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Chipsets for socket 775 P4 processors to be abundant in 2Q
http://digitimes.com/mobos/a20050224A5023.html
Core-logic chipsets from Intel and Nvidia for socket 775 Pentium 4 CPUs are expected to see greater availability in the second quarter, and this will place additional pressure on Taiwan-based chipset makers, according to market sources.
Intel Seen Focusing On Smaller Acquisitions
http://tinyurl.com/6v8ca
Standard & Poor's Equity Research reiterated a "hold" rating on Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) after the company's chief financial officer said a large acquisition doesn't make sense for the company at this time.
Intel CFO says still comfortable with forecast
http://tinyurl.com/4xjrh
PHOENIX, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Financial Officer Andy Bryant said on Wednesday he remained comfortable with the company's first-quarter financial outlook based on results in January and February, but cautioned that the forecast hinged on sales in the final month of the period.
Intel Announces Intent to Acquire Oplus Technologies
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050224/245377_1.html
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2005--Intel Corporation today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Oplus Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of video processing products and technologies for digital television and digital displays. The acquisition would provide Intel with access to valuable technology, expertise and products that complement the company's offerings of standards-based silicon and software for the growing consumer electronics market segment.
Intel prunes prices
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/24/intel_price_cuts/
Intel this week chopped up to 34.1 per cent off selected processors, following last week's Xeon DP refresh and the launch this week of 64-bit Pentium 4 processors for desktop PCs.
Intel Licenses ASML Litho Patents
http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA505933?spacedesc=news
Two industry giants got cozier today, as Intel Corp. licensed several lithography patents for the design and production of advanced masks from Veldhoven, the Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The licensing agreement includes ASML’s scattering bar technology that increases the manufacturing process window, contributing to higher yields of more useable chips per wafer.
QuickLogic joins Intel communications alliance
http://eet.com/semi/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=60402972
MANHASSET, N.Y. — QuickLogic Corp. has joined the Intel Communications Alliance (ICA), a community of communications and embedded developers and solutions providers developing modular, standards-based solutions based on Intel technologies.
Intel Cedar Mill, Yonah dies pictured?
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21343
FRENCH SITE X86-Secret has a couple of its slides on its web site showing what may be Ceda Mill and Yonah core maps. We do know that Intel has got 65 nanometre processors up and running in its research labs. So who knows? Intel probably does.
Intel Pentium 4 600s available worldwide
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21346
INTEL 600 SERIES CPUs are not a secret anymore. Intel introduced them this Sunday morning and we were not that surprised to learn that you can already buy these CPUs in Japan. We are told that you can actually buy them in Europe as well. You can go to shops to etailers and retailers and get 'em.
No issues with supply seen..... As a matter of fact, they've been on the shelves as of last Friday. So nice to have your 90nm Process working well, eh?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20050219102737.html
Intel’s Pentium 4 processors 600-series have sneaked into the market ahead of launch as several online stores in the USA and numerous retailers in Japan started to sell the chips hours ago. The situation may mean that Intel Corp. will launch the products officially in days and will not experience any issues with availability of the new chips.
U.S. Technology in Danger of Falling Behind
http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA505191?spacedesc=news
America can no longer remain idle if it hopes to continue lead the world in science and technology.
That's according to the latest research from the American Electronic Association (AEA), based in Washington, D.C., which contends the U.S. is neglecting the factors that sparked the U.S. technology revolution, ultimately threatening the country's economic vitality and competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Chip equipment slump is good news
http://tinyurl.com/5dtf5
Good news for the semiconductor industry’s device manufacturers comes in a report by the equipment trade body SEMI that orders for production equipment slumped dramatically in January.
This helps eliminate one of the worst fears for the semiconductor industry in 2005 – that manufacturers would install too much capacity and that the consequent over-supply would keep prices low.
Pentium 4 gets SpeedStep
http://tinyurl.com/52k35
Intel is taking its power-reducing SpeedStep technology to the desktop in the latest Pentium 4 processors, released today.
The 90nm 6xx series of devices add the dynamic frequency and voltage control of SpeedStep to other enhancements.
"These [the 6xx series] have 2Mbyte of cache and EM64T, our 64-bit memory addressing technology," said David Hollway, a technical marketing engineer at Intel. "Hopefully we'll be seeing the 64-bit version of Windows XP soon."
Intel to debut server acceleration technology at IDF
http://www.eet.com/semi/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=60402244
SAN JOSE, Calif. — During the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco next month, Intel Corp. is expected to disclose details about a new and integrated "I/O acceleration technology" for servers.
The so-called Intel I/O Acceleration Technology is a hard-based solution that is said to improve the interaction between servers and networking systems by up to 30 percent, according to Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.)
"Soon" does not figure into any of this.
This falls in the "for the grandkids, maybe" category
Maybe..... Still, the Technology is a reality, it works, and they've even done market studies. Sure, there's lots of obstacles to overcome, the point is, the Articles, Technology Papers, and Potential Business Market Studies, I posted, from "Engineers, Designers and Researchers", IMO, seems to me to be an indication the technology is further along then "James Bond", and those papers do seem to meet these "qualifications".....
Sorry, I get my technology news from reading technical papers and going to conferences to talk to other engineers, designers, and researchers,
The Flying Car, is already a reality
Only in James Bond movies.
http://www.moller.com/skycar/
http://www.moller.com/skycar/m400/
http://www.skyaid.org/Skycar/overview2001ALL.htm
http://www.firebox.com/?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=415
And you know..... When somebody make a "Lego", that means that YOU ARE IN THE BIG TIME, baby
http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/3638
AOpen prepares “Cube Mini” Pentium M based SFF PC
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20050221PR205.html
On the heels of launching the EY855-II XC Cube, its first Intel Pentium M-based small-form-factor (SFF) PC, AOpen is now preparing for the March launch of its smallest XC Cube SFF PC to date, the MZ 855, according to sources at the company.
pic on DT main page: http://www.digitimes.com/
Were you *really* into Popular Mechanics growing up Mike?
Have you got your kitchen robot and flying car yet?
I hate to jump into the fray (no I don't), but I think The Flying Car, is already a reality, and it could be argued that with all the machines available in the average kitchen, when put together, they might qualify as, The Kitchen Robot. But in any case, that illustrates the point, that I think you're BOTH trying to make.
While these types of evolutionary (revolutionary) products, may someday displace the leading edge technology we have today, IMO, it may not happen tomorrow, or next year, or maybe even in our lifetime. So I have to say, that I think that "someday", there "could" be flying cars, and robots that take care of menial tasks, and most electronics based on light, but I agree with you, in that, I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen on Mike's schedule, unless "Soon" means that perhaps my "Grand" or "Great Grand" descendents will use them
btw - I happen to like popular mechanics. It makes the dental office waiting room, a "little" more pleasant
Intel Pentium 4 EE 3.74 to arise on Feb 21st
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21312
INTEL IS READY to introduce its next member of its Extreme Expensive family. Intel decided to introduce this CPU on the 20th/21st of February. This new member will feature 2MB of L2 cache.
We already saw 2MB of cache and the 1066MHz front side bus (FSB) with the last 3.46 Pentium 4 Extreme edition CPU but this new faster fellow will provide some new features.
Pentium 4 600 series to arrive next week
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21329
WE REPORTED yesterday about Intel's new 64 bit Extreme Extreme Edition and we managed to find out that many members of its 6xx series are due to arrive very soon. The 600 series will feature 2MB cache and some other nice features.
No early beta for Microsoft Longhorn
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21337
THE EVER WATCHFUL Microsoft Watch has a short and sweet snippet this morning, concerning the debut of Longhorn at WinHEC.
Or rather, the non-debut. WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference) is in April, and there was speculation that we would see the first Beta release of Longhorn at the show. However, it seems like that speculation has been crushed, since Microsoft is just going to bring more Alpha preview code, according to the report.
Equipment Orders: In a Word, Lackluster
http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/article/CA505065?spacedesc=news
January wasn't what one could call a stellar month for process equipment vendors according to the latest book-to-bill data, and it's no surprise given the tone of Q4 earnings reports.
North American capital equipment vendors saw orders drop sharply both month over month and year over year in January, according to consortium Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International. Meanwhile, for semiconductor equipment vendors worldwide, orders were flat from December to January and down 10 percent year over year, according to market research firm VLSI Research.
Is inventory under control?
http://tinyurl.com/5y4vq
In short, the answer is yes. However, the answer has to be qualified. If the chain stretches from a UK designer to Shanghai and then on to a customer in Lands End, it is possible that the sheer length of the chain may make it unwieldy and subject to stress.
Some manufacturers who moved production to China and elsewhere are now finding unexpected problems and these have already come under the microscope.
Nevertheless, the indicators suggest that our market peaks and troughs will be shallower and pricing more stable. In addition, allocation (often a driver for over ordering) seems to have been brought under control by the semiconductor manufacturers.
Semi
Shoot, around these here desert parts (Arizona USA), June..... IS ALREADY SUMMER
A look outside suggest this year things may be different...
I hope so, this multi year drought was starting to get on my nerves. Btw, it was me who made it rain so much around here, this year so far. I've been washing my car more frequently
Sun bumps back Opteron servers
http://msn.com.com/2100-9584_22-5579889.html
I saw this news item, and what I thought to myself was, is this small delay from "end of june", to "summer", any big deal?
Shoot, around these here desert parts (Arizona USA), June..... IS ALREADY SUMMER
SiS signs Intel bus licence
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/16/sis_intel_licence/
SiS has licensed Intel's 1066MHz frontside bus specification, a move that heralds the chip maker's support for Intel's latest Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processors.
That said, it will be some time before SiS' updated chipsets ship: the company will not offer such products until H2 2005, it said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
Intel fortifies mobile transactions
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/17/wireless_trusted_platform/
3GSM Intel has joined Orange and Visa International to better protect premium digital content and transactions on mobile handsets. The company will use a combination of hardware and software to provide more more security for consumers to pay for online music or video, the company announced this week at 3GSM in Cannes.
E Stepping Power
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00727/
AMD has finally gotten around to releasing 90nm E4 stepping chips in the Opteron level. Here is a list of them.
These are not the first 90nm Opteron chips released, though. Here is a list of those. Compare the two and there is an interesting difference.
The "old" 90nm chips go up to 2.2GHz, and have a maximum wattage of 67 watts. The "new chips" have two wattage standards. Up to 2.4GHz, the maximum wattage is 85.3 watts, and at 2.6GHz, the max is 92.6 watts.
It's probably safe to say that 67 watts is just about the actual wattage for the 2.2, while 85/92 represent the 2.4 and 2.6. Given that, it looks like the E4 stepping chews up about 10-15% more power than the D4 stepping. That's not so good, though it's hardly surprising since these new chip use strained silicon.
On the other hand, the 2.6GHz chews up just seven watts more than the 2.4GHz. While not great, it's an indicator that wattage doesn't get out of control with higher speeds like it does with Prescott.
Nonetheless, if you're hoping in a few months to run an Athlon 64 at 3Ghz, even assuming a modest 10% overvolt and knocking off a few watts for less cache, we're looking at 120-ish watts.
Is that better than Prescott? Given the increased throughput, it most certainly is. Does that make it a cool-running chip? Hell, no.
We're looking at about 1.5 watts per sq. mm of CPU core. That's pretty damn hot, no matter what the fanboys say.
WiMAX could alter telecom industry, says report
http://eet.com/semi/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=60401361
Because it can be deployed without government regulation, WiMAX has the ability to significantly alter the nature of the telecommunications industry, according to a study released Wednesday (Feb. 16) by market research vendor In-Stat.
Put differently, WiMAX has the potential to compete strongly against existing broadband options such as DSL and cable, the study said. That's because, besides the fact of relatively little regulation, WiMAX is also relatively inexpensive to install.
However, that hardly means that WiMAX is sure to succeed, the study's author said.
Intel claims first single-chip silicon laser based on SOI
http://eet.com/semi/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=60401408
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In what could disrupt the photonics space, Intel Corp. on Wednesday (Feb. 16) described what it claims is the world's first silicon-based continuous-wave laser on a single chip — build around silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and other technologies.
In the lab, Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.) said it has developed a test chip, which consists of a silicon laser cavity on a single device. Making use of a technology called the Raman Effect, the test chip itself consists of eight lasers on a device that measures 16- x 16-mm.
Lenovo to market Sonoma-based notebooks
http://digitimes.com/systems/a20050217A1001.html
The Lenovo Group is expected to start marketing a Sonoma-based notebook in China, the Zhaoyang A600, manufactured by Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry), in March , according to market sources.
SGI Helps Battle Lab at Fort Huachuca.....
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050215/sftu004_1.html
SGI Altix Servers and Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization Systems Aid in Effort to Give Warfighters Clear Picture of Battlefield Conditions.....
To develop and assess new fusion methods, Fort Huachuca recently installed two 16-processor SGI(R) Altix(R) 350 systems and a Silicon Graphics Prism(TM) visualization system. Installed in December 2004, the two Altix 350 systems are each equipped with 16GB of globally addressable memory to enable military analysts to achieve maximum performance as they seek ways to aggregate and pull insights from multiple terabytes of data received daily. The lab then plans to identify methods by which they can interpret the combined data using its Silicon Graphics Prism system. Both systems leverage an industry-standard, 64-bit Linux operating environment and scalable Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, which adhere to the Department of Defense's efforts to adopt open systems-based solutions.
Alcatel bolsters Intel WiMAX support
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21272
INTEL AND ALCATEL are collaborating together to bring WiMAX to market for residential and notebook users. But the field trials won't begin until the first half of next year, while commercial networks will start later next year
Chip firms engage in price cutting frenzy
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21270
A REPORT IN today's Taiwan Economic News reckons that big Asian foundries are cutting their prices like crazies in a bid to mop up additional orders.
IBM Microelectronics stands to suffer the most if the trend continues.....
PC Market Slowing?
http://digitimes.com/mobos/a20050215B2066.html
Top four mobo makers see shipments decline 7% in January
The top four Taiwan motherboard makers – Asustek Computer, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) – shipped a combined total of 7.70 million motherboards in January, down 7.2% from 8.30 million units in December, according to sources at the makers.
http://digitimes.com/systems/a20050215A2004.html
Top four OEM notebook makers see declining revenues in January
The revenues of the top four Taiwan notebook makers – Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Inventec and Wistron – all saw a sequential drop in January, with notebook shipments declining from the previous month due to weak demand in the off-season, according to data released by the makers.
I guess it will be a while before they'll get over calling it iAMD64. Nice try.
I'm sorry, but I don't recognize that term. AFAIK, intel's 64 bit technology is called EM64T, and if you notice, that is the only term that I use, and/or copy. If they call it some other name, then they made a mistake, and I either rename it for accuracy sake, or leave it off completely, as in this case.
Intel Xeon 3.6 2MB vs AMD Opteron 252 Database Test
http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.aspx?i=2347&p=1
SQL Stress Results
The SQL Stress results have changed somewhat from some of our earlier articles using this tool. We did a revamp of the tool itself, which is more performant on high volume queries. Also, we lengthened the test time to 20 minutes and changed the queries around some to reflect our current FuseTalk version. The new 2MB L2 Xeon part did quite well here, churning out a 7% gain over its 1MB counterpart. The Opteron 252 gained its usual 7% for its clock increase of 200MHz. There was no gain from the 1GHz HT link support as we discussed in our Test Hardware configuration on Page 2. Overall, the new Xeon 2MB part was the "hands down" winner for this test with a 13% lead over the Opteron 252, thanks to its 1MB cache boost.
Order Entry" Stress Test results
Our Vendor test has received quite a bit of interest from certain processor vendors, rightfully so as the workload is quite difficult to recreate. As you can see from the results below, we have a completely different outcome from the SQL Stress results. The extra 1MB of L2 cache on the Xeon part made a significant difference. In a test formally dominated by the Opteron, the Xeon now takes a 12% lead. This test obviously benefits from the added cache, and the 800MHz front side bus does a much better job of moving the data than the slower bus architectures of the Xeon platform. In a previous article, we tested a 4MB Xeon part, and it barely managed a 3% gain over the Opteron - times have changed.
Data Warehouse results
As can be seen from the results, the doubling of the L2 Cache did not improve performance on the Xeon's in this test. We speculate that this is because the test consists of approximately 10 long running queries, which are processing datasets that are 100's of megabytes, thus not allowing for reuse of the L2 Cache. The Opteron, on the other hand, excelled due to the HyperTransport's ability to move data quickly from RAM into the CPU. The different platforms exhibited approximately 50% CPU utilization across all CPUs. This demonstrates that you do not have to be CPU bound to experience the benefits of faster CPUs.
UPDATE 1-Axalto unveils 3G chip made with Intel, Orange
http://tinyurl.com/5khd6
CANNES, France, Feb 14 (Reuters) - French smartcard provider Axalto (AXAL.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday unveiled a new 3G chip made in partnership with Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Orange (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) aimed at securing its leadership of the next generation mobile market.
Axalto estimates it has a 35 percent share of the global market for third generation (3G) mobile phone smart cards.
Intel to Ship 2 Millionth 64-bit Xeon Processor This Month.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20050211060131.html
Intel Corp. said the adoption of its latest Intel Xeon processors with 64-bit capability produced using 90nm process technology proceeded well and that the second millionth chip would be sold already this month.....
“This ramp up is good news; we're executing on all cylinders… By the end of February we’ll have shipped two million units of the 32/64-bit Xeon. Demand is very strong; we shipped one million in the first six months that it was available,” Intel’s general manager enterprise platform group Kirk Skaugen is reported to have said......
AMD Opteron’s Sales Increasing, but Not Rapidly
Analyst Dean McCarron for Mercury Research said AMD supplied about 70 000 of AMD Opteron microprocessors in Q1 2004. By contrast, the Sunnyvale, California-based microprocessor maker supplied only about 65 000 of its server microprocessors in 2003, according to Mercury Research.
According to Smith Barney Citigroup Research estimates, AMD only sold 40 000 of AMD Opteron products in 2003.
During the third quarter of 2004, the monthly sequential growth rates for Opteron-based servers being sold through business channels in Europe recorded by Context Information Services stood at 50%. However, in October 2004, AMD Opteron server growth dropped to 8.6% compared to the preceding month of September, and in November, Opteron unit sales had dropped almost 18% compared to the previous month.
Cash for Intel fab held up by Eurocrats
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21247
A REPORT in Irish newspaper the Sunday Business Post said cash to expand an Intel fab in Leixlip, near Dublin, is being held up by the European Commission.
The Irish government said last May it would help to fund the €1.6 billion expansion of the fab, but, the paper said, functionaries at the EC have spent nine months so far poring over the details, without giving approval so far.
One is the loneliest number for Celeron 64s, too
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21249
AS INQ READERS know, Intel will shortly enable 64-32 bit EM64T support on its cut down Celeron range as well as on its desktop Pentium 4 microprocessors. And, as with the Pentium 4s, the numbering scheme for Celerons will change to reflect the 64-32 support.
Like the Pentium 4s, you may have a dilemma finding out whether that nice little box you've bought from Dell or White Box System Integrator Inc has 64-32 support, but again here's a crib sheet that will give you some guidance and allow you to ask the right questions.....