one PCs.

Highlights:
● The Core i3, i5 and i7 processors include the enhanced Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. This feature automatically reallocates processor core and processor graphics resources to accelerate performance, giving users an immediate performance boost when and where it's needed.
● New chip features include Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), Intel InTru 3-D, and Intel Clear Video Technology HD. Intel InTru 3-D enables immersive stereoscopic 3D to 3D-capable HDTVs or monitors via HDMI 1.4, making movie excitement almost come out of the screen. Intel AVX increases performance for demanding visual applications like audio processing and professional video image editing like stitching together multiple photographs. Intel Clear Video improves the visual quality and color fidelity during video playback for a spectacular screen experience.
● The chips are made on Intel's 32 nanometer manufacturing process on the company's second-generation high-k metal gate transistors. These unique advantages further boost performance; reduce power consumption for better battery life and smaller designs, and lower overall manufacturing costs.
● Intel WiDi 2.0 improvements include support for 1080p HD as well as protected content either streaming from the Internet or played locally from a Blu-ray or DVD player.

Availability:
Intel announced more than 20 processors, wireless adapters and chipsets, including new Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 processors, Intel 6 Series Chipsets, and Intel Centrino Wi-Fi and WiMAX adapters. More than 500 laptop and desktop PC platform designs are expected from all major computer makers worldwide based on these products.

The quad core (four processors inside one chip) based systems will be available on January 9 and additional dual-core versions in February.












*thanks iclarified*

Our new Forum is now open here or on the top tabs marks Forums, please register and post..

For the latest tech stories, follow us on Twitter at
@iphonepixelpost or @limerain_com
www.iPodSets.com
- Posted using my iPhone 4