http://adland.tv/sites/default/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player.swf Intel has released its financial report for Q2 2010, and things are lookin’ good. I know finances aren’t really the focus of CG, so let’s stick to the interesting bits: Atom sales are up 16% to $413 million (they’re appearing in more than just netbooks) $2.9 billion in net income, i.e. profit (they’re doing gooood) R&D spending was $3.25 billion (that’s a lot of R&D) So they’re doing pretty awesome. Not that I’d expect anything else; we’re entering a recovery period, and people who have been putting off buying PCs for the last few years are opening up their wallets to buy all these bargain- and mid-priced PCs powered by Atoms and old Cores. Man, it took forever to find that “Bunny People” ad → Read More
The Intel Celeron nameplate has been in use since 1998, but Digitimes is reporting that it’s to be phased out next year. That would leave Intel’s consumer lineup with just various forms of Pentium and Atom chips. Currently there are several Celeron chips available right now, but it’s not like Intel doesn’t have other low-cost options to chose from. What’s really happening here is Intel is eliminating some shopping confusion and killing a brand that’s always been marketed as a cheap alternative to the Pentium. It’s smart. → Read More
It took a lot of time, but Toshiba is now ready to bring the Classmate tablet PC it created together with Intel to the Japanese market. Rebranded as “CM1″ [press release in English], the goal is to go after the nation’s educational sector. Both companies involved also announced they will launch initiatives to “foster ICT environments in schools” in order to boost IT literacy among Japanese schoolkids. → Read More
This is great. If it actually works, it’s like the Surfaceless Surface crossed with… I don’t know, Cooking Mama. Intel Labs’ Tabletop Computing is about natural interactions with real objects, on regular surfaces. Of course, I doubt your kitchen is naturally dark enough to support a projected interface like this one, but they’ll figure something out. Sure, it’s Jetsons stuff and we probably won’t see anything like it for some time, but remember this day, friends, remember this day when in 2025 you’re virtually mixing ingredients in the iBlender App for iKitchen. Intel and this lady did it first. [via HardOCP] → Read More
This is pretty funny. You’ve probably seen some of the propaganda over the last year or so about how GPUs are orders of magnitude faster than CPUs at certain tasks, due to their parallel processing engine. Intel got tired of hearing about it, I guess, and decided to debunk the myth. They set out to disprove the notion that a GPU can be 100 times faster than a CPU. They kind of did it, but I think this is what is termed a Pyrrhic victory. → Read More
Editor’s note: Guest author Steve Cheney is an entrepreneur and formerly an engineer & programmer specializing in web and mobile technologies.
On the heels of the latest Android phone, the Sprint HTC EVO, and as we approach iPhone 4, it seems like mobile devices and platforms are innovating at about five times the pace of personal computers.
Rapid advancement in mobile is often attributed to the natural disruption by which emerging industries innovate quickly, while established markets like PCs follow a slower, more sustained trajectory. But there are deeper fundamentals driving the breathtaking pace of smartphone advancement. → Read More
Intel Capital is investing $10 million in TRA (which stands for ‘True ROI Accountability for Media’), a media planning, measurement and analytics software company. Funding for the investment comes from the $200 million Intel Capital Invest in America Technology Fund.
Intel’s capital injection is part of an $18.2 million Series C round, which includes participation from existing investors Arbitron and WPP. → Read More
Intel is ready to take on the Apple A4 CPU and will show off its solution at the upcoming Computex conference. The chip maker is apparently almost ready to unveil a silicon meant specifically for tablets. Who knows if Intel PC Client Group VP actually had the green light to reveal the upcoming announcement, but that’s exactly what he did. → Read More
At this week’s Google I/O Conference, the company carefully articulated its vision of the world. There’s Apple in one corner, carefully controlling its ecosystem, rejecting Flash, and conjuring images of an Orwellian Big Brother. As the “one man, one company, one device” (Vic Gundotra’s words) becomes more powerful, Google is trying to posit itself as the other choice. The more “open” choice. Whether or not you agree with Google’s goggles, it’s a very smart and well defined message, creating an us vs. them environment and reinforcing the mantra “Don’t be evil.”
This point of “openness” was driven home on Thursday, during the I/O keynote, when Gundotra and Co. unveiled the highly anticipated Google TV project. Unexpectedly (and to great effect), Schmidt took to the stage at the end to introduce Google TV partners, a panel of high power CEOs (Best Buy, Sony, Intel, Dish Network, Logitech, Adobe). Together, those companies represent a market capitalization of roughly $200 billion ($350 B when you add Google). Their attendance wasn’t really necessary— there was plenty of flash in the presentation (no pun intended)— but it punctuated Google’s message: Google is open, inclusive and powerful and we are definitely not an army of one. Let’s just say, I don’t think it was a coincidence that Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen was seated next to Schmidt. (Bonus: a quick video interview with CEO of Sony & Best Buy ahead.) → Read More
The FT reports that Google, Intel and Sony will announce a “significant breakthrough into consumer electronics and the broadcast industry” later this week with the launch of a so-called “Smart TV” platform.
In case that sounds familiar, that’s because Bloomberg and the WSJ reported as much on April 29, apart from the apparent name of the Web TV platform that would be making its debut at Google I/O.
Google’s developer conference will be held May 19 – 20 in San Francisco. → Read More
Looks like we get a peek at an unannounced update to the MacBook a little bit early. The update (showing up on the label as MacBook7,1) has the same CPU and GPU as the entry level MacBook Pro, but assuming Apple keeps the pricing the same, it should be available for $999. → Read More
Look out, Sony is actually trying something new and might announce Intel Atom-powered TVs next month at Google I/O 2010. A new Android released dubbed Dragonpoint is said to run on these TVs and will be just the beginning of Sony’s venture into the so-called Smart TV market.
The report comes from Bloomberg who sources two people familiar with the matter. The timing is certainly right. Sony hasn’t been in the top TV spot for years, constantly losing marketshare to others like Samsung, LG, and even Vizio. Something needs to be done and so Sony is said to be testing a whole line of home entertainment devices that will bring the wonders of the Internet to TVs and Blu-ray players through Android. Logitech is even said to be in on the venture and will contribute a wireless keyboard that will work as a remote.
But as sweet as an Android TV sounds, it might not be the right solution — at least not for the North American market. This could either be a huge win or a fail whale. → Read More
Intel pundit Kevin Kahn has predicted that Light Peak may overtake USB 3.0 before the latter really even gets started. The 10Gbps standard is poised to become the mainstream technology as soon as 2011, beating the technology it’s intended to replace to the mainstream. → Read More
The recession is over! —for the semiconductor industry, at least. Intel has reported monster numbers for its first quarter, showing over $10bn in revenue, a huge jump over last year. Recovery of demand in places like China has driven the numbers, and Intel is happy as a clam — so much so that they’re going to be hiring a thousand or more workers. I’d also guess that the success of the Core i* line is really letting them rake it in. → Read More
Willing to spend $300+ on a fancy motherboard just so you can get USB 3.0 support? Yeah, that might not be such a good idea, if only because Intel is in no hurry to integrate the spec into its chipsets. That means companies have to go out of their way to offer USB 3.0 on their systems. The odds of seeing USB 3.0 on a cheap-o netbook, then, are pretty much non-existent. → Read More
When I came to the U.S. in 1980, I was young and naïve. I used to think that corruption and ethical lapses were just a third-world ill. Eventually, I became a tech CEO and learned the harsh realities of American business. Yes, standards are much higher, and breaches are punished, but the temptations are just the same here as they are in any other country. Ethical lapses (which are a form of corruption) are quite common. You watch stories about these on TV every other day and read about them on TechCrunch. It was the ethical lapses of our financial institutions that threw our economy into a tailspin, and for which we are paying the price, after all.
It is best to be aware of the temptations and to prevent the lapses from occurring. As Enron, Bernie Madoff, and Lehman Brothers have shown, it’s a slippery slope. Once you start compromising your values for short-term gains, there is no turning back. Business ethics are not something you need to start worrying about when your company reaches a certain size; they need to be sewn into the fabric of your startup from the get-go. The lessons are the same for tech businesses as they are for investment banks and for third-world economies. → Read More
For the past couple of years now, when talking about the Apple TV product, Apple likes to throw out the word “hobby.” It’s as if they’re ashamed of the device. And considering sales are anemic next to Macs, iPods, and iPhones, it’s no big surprise that they talk this way.
But there’s actually nothing to be ashamed of. The Apple TV is a good product. Apple just needs to put some proper time and energy into it, to expand it to its full potential. And news today about the so-called “Google TV” should do just the trick. → Read More
While most SSDs currently cost more than netbooks and iPhones, there are a few low-cost options starting to become available. Just last week OCZ announced a sub-$100 40GB option and now even Intel has a cheap 40GB option that’s just now available. → Read More
Intel cut loose some benchmarking samples of their new, top of the line CPU, the i7-980X Extreme Edition. This is not a CPU intended for the causal use, but rather aim directly at the gaming market. MSRP for the CPU all by itself is a jaw dropping $999, and rumors are already circulating that the OEMs are already looking at coming out with systems that utilize the new processors. → Read More
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