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Cupertino, Calif — Apple on Wednesday, Jan 30, announced that MacBook Air, the world’s thinnest notebook, is now shipping.

MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks.

MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook Air is now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), and includes:

* 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280×800 resolution;
* 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
* 800 MHz front-side bus;
* 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
* 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
* Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
* built-in iSight video camera;
* built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* one USB 2.0 port;
* one headphone port;
* multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
* 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories for MacBook Air include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork ‘08, Logic Express 8, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 1.5. More at Apple.

CES 2008 — Las Vegas — Jan 07, `08 — Intel unveiled 16 products today, including the company’s first 45 nanometer (nm) processors for Intel Centrino Processor Technology based laptops.

With the introduction of the new processors, Intel will offer 32 desktop, laptop and server processors based on these innovations. Intel also announced continuing momentum in ultra mobile computing and WiMAX.

Mobility: Intel Announces Santa Rosa Refresh Product Line
Santa Rosa Refresh – Intel launched “Santa Rosa Refresh,” an update to Intel Centrino processor technology that includes the next-generation 45nm high-k (Hi-k) mobile processor (codenamed “Penryn”) and improved graphics capabilities.

• 45nm Hi-k Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor for Centrino — Taking advantage of the Hafnium-based, Hi-k metal gate reinvented transistors inside, Santa Rosa Refresh-based notebooks deliver improved platform performance and great battery life. Graphics improvement focuses on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc support with an optional third-party decoder, as well as enhanced content and gaming capabilities.
• Santa Rosa Refresh for Desktop — Intel will also use this new mobile technology foundation with the energy-efficient performance of the 45nm Intel Core 2 Duo processor to enable a variety of smaller, cooler and quieter, stylish desktop designs.

Mobile Internet Devices:
• Intel confirms “Menlow” platform shipments in the first half of 2008: Intel is getting ready to ship its first-generation low-power platform, codenamed “Menlow,” in the first half of the year. The Menlow platform is comprised of the “Silverthorne” processor and the “Poulsbo” chipset, both being designed from the ground up for MIDs and UMPCs. At CES, Intel provided a sneak peek of some of the upcoming “Menlow”-based devices and applications that are being optimized for this platform.
• Intel unveils customers planning to launch Menlow-based platforms at CES: In a sign of growing momentum behind MIDs and UMPCs, Intel is showcasing a range of Menlow-based devices from customers who expect to ship these products later this year. In its technology showcase, Intel has Menlow-based MIDs and UMPCs from Aigo, Asus, BenQ, Clarion, Compal, Digifriends, EB, Gigabyte, Lenovo, LG-E, LiteOn, Quanta, Toshiba, USI, and Willcom.
• Skype announces support for Intel-based MIDs: Skype announced a collaboration with Intel to develop a mobile Skype experience for MIDs based on Intel low power processors and chipsets. Mobile users will be able to make Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages on the move while harnessing the PC-like performance of Intel’s MIDs. This new category of small, truly mobile consumer devices with WiMAX and Wi-Fi capabilities will enable free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and cheap SkypeOut calls to be made on open wireless networks.

WiMAX: Mobile WiMAX Takes the Stage in 2008
Intel’s integrated Wi-Fi/WiMAX module (codenamed “Echo Peak”) will debut in certain next-generation Intel Centrino processor-based laptops (codenamed “Montevina”) beginning in the middle of the year. The company’s low-power mobile WiMAX silicon specifically designed for mobile Internet and consumer electronic devices (codenamed “Baxter Peal”) will also be available this year.

Consumer Desktop PCs: 45nm Goes Mainstream this Quarter
• “Penryn” family of processors comes to mainstream desktop PCs – Intel announced three quad-core and four dual-core 45nm-based processors for consumer desktop PCs arriving later this month and throughout the first quarter of the year. The new 45nm Intel Core 2 Quad and Intel Core 2 Duo processors have a range of speeds and feature large L2 caches and Intel HD Boost, which delivers increased performance on such multimedia applications as video editing and encoding.
• Intel Core 2 Processor with Viiv technology – Intel will also extend the performance and energy efficiency of the new 45nm processors with Intel HD Boost to the Intel Core 2 Processor with Viiv technology platform. The company will also focus future plans on delivering silicon-driven capabilities that support the areas of better connecting, protecting and managing digital content – as well as delivering the performance required to view, share and enjoy it.

• Later this quarter:
– The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Processor (3.2 GHz/1600 MHz system bus 45nm Hi-k metal gate processor formerly codenamed “Yorkfield”) and Intel X48 Express Chipset targeted at high-end PC users and enthusiasts. The Intel X48 Express Chipset continues to push the performance envelope with native support for XMP 1600 DDR3 memory.
– “Skulltrail” is a new dual processor-based platform that will provide extreme high-end enthusiasts with a fantastic professional media creation and gaming experience. The platform will feature two quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme processors for 8-core performance and 4 PCI Express x16 Gen 1.1 slots with planned support for up to 4 graphics cards. More at Intel (in pdf).

Round Rock, Texas — Dec 21, `07 — Dell and Tesco today announced the availability of Dell notebook and desktop computers in Tesco, a premier international retailer with operations in Europe and Asia.

Beginning next month, customers will be able to purchase Dell XPS and Inspiron products in Tesco stores, primarily in the UK, with sales also in Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Dell products will soon be available in more than 10,000 stores and on-line around the globe.

In the past several months Dell has announced relationships with Best Buy in the US, DSG International and Carrefour in Europe, Staples in the US, Courts stores in Singapore, Gome stores in China, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Mexico. More at Dell.

Stanford Report — Dec 18,`07 — Dan Stober writes an in-depth article on Stanford’s nanowire battery at Stanford news service.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

“It’s not a small improvement,” Cui said. “It’s a revolutionary development.”

The breakthrough is described in a paper, “High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires,” published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, written by Cui, his graduate chemistry student Candace Chan and five others.

The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.

“Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly,” Cui said.

The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery’s anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.

Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.

Cui’s battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.

Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Chan explained: “The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn’t high enough and the cycle life wasn’t good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn’t undergo the volume changes.”

Then, along came silicon nanowires. “We just kind of put them together,” Chan said.

For their experiments, Chan grew the nanowires on a stainless steel substrate, providing an excellent electrical connection. “It was a fantastic moment when Candace told me it was working,” Cui said.

Cui said that a patent application has been filed. He is considering formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. Manufacturing the nanowire batteries would require “one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up,” he added. “It’s a well understood process.” More at Stanford.edu

SAN JOSE, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 19, `07 — Samsung Electronics announced today its high capacity 2.5-inch hard drive, the new Spinpoint M6 featuring 320GB of storage capacity.

The new Spinpoint M6 HM320JI is a SATA hard drive designed for notebook PCs, as well as slim PCs and blade servers. With its ultra-high 320GB capacity, the Spinpoint M6 can store the most content of any 2.5” drive and is ideal for notebook users who need large storage space for videos, photos, music and multiple multimedia applications.

Created to thrive in the toughest environments where notebook PCs are used, the Spinpoint M6 provides superb reliability. It utilizes perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology, and the disk drive design has been optimized to allow ultra-precision adjustment of the head parking ramp position for high-density recording. The Spinpoint M6 features an optional Free-Fall Sensor that protects data from accidental drops and includes an optional Rotary Vibration Controller that minimizes the influence of external vibration.

The Spinpoint M6 has been developed to meet the most stringent environmental demands of notebook PC and portable consumer electronics, where minimal noise and low power consumption is critical. Samsung’s Spinpoint M6 hard drives operate between 2.6Bel and 2.4Bel in idle mode.

The M6 Series features a 5,400rpm spindle speed, 1.5Gbps SATA interface and 8MB cache memory. The M6 Series is currently available with a $249 MSRP (where? only - the Worst (non-existent) On the Planet Samsung-PR - knows ). Can’t find it at Samsung Global Hard Disk Drive page or anywhere at Samsung, except user manual.

Sixty years ago three scientists, , from Bell Laboratory in the US invented the Transistor - the tiny switches at the heart of all silicon chips - replacing vacuum tubes and mechanical relays and revolutionizing the entire electronics world. The team was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1956.

Analyst Malcolm Penn at BBC News writes an in-depth article on the history of transistor: “Following the transistor’s invention by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley at Bell Labs in 1947, no one really knew quite what to do with the invention.

Little more than a laboratory curiosity, it was not until manufacturers realized that the tiny switches would enable products to be built smaller, more reliably and with less power consumption than with conventional electronic valves that the market started to develop.

It took the technologists five years to come up with the first practical transistor application - a hearing aid in 1952.

Eight years after the transistors first laboratory demonstration, launched in December 1955, the watershed product that truly grabbed the world’s attention was the first transistor radio, pocket-sized Regency TR1.

Most of the early device manufacturers were traditional valve companies, soon to be displaced by the fledgling specialist semiconductor companies, the most famous of which being Fairchild Semiconductor in Palo Alto, California and Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, Texas.

A spin out from Shockley Semiconductors, Fairchild proved to be a hotbed of technology innovation throughout the whole of the 1960s, including the invention of the Planar manufacturing process - the ability to print tiny patterns on the silicon surface using photographic techniques - still the foundation for today’s mainstream technology.

It was at Fairchild in 1965 that Gordon Moore, one of the co-founders of chip-giant Intel, sketched out his prediction of the pace of silicon technology, subsequently became known as Moore’s law.” More at BBC News, Nobelprize.org.

Tokyo, Japan — On Dec 14, NEC announced the release of its first mobile WiMAX solution, PasoWings. The new generation equipment brings the assurance of ITU and IEEE accreditation and marks a cornerstone in certification of the mobile WiMAX standard.

The first products will be shipped to customers in December, with networks being rolled out in early 2008.

NEC has been shipping equipment worldwide during 2007 and has carried out key trials in Japan, Taiwan and other countries. The Tatung network is one of the first networks rolled out under the Taiwanese government sponsored M-Taiwan project. The network is viewed throughout the WiMAX industry as a medium to prove the excellence of WiMAX technology and as a best in class system.

Through on-going trials and commercial deployments NEC will continue to focus on developed and developing markets worldwide. Supporting both 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz frequency ranges allows the solution to support both mobile and fixed operators. The inherent agility in the system means that fixed and mobile business cases in WiMAX are no longer mutually exclusive.

PasoWings, which provides end-to-end solutions, is comprised of subscriber terminals (CPE) such as PCMCIA cards that are inserted into PCs; wireless access products such as base stations and antennas, and application servers such as user authentication servers or user positional information management servers. More at NEC.

Multi-radio antenna supports WiMAX service rollouts globally including the Sprint Nextel Xohm network.

In anticipation of major WiMAX roll-outs around the globe, OMRON Corp has announced the introduction of a new, global WiMAX band polymer antenna, the HAWK-WMX, for laptops, notebooks, tablet and ultra-mobile PCs. Significantly smaller than competing products, the HAWK-WMX fits under the lid of notebook PCs, enabling computer manufacturers to design smaller and lighter models for highly mobile users.

The HAWK-WMX, which employs the high dielectric polymer material and precision molding technology used in Omron’s award-winning UWB antenna range, measures just 30 mm x 6.6 mm but can deliver uniform RF performance across three global WiMAX bands (2.3-2.8 GHz, 3.3-3.8 GHz and 5.25-5.85 GHz). The HAWK-WMX is WiMAX MIMOi compliant, and with its global band attributes can also be used as a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) MIMO antenna.

Computer OEMs and ODMs are already supporting multiple wireless protocols such as 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi and UWB, each of which usually requires a separate antenna. With mounting space at a premium, there is a clear need for ultra-small antennas that will enable products to function in any region with consistently high performance. The HAWK-WMX delivers a small footprint without compromising performance and can replace five notebook antennas for WiMAX and Wi-Fi with three smaller ones.” More at Omron.

NEW YORK — Dec 13, `07 — AMD has delayed shipment of major chip products until next year but aims to return to profitability in 2008, Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Reuters further writes, “AMD, the world’s No. 2 supplier of computer processors, has struggled in the last two years with market share losses and chip shipment delays. It posted four straight quarters of losses this year amid renewed competition from its far larger rival, Intel.

Meyer said AMD would ship its high-end Barcelona chip products and Phenom products in the 2008 first quarter. Speaking at a meeting with analysts, he apologized for delays and promised to do better next year. The Barcelona chip is designed for computer servers and the Phenom chip is aimed at desktop PCs.” More at Reuters.

ROUND ROCK, Texas –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 13, ‘07 — Dell and DSG international plc (DSGi), one of Europe’s leading consumer electronics retailers, announced the availability of Dell notebook and desktop computers in DSGi stores.

Beginning in January 2008, DSGi and Dell customers will be able to buy a range of Dell notebooks and desktops through PC World, Currys and Currys.digital stores in the UK, as well as Dixons.co.uk online.

Customers will also be able to buy Dell products through the European network of DSGi store brands such as Electro World, PC City, and Elkjop. Customers can buy products in stores from Norway to Greece, and from Spain to Finland.

Dell also plans to sell systems through DSGi stores in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.

DSGi’s unique TechGuys services in the UK will be extended across the new Dell products, providing full IT customer service availability including telephone support, installation and set-up. DSG operates similar support services across its European operations.

With this agreement, Dell products will soon be available in more than 10,000 stores and on-line around the globe.

In the past several months Dell has announced relationships with Best Buy in the US, Carrefour in Europe, Staples in the US, Courts stores in Singapore, Gome stores in China, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Carphone Warehouse in the UK and Wal-Mart in the US, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

The DSGi and Dell agreement will cover stores in UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

Boise, Idaho — Micron Technology on Wednesday, Dec 12, announced production sampling of its new 1Gb DDR2 device fabricated on 68-nanometer DRAM process technology.

The new process, coupled with Micron’s 6F² technology, has enabled the world’s smallest production 1Gb DDR2 memory with a die size of just 56mm². Mass production of its new 68nm 1 Gb DDR2 products is expected to begin early next year, with DDR3 and other low-power DRAM products expected to follow in the second half of the year.

This new advanced memory technology will be targeted at server, mobile and other computing applications where the benefits of reduced die size, faster speeds and lower power consumption are most critical.

Upcoming DDR3 products developed on the new process will allow for speeds up to 1600 megabits per second (Mbps). The 68nm process also provides approximately 20 percent lower power consumption when compared to previous process generations.

Future DDR3 chips designed on the 68nm process will join Micron’s Aspen Memory family of energy-efficient products, which are specifically designed for applications where power reduction is desired such as data center servers and notebook computers. More at Micron.

Dec 13, ‘07 — Intel is challenging modders to show off their creative skills in building Intel processor-based mods for an online competition. Intel delivers the unrivaled performance and energy efficient processors that modders can then build just about anything from, including an 18-wheeler Mac truck.

Get a glimpse at these creations and vote on your favorite one by visiting the Intel Modding Competition Group on Channel Intel. Check out the contest and see why modders Demand Intel.

Excerpts from IntelModder Group’s welcome message:

“Now, just join the group, upload a video of your Intel processor-based mod, and start voting! Click more to learn about the contest details.

Why submit? In addition to bragging rights, we’ll be giving away some pretty sweet prizes to the top 3 submissions.

-The Grand Prize Winner receives their choice of any Intel desktop or notebook processor, their choice of Intel motherboard, an Intel backpack stuffed with Marriott Bucks ($200), a gift certificate for Ubisoft ($50) games, specialty coffee bucks ($15), 20 free Wi-Fi sessions and 3 months free broadband TV from AT&T.

The contest requires two things:
1- Your mod needs to be based on any Intel processor and
2- You must submit a video shorter than 1 minute to the ‘mod contest site that shows the how cool your ‘mod is.

The official rules and all the details can be viewed in the Intel Modding Competition video on the site. We’re going to be running this contest through the New Year and will be accepting video submissions until 11:59:59 pm on January 14th.”

More at IntelModder Group.

SCiB, a Safe, long-life, rapid charge battery to come to market in March 2008.

TOKYO, Japan — Toshiba Corporation on Tuesday, Dec 11, announced the commercial launch of the SCiB the Super Charge ion Battery a breakthrough rechargeable battery primarily targeting the industrial systems market that can recharge to 90% of full capacity in less than five minutes.

The battery offers excellent safety and a long-life cycle of over 10 years, even under conditions of constant rapid charging. Toshiba aims to make this high potential battery a mainstay of its industrial systems and automotive products businesses, with global sales of 100 billion yen targeted for fiscal year 2015. The first SCiB will be shipped from March 2008.

In order to realize the outstanding characteristics of the SCiB, Toshiba adopted a new negative electrode material, new separators, a new electrolyte, and new manufacturing technology. The result is a highly reliable rechargeable battery with well-balanced performance, offering excellent safety, a long-life cycle and a rapid charge-discharge capability.

The SCiB is housed in the SCiB Standard Module ten 4.2 ampere-hour (Ah) SCiB cells aligned in series connection which maximizes the battery characteristics with a battery management system function (BMS) that monitors voltage and temperature in order to protect the cells in case of emergency, and that balances the state of charge in each cell.

In addition to applications that include battery-powered bicycles, motorcycles, automated guided vehicles, electric forklift trucks and construction machinery, which already use rechargeable batteries, the SCiB is also a promising candidate for emergency power sources, electric power regeneration in wind power systems and stabilization of electric power supply.

Application in hybrid cars is also planned, with the intent of extending application to electric cars in the future, after advancing development of a high-performance SCiB cell. More at Toshiba.

MOSCOW, Russia — In an effort to bring people faster, lower cost and a truly mobile, data broadband technology, Comstar, Russia’s leading telecomm provider, and Intel Corporation on Tuesday, Dec 11, announced a collaboration to develop mobile WiMAX in Russia.

The joint effort will initially focus on building a city-wide mobile WiMAX network in Moscow. Comstar plans to use its 2.5-2.7Ghz spectrum footprint in the city to build the network and is targeting its commercial launch for late 2008. Intel will drive an ecosystem of the client devices with embedded WiMAX solutions.

Intel is already developing embedded mobile WiMAX solutions for notebook PCs and ultra mobile and mobile Internet devices. Starting in mid-2008 the company will offer its first embedded mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi module, codenamed “Echo Peak,” with its next-generation Intel Centrino processor technology for notebooks and ultra-mobile devices. A solution optimized for mobile Internet devices with low-power consumption, codenamed “Baxter Peak,” is also expected to be available next year.

Mobile WiMAX is a broadband wireless technology that provides low-cost, multi-megabit speed, and great throughput for accessing large amounts of such data as movies and multi-media content. It is based on the IEEE 802.16e standard and is expected to be deployed around the world starting next year.

Intel will work manufacturers worldwide to develop and test notebook PCs and mobile devices to work with mobile WiMAX networks. A number of PC and device manufacturers have already expressed intent to embed these solutions into systems next year and more are expected in the next several months.

Comstar, part of services conglomerate Sistema, provides voice, data, Internet, pay-TV and other services. It has around 452K broadband Internet subscribers in Moscow. More at Intel.

TOKYO, Japan — On Monday, Dec 10, Toshiba announced its entry into the emerging market for NAND-flash-based solid state drive (SSD) with a series of products featuring multilevel-cell NAND flash memories.

Offered in a range of form factors and densities, Toshiba’s solid state drives are designed primarily for notebook PCs. They will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, from January 7th to 10th. Samples and mass production will follow from the first quarter (January to March) of next year.

Moving NAND-based storage architecture forward, Toshiba’s first solid state drives offer three densities: 32 gigabytes (GB), 64GB and 128GB. SSD realize low power consumption, a fast boot time, and lightweight, but market penetration has been held back by low densities and high prices.

Toshiba’s new SSD integrate an original MLC controller supporting fast read-write speeds, parallel data transfers and wear leveling, and achieve performance levels comparable to those of single-level NAND flash SSD. By applying MLC technology, Toshiba has realized a 128GB density in a 1.8 inch form factor. Toshiba expects the launch of its SSD line-up to speed up acceptance of solid state memory in laptops and digital consumer products, and to widen the horizons of the NAND flash market.

The new products utilize NAND flash memory fabricated with 56nm process technology, along with controller chips and DRAM, on a 70.6mm (L) x 53.6mm (W) x 3.0mm (H) platform. The maximum read speed is 100MB a second, and the maximum write speed of 40MB a second with the SATA2 interface (transfer rate of 3Gbps), which is compliant with high speed serial interface. The operating life is 1,000,000 hours. More at Toshiba.

Taipei, Taiwan — Dec 06, ‘07 — DigiTimes is reporting on Intel releasing its first desktop dual-core Celeron series, E1000, on January 20, citing sources at motherboard makers.

DigiTimes further writes, “The first dual-core Celeron processor, the E1200, will have core frequency of 1.6GHz, 800MHz FSB and 512KB L2 cache with a price of US$53 in thousand-unit quantities.

On the same day, Intel will also launch three quad-core (Yorkfield) CPUs, the Q9300, Q9450 and Q9550 and another four dual-core (Wolfdale) CPUs, the E8190, E8200, E8400 and E8500 for desktops, the motherboard makers added.”

Meanwhile, Intel will also roll out the quad-core QX9770 processor which features a frequency of 3.2GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 12MB cache and TDP of 136W with a price tag of US$1,399 in thousand-unit quantities in January. Before March, the company will also introduce a high-end quad-core QX9775 processor with a frequency of 3.2GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 12MB L2 cache and 150W TDP. Pricing in thousand-unit quantities will be US$1,499, said the DigiTimes sources. More at DigiTimes.

ARMONK, NY — Dec 06 ‘07 — IBM today announced it has filed a complaint against ASUSTeK (based in Taiwan) and its North American subsidiary, ASUS Computer International, with the United States International Trade Commission. The complaint details the infringement of IBM patents by certain ASUSTeK computer products and components, and requests an exclusion order against the importation of infringing ASUSTeK computer products and components into the United States.

IBM has made repeated attempts to reach a licensing agreement between the companies. IBM’s position has been — and remains — that ASUSTeK either must license or stop using IBM’s patented technology.

IBM’s complaint identifies three patents that are infringed by ASUSTeK products imported into the U.S. These three patents cover important aspects of computer systems, including power supplies, computer cooling and computer clustering capabilities. The infringing ASUSTeK computer products include notebook computers, so-called barebones computer systems, servers, routers and various computer components.

The specific patents asserted in the IBM complaint are:

1. U.S. Patent No. 5,008,829: Personal computer power supply
2. U.S. Patent No. 5,249,741: Automatic fan speed control
3. U.S. Patent No. 5,371,852: Method and apparatus for making a cluster of computers appear as a single host on a network

The United States International Trade Commission is an independent federal agency with authority to bar the importation of products that infringe US patents. More at IBM.

Round Rock, Texas — December 06, ‘07 — Dell today announced that it will sell a variety of award-winning XPS and Inspiron notebook and desktop computers, including the new XPS One through more than 900 Best Buy locations in the U.S. in the next few weeks.

Offering XPS and Inspiron notebooks and desktops to Best Buy customers illustrates how Dell is applying advantages of its direct business model in retail. Buying systems direct from Dell or in retail stores mean that customers can purchase what they need when and where they want.

“Dell is clearly one of the most popular and successful PC companies and their addition to our retail and online selection gives Best Buy customers unprecedented choice when buying a computer,” said Dave Morrish, senior vice president for Best Buy’s mobility business unit.

Product Availability
Best Buy will stock a variety of notebooks, including the award-winning Dell XPS M1330 in white, the Inspiron 1521 in blue and black, and the Inspiron 1420 in black. Additionally, the award-winning Dell XPS OneTM desktop will be available. Other desktops to be sold in Best Buy include the Dell Inspiron 530, 531, and 531s. Additional models and colors will be available in coming month. More at Dell.

Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group has released a statement detailing the company’s efforts to expand flash-based Windows XP support in addition to Intel’s Classmate PC and ASUS’ Eee PC, as well as Microsoft’s plans to expand flash-based Windows XP support for low-cost hardware computing devices.

REDMOND, Wash — Dec 05, 2007 — As part of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential effort to bring the benefits of technology to the next 5 billion people by transforming education, fostering local innovation, and enabling jobs and opportunity, Microsoft today announced plans to further expand flash-based Windows XP support for low-cost hardware computing devices.

This builds on the success of similar support for devices such as Intel Corporation’s Classmate PC and ASUS’ Eee PC, complementing Unlimited Potential’s focus on transforming education in emerging segments.

As part of this commitment, Microsoft plans to publish formal design guidelines early next year that will assist flash-based device manufacturers in designing machines that enable a high-quality Windows experience. In addition, there will be limited field trials in January 2008 of Windows XP for One Laptop per Child’s XO laptop. Microsoft’s goal is to provide a high-quality Windows experience on the XO device; if this is achieved, then Windows XP for the XO could be available as early as the second half of 2008.

Governments evaluating purchases of the XO should continue to consult with Microsoft regarding possible Windows XP availability date, pricing and support policies. In addition, there are no plans to offer a version of Windows that is compatible with the XO laptop for retail purchase in the U.S. and Canada.

Microsoft Unlimited Potential will continue to work with a variety of partners to support this emerging class of devices as part of its effort to help bring social and economic opportunity to the estimated 5 billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of technology.

More information can be found at Microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential. A detailed background on Microsoft’s work to port Windows to the OLPC XO can be found at blogs.technet.com/jamesu. More at Microsoft.

Dec 05, ‘07 — DailyTech is reporting on Intel showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to its mobile processors.

“Intel will up the ante again on January 6, 2008 with its new 45nm Penryn-based Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme dual core processors.

It’s highly plausible that the chips could make their first appearance at CES 2008 (January 7, 2008) with further unveils at MacWorld 2008 in Apple’s oft-rumored tablet, revamped MacBook Pros or refreshed iMac desktops.

Initial Penryn mobile processors will launch exclusively with a 35W thermal envelope. Existing Merom mobile processors (T7000-series) also fit inside the 35W envelope at standard voltage. However, with the Montevina Centrino refresh in the second half of 2008, new Penryn mobile processors will receive a 25W TDP rating instead.” More at DailyTech, Intel Laptop Roadmap (in pdf).

Dec 04, ‘07 — Slashdot reports on a story by “The Tech Report” on possible chip problems with AMD’s quad-core Opteron, Phenom processors.

“Errata are not uncommon with new processors, but a problem with the TLB logic in AMD’s quad-core Opteron and Phenom processors appears to be quite serious. The erratum is so severe that AMD has issued a ’stop ship’ order on all quad-core Opterons.

AMD has also blamed this bug for the delay of the 2.4GHz Phenom, despite the fact that the erratum is unrelated to clock speed. A BIOS-based workaround for the issue has been made available to motherboard makers, but it apparently carries a 10-20% performance penalty.

What’s more disturbing is that AMD knew of the erratum and the potential performance hit associated with fixing it before it launched the Phenom processor. Hardware provided to the press for reviews did not include the fix, conveniently overstating Phenom performance.”

Excerpts from The Tech Report:

“The erratum is a chip-level issue involving the TLB logic for the L3 cache that can cause system hangs in specific circumstances. AMD has a fix for the problem in the works, but it degrades performance.

In order to better understand this problem, TR spoke with Michael Saucier, Desktop Product Marketing Manager at AMD. Saucier confirmed that the TLB erratum can cause the system to hang when the chip is experiencing high utilization.

Apparently contradicting prior AMD statements on the matter, Saucier flatly denied any relationship between the TLB erratum and chip clock frequencies. He also said there’s no relationship between clock speeds and the performance degradation caused by the BIOS-based fix for the erratum.

we’ve already discovered that our Phenom review overstates the performance of the 2.3GHz Phenom. We tested at a 2.3GHz core clock with a 2.0GHz north bridge clock, because AMD told us those speeds were representative of the Phenom 9600. Our production samples of the Phenom 9500 and 9600, however, have north bridge clocks of 1.8GHz.”

More at The Tech Report.

REDMOND, Wash — Dec 04, 2007 — As part of a comprehensive effort to address piracy of its products, Microsoft today announced that the company will increase efforts against piracy and outlined new steps being taken to protect Windows Vista from ongoing and known counterfeiting threats.

The upcoming Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) will include updates that target and disable two types of known exploits to the Windows Vista activation process. Also, as part of SP1, the company is making changes in how it differentiates user experiences for genuine and counterfeit systems based on feedback from customers and partners.

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called “kill switch” is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

Microsoft says its efforts have seen a drop in piracy of its software.

In a statement released by the company, Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Sievert, said:

“Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine. They won’t lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action.”

Microsoft has described the new approach as a “change of tactics”. It said efforts to tackle piracy had seen numbers of fake copies of Vista at half the level of XP, the previous Windows operating system. The change will take effect with the release of Service Pack 1, a major update to Windows Vista. More at Microsoft.

Dec 04, ‘07 — Dell has teamed up with the folks at Blizzard Entertainment to create a product that allows fans of World of Warcraft (WoW) to immerse themselves in the game and today unveiled XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition.

Every system comes pre-loaded with the games themselves: World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade expansion pack. Dell will also install all the major client patches for both games as well and will continue to test and ship future patches pre-installed as they are released by Blizzard.

Everyone who orders this system will get three things: a Quest Envelope, a WoW backpack full of stuff and the system itself.

XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition

* 17″ HD widescreen notebook complete with World of Warcraft backpack
* Illuminated speaker grills and faction specific Honor Badges
* Back-lit keyboard stays awake as long as you can
* Track your stats with the world’s first built-in notebook Logitech GamePanel LCD
* Pre-loaded with World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and all major game patches
* Golden Ticket for a custom FigurePrint of your actual in-game World of Warcraft character with your actual armor and weapons
* World of Warcraft Beta Club Key Card with a key to future World of Warcraft beta tests
* World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition Account Upgrade Certificates
* Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
* Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition
* 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
* Speed: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
* CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
* 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately)
* 17inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
* 512MB Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT with NVIDIA SLI
* AGEIA PhysX Physics Accelerator
It starts at $4500 and still comes with just one year warrenty. You can get one here.

White Plains, NY — Dec 03, ‘07 — Nokia today applauded Verizon Wireless’ announced plans to develop and deploy a fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband network. The Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology Verizon Wireless chose is an open and global specification for next generation networks that will bring scale and efficiencies for manufacturers, choice in network equipment and device for operators, and ultimately better value and richer experiences for consumers.

Broadband wireless technologies have the power to change the way people work, live, play and communicate. As the world leader in converged devices, Nokia is dedicated to offering a wide choice of mobile devices to consumers and remains committed to openness and innovation. Nokia is proud to expand our collaboration with Verizon Wireless to develop products that allow consumers to experience the benefits of mobility and the Internet.

“Nokia has long been committed to working closely with operators in the US and around the world, and is very pleased to support Verizon Wireless in their choice of LTE as their global 4G evolution path,” said Mark Louison, President, Nokia Inc., the North American arm of Nokia.

“It is very exciting to see Verizon Wireless, one of the world’s leading wireless providers, announce their open development initiative for devices and their decision to evolve their network to the open, global specification of LTE.”

Within the next 10 years, Nokia sees that demand for an enriched mobile experience and mobile computing will continue to grow at exponential rates. LTE will help to enable faster, richer multimedia services such as multi-player gaming with rich 3D graphics and simultaneous Instant Messaging or voice calls and a host of other applications providing a much more compelling mobile experience for consumers everywhere. Nokia.

DUBLIN, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 03, ‘07 — Sybase, a leading provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software, today announced that it plans to expand its support of mobile platforms to include devices based on the Android platform.

Sybase currently targets a wide range of devices and platforms across its mobile middleware and mobile services offerings, supporting more than 230 Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm, RIM and iPhone handheld devices, as well as Windows laptops and tablets. With this announcement, Sybase continues to be proactive in addressing the mixed device requirements of today’s businesses.

“It is exciting to see that the emergence of platforms such as Android, combined with the backing of the companies in the Open Handset Alliance, including Google, are fueling even more rapid innovation across the entire mobility industry, and will continue to blur the line between consumer and enterprise use,” said Dr. Raj Nathan, chief marketing officer, Sybase.

“This is consistent with Sybase’s Unwired Enterprise vision. We see a future where information can be shared from any system to any user, with the same rich and consistent user experience whether in the office or on the road, on any device.”