Tech Information.

MSI has announced its Wind ultra-portable laptop, a great competitor for the Eee PC from Asus, because it weighs less than 1Kg, is all white, and provides the basic functionality of a portable computer meant for everyday use.

I am happy to find out that Wind has a larger display size of up to 10 inches at 1024x 600 pixel resolution with LED backlight, compared with the Eee PC with its 7-8-inch display, because like this you can watch videos and improve your work with a greater visibility surface, and besides that Wind comes also with a 2.5-inch solid state drive of no less than 80GB storage capacity for collecting 10 times more data compared with an Eee PC.

The operating system it’s running on is Windows XP so Wind probably doesn’t integrate too much memory, and the keyboard has larger space between keys, of 17.5 mm so you can type comfortably.

Rumors say it will be available at a price around $750.

Verdict: Not much has changed on the surface, but improved performance and battery life make the MacBook more desirable than ever .

The Mac versus PC divide used to be so unbridgeable that switching seemed as likely as a lifelong Everton fan deciding Liverpool was the team for them, but no more.

Ever since Intel processors became standard across Apple's range, there's been little architectural difference between a MacBook and any given PC laptop. What's more, Mac OS X and Windows coexist happily; there's no issue with sharing files with PC users and most popular (and non-gaming) software is available in a Mac version.

And this latest MacBook looks set to lure even more Windows users to the other side. Like the MacBooks that have gone before it, it manages to feel slick and polished in a way that only Apple can achieve. By designing the software, hardware and everything in between, it ensures that things look and run just the way that it intends and, it goes without saying, it all works beautifully.


If you do still want to run Windows, you can - Apple's slick BootCamp takes care of that. But, when the laptop comes with an attractive, stable and capable operating system straight out of the box in the guise of Apple's OS X Leopard, and the facility to install Windows is simply the cherry on top, it's by no means certain you'll go to the trouble.

In terms of styling, little has changed for this new version of the MacBook. The case is identical, with the same sturdy gloss white plastic coating and minimal design. But it's no less desirable for it: the MacBook in its current guise is a design classic and it hasn't dated at all since its first outing back in 2006.

Unlike the much-criticised MacBook Air, it includes an optical drive: the slot-loading DVD writer. The drawback is a weight of 2.2kg compared to the Air's 1.38kg. And you'd also struggle to slip the MacBook into an envelope at 28mm thick.

The screen remains untouched, too, which is more of a mixed blessing. We've no complaints with its quality - the glossy coating gives videos and images a vivid clarity - but the 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution appears a little low in a 13in screen.

The keyboard, copied by countless manufacturers since its emergence, is also identical to the previous model. The gullies surrounding each key make typing a breeze, and the low amount of travel is extremely comfortable once you get used to it.

Some new markings on the function keys are the only novelty, including a set of media playback keys that came in so handy we wondered why they weren't included on previous models.


Where the changes really lie is under the familiar cover. The mid-range model now sports one of Intel's latest Penryn-based Intel Core 2 Duos, which truly speeds along, supported by an ample 2GB of RAM. It scored 1.20 in our Windows-based 2D benchmarks, which is extremely competitive for any laptop, let alone one this slim and portable.

Storage space is also expanded, with 160GB available on this, the mid-range model. (You can specify 250GB at time of purchase.) The more power-efficient processor also helps improve battery life: sitting idle, the MacBook survived an impressive 5hrs 7mins before expiring.

Unfortunately, this speed boost comes with a price bump to match, which pushes this version to over £700. And Apple has also pulled some accessories out of the box: no longer does the purchase price include a remote to control Front Row, Apple's media centre software. This previously free and extraordinarily simple controller now costs an additional £20. A frustrating and seemingly needless change.


But despite all this, the MacBook remains a very fine piece of kit for £700. Our A-Listed mid-range laptop, the Dell XPS M1530, is still the better all-rounder: it boasts better ergonomics, a larger screen and a dedicated graphics chipset (the MacBook relies on Intel's integrated X3100 chip).

However, the MacBook's intoxicating blend of design, portability and power is still fantastically alluring.

Destined for business requirements and student needs, the new Toshiba Satellite Pro notebook line includes a range of 5 affordable models with different configurations for everyone’s needs.

The starting price is of $699 and the smallest notebook is a 13.3-inch, while a 17-inch model is a better choice for multi-tasking and entertainment.

Toshiba chose for its latest Satellite Pro configurations the Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD dual core processors, optional 1.3MP camera with microphone, and two operating systems to match the final customer’s configuration: Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Home Basic.

In addition there is an integrated DVD super multi optical drive, TruBrite display technology, wireless connectivity, modem, Express Card slot, and support for Computrace system that helps in recovering stolen laptops and protects the information stored on lost ones.

The 5 laptops added in Toshiba’s Satellite Pro series are: the 15.4-inch Satellite Pro L300 and Satellite L300D which start at $699, the 14.1-inch Satellite Pro M300 available at $999, the 13.3-inch Satellite Pro U400at a higher price of $1,049, and the 17-inch Satellite Pro L350 with a basic configuration available at $1,099.

Sung-kyu Nam is a designer who likes to create products that inspire magic, showing that even the strangest design ideas could become reality, and one interesting project is the DesCom, coming from “desk” and “computer”.

This is exactly what the name suggests: a desk with integrated computer which matches home office environments, and is possible to be build in the future as it is not based on complicated technologies or something that does not exist at the moment.
Its designer intended to come out with a computer easy to install in the living room and to be connected to a home theater, while targeting the business-to-business market sector of Samsung.

The design is simple, stylish and I can imagine when taking the notebook out from the desk, a sliding glass-like plate closes the gap automatically.

Panasonic announced that its Toughbook 30 won the 2008 North American Mobility Award Recipient for Rugged Notebook Computers after the decision of Frost & Sullivan’s Mobility Awards Committee.

Panasonic Toughbook 30 notebook has a magnesium alloy housing, a 13.3-inch XGA LCD display of 1000 nit brightness resistant at moist and dust, shock-mounted hard drive, sealed port and connector covers, and features high-speed wireless broadband connectivity.

Its key hardware components include an Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor at 1.6GHz, 1GB SDRAM memory, 80GB HDD, Intel GM965 video controller, high-definition audio, front-facing speaker, optional optical drive, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, modem, Ethernet, port replicator, and a Li-Ion battery for up to seven hours of working time.

“Mission-critical workers in military, government, public safety and commercial applications often are placed in extreme environments that require a high level of durability and connectivity to achieve the productivity their organizations demand,” declared Kyp Walls, director of product management, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company. “Creating a rugged laptop that reliably meets these demands while still delivering a high-performance computing experience takes an enormous investment in research, development, engineering, testing and customer input. Having Panasonic’s 15 year history of manufacturing robust mobile computers recognized by Frost & Sullivan as a higher standard is extremely gratifying.”

by: Sierra

Verdict: Minor niggles can't diminish a powerful system that's ideal for gamers on a budget.

We've seen plenty of well-specified PCs at PC Pro recently, all with ambitions of providing gaming and entertainment muscle for a low price. Many of these systems, though, relied on ATi Radeon and Nvidia 3870 and 8000-series graphics - or even integrated chips. With the Gamer Infinity 850, Cyberpower has raised the bar by including a brand-new GeForce 9600 GT.

This so-called mid-range card dispatched our low and medium benchmarks in Crysis - the world's most graphically demanding title - with little fuss, hitting a mighty 109 and 50fps respectively. The only test it struggled with was the high test, where it scored 21fps. That's not particularly playable, but still an impressive score and not far behind the numbers achieved by the top end cards in the 8000 series.

It's an impressive inclusion in a PC this cheap, but the good news doesn't end there The Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, released at the end of January, is also pretty new. It boasts an fast standard clock speed of 3GHz, which contributed to an impressive 2D benchmark score, but a larger heatsink will be needed if you plan to indulge in a touch of overclocking - only a low-profile Intel model is included as standard. Either way, its overall result of 1.55 is higher than all but one of the machines in our recent Luxury PC Labs - the Gladiator Retiarius PCP Q6600 scored 1.69, but was powered by a quad-core processor - and it also trumps the A-listed PC Specialist Apollo Q6600GT , which costs £999 and scored 1.45.


Other, similarly priced PCs are also put in the shade by the Gamer Infinity 850's performance: the last Cyberpower we reviewed from this range, the 550, won our Luxury PC Labs test, but scored only 1.27 in our 2D benchmarks. The Mesh Express TV was recommended in the same month, and only managed 1.12 - all of which just goes to show how capable this new Gamer Infinity machine is.

The Cyberpower's Cooler Master chassis is just as competent. It's sensibly designed throughout

to keep components as cool as possible. A pair of 120mm fans maintain good airflow throughout - although you do pay for this with a near-constant hum. We also liked the unobtrusive looks, which is in stark contrast to other Cooler Master cases; it's a triumph of substance over garish style.

Inside the case, a single 400GB hard disk provides plenty of storage for all but the largest of media collections, and the drive is kept in one of the higher 3.5in bays so the airflow from the front of the case isn't disrupted. There six more to fill after this, plus another three 5.25in bays after the DVD writer has been taken into account. And, continuing the solid and practical theme, all the bays are adorned with tool-free latches for easy installation of extra drives.

Outside, two USB ports, along with headphone and microphone jacks, are all that decorate the front of the machine - which is a little on the spare side - but this is more than made up for by the selection at the rear. Six USB sockets, audio jacks and ethernet are standard fare, but the eSATA port and range of video outputs mark the Gamer Infinity 850 out from a multitude of rival PCs: there's a pair of DVI-I sockets, an HDMI output and a future-proofed DisplayPort socket as well.

The rest of the machine isn't so solid. The Hanns.G monitor is a mixed bag. It has VGA input and HDMI inputs, which is good. But the plastic base feels cheap and not particularly stable, and there's no leeway for adjustment beyond vertical tilt. It also suffered from slightly uneven backlighting at the bottom of the panel, and while colour reproduction and image quality was generally good, whites did appear a little washed-out.

The budget price means that the Logitech keyboard and mouse are entirely without frills, and the only speakers are a tinny pair inside the monitor. This is particularly disappointing, as Cyberpower's Gamer Infinity 550 included a set of excellent Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 speakers and only cost £50 more than this machine.


And it's also a shame that the upgradeable nature of the Gamer Infinity 850 - which has a pair of free DIMM slots and plenty of storage potential - isn't matched by an extra PCI-Express slot on the motherboard for a potentially stunning 9600 GT SLI rig.

Despite these reservations, however, this is a hugely impressive system. The 9600 GT and E8400 are able to motor through the most demanding games and applications, and the chassis is both practical and good looking.

When compared to the A-Listed Gamer Infinity 550 and the PCs in our Luxury Labs - all of which relied on older graphics cards - this is a significant step up for gamers on a budget. It's only the lack of decent peripherals that keeps this off the A List.

By Mike Jennings

3K, US computer manufacturer, has announced a new rival for the Eee PC and the other mini computers existent on the market.

This new one is called Longitude 400 and 3K Computers planned to release it on the market next month at a price of $399, but you can pre-order it now.

It is an ultra mobile PC weighting under 2 lbs, with a 7-inch LCD TFT display, just like the first version of the famous Eee PC, and it has also a full QWERTY keyboard, besides other functionalities I will tell you about in the following paragraphs, which make it a good laptop for mobile professionals, students and people that like to spend much time on the Internet and in chat rooms.

Longitude 400 Mini Notebook UMPC supports mobile broadband Internet connectivity and comes with the Office suite including AbiWord and GNUMeric, as well as some games, schedulers, music players, movie players and other useful applications.

It is powered by a 400 Mhz processor and has 3 USB ports, Ethernet LAN port, while running on Linux operating system.

Vye has announced us about their new Mini-v S41 ultra mobile convertible PC we’ve featured earlier in one of our articles.

Well, back then we haven’t got the pictures with the S41 so we had to show you the S37 model, but here are the two new versions of the Vye Mini-v S41 notebook: Vye Mini-v S41A and Vye Mini-v S41B.

Let’s take a look at the first model! This is a 1.1Kg light convertible notebook featuring a durable construction resistant at 100Kg pressure, sporting a 7-inch swivel TFT LCD display with LED backlight, and measuring only 33 mm thick.

The screen is touch-sensitive and has a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixel, 16.2 million colors, while the backlight technology improves the image visibility even in high light conditions.

Vye Mini-v S41A runs on Windows Vista Home Premium operating system, being powered by an Intel A110 processor clocked at 800MHz, with the Mobile Intel 945GU Express chipset and 251MB shared video memory.

The RAM memory is of minimum 1GB but you can customize the notebook and add up to 4GB.

You can store up to 80GB of data in the hard disk and benefit from different functionalities this small notebook is offering such as wireless Internet browsing, file transfers with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, listen to your favorite music using the 2 x 1.0W built-in stereo speakers and the Realtek High Definition Audio enhancements, keep in touch with family members, colleagues and friends through video conferences using the built-in 1.3MP camera, or work with your documents for up to 7.2 hours, until the laptop will need a new charging.

Vye Mini-v S41A is available at a price of £ 779.99 and other features include DVD+/-RW double layer super multi drive, Silent Mode, LAN connectivity, headphone jack, 3-in-1 memory card slot, and 2 USB ports.

On the other hand, the Vye Mini-v S41B available at £ 849.99 brings two additions to the previously described configuration and these are the GPS tracking module and the TV digital tuner.

As it adds these 2 important elements with a price difference of just £130 it might be considered a complete solution for work and entertainment on the go.

Cypress Semiconductor, a leading provider of high-performance, mixed-signal, programmable solutions, announced that the newly released Acer Aspire 6920 and Aspire 8920G notebooks come with PSoC CapSense touch-sensitive media console called CineDash, a single-chip solution enabling touch-sensitive buttons, sliders and shuffle controls for easier access, as well as LED light indicators.

With CapSense enabled, designers can change configurations at any time, and this innovative technology supports touchscreens and proximity sensors, while the controls are resistant to temperature changes and moisture.
This solution is already adopted by mobile handsets, portable devices like media players, computers, peripherals and automotive.

The two new Acer notebooks mentioned are the first to show off the company’s new Gemstone blue design line featuring Holographic 3D cover, starlit backlight below the logo, the DiamondBlack eKey to add a plus to the image of a precious stone, and the NeoWeave palm rest for ergonomics.

CoWare’s Standards-based ESL Design Solution Will Enable Fujitsu to Shorten Design Cycle and Optimize Their SoC Design Flow

SAN JOSE, Calif.--May 14, 2007--CoWare, Inc., the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services, announced that Fujitsu Limited, Tokyo, Japan, has adopted CoWare’s Virtual Platform Product Family for completing its next-generation SoC design flow. In the next-generation ASIC/SoC design flow, the position of the software becomes much more important than before. The traditional serial design style – hardware design first, software design second, followed by integration – does not scale for today’s large system designs. CoWare’s SystemC-based solution, comprehensive IP library, multicore support, and high-performance simulation technology will provide the framework for shortening design cycle time and optimizing Fujitsu’s design flow. The solution includes CoWare Virtual Platform, CoWare Model Designer, CoWare Model Library technologies, and CoWare services, all of which will enable Fujitsu to leverage CoWare’s experience and expertise in platform-driven ESL design. Fujitsu will integrate the CoWare technologies into an industry-leading ESL SoC design flow.

“Fujitsu believes that an ESL design methodology is key to designing next-generation SoCs because it enables a hardware-software concurrent design flow,” said Takashi Hasegawa, director, ESL & Verification Department, Electronic Devices Business Group of Fujitsu Limited. “Using standards such as OSCI TLM2 for ESL design allows for much-needed industry-wide interoperability. We found that CoWare’s Virtual Platform Product Family fits into our vision and goals.”

“Fujitsu represents a growing number of companies that are realizing the need to adopt ESL design in their product design process to maintain their competitiveness over the next three years and beyond,” said A.K. Kalekos, vice president of marketing and business development, CoWare. “With software development becoming an increasing part of platform-based designs, our Virtual Platform roadmap has convinced many of these companies that not only do we have a superior ESL design solution for their needs today, but we also have a solid plan for evolving that solution for future customer needs.”

About CoWare
CoWare is the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services. CoWare offers a comprehensive set of ESL tools that enable electronics companies to "differentiate by design" through the creation of system IP including embedded processors, on-chip buses, and DSP algorithms; the architecture of optimized SoC platforms; hardware/software co-design; and virtual platforms for device software development. The company's solutions are based on open industry standards including SystemC. CoWare's customers are major systems, semiconductor, and IP companies in the market where consumer electronics, computing, and communications converge. CoWare's corporate investors include ARM [(LSE: ARM); (NASDAQ: ARMHY)], Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE). CoWare is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around the world. For more information about CoWare and its products and services, visit http://www.coware.com.

CoWare is a registered trademark of CoWare, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Sandy Pentland is using data gathered by cell phones to learn about human behavior.

Every time you use your cell phone, you leave behind a few bits of information. The phone pings the nearest cell-phone towers, revealing its location. Your service provider records the duration of your call and the number dialed.

Some people are nervous about trailing digital bread crumbs behind them. Sandy ­Pentland, however, revels in it. In fact, the MIT professor of media arts and sciences would like to see phones collect even more information about their users, recording everything from their physical activity to their conversational cadences. With the aid of some algorithms, he posits, that information could help us identify things to do or new people to meet. It could also make devices easier to use--for instance, by automatically determining security settings. More significant, cell-phone data could shed light on workplace dynamics and on the well-being of communities. It could even help project the course of disease outbreaks and provide clues about individuals' health. Pentland, who has been sifting data gleaned from mobile devices for a decade, calls the practice "reality mining."

Reality mining, he says, "is all about paying attention to patterns in life and using that information to help [with] things like setting privacy patterns, sharing things with people, notifying people--basically, to help you live your life."

Researchers have been mining data from the physical world for years, says Alex Kass, a researcher who leads reality-mining projects at Accenture, a consulting and technology services firm. Sensors in manufacturing plants tell operators when equipment is faulty, and cameras on highways monitor traffic flow. But now, he says, "­reality mining is getting personal."

Within the next few years, Pentland predicts, reality mining will become more common, thanks in part to the proliferation and increasing sophistication of cell phones. Many handheld devices now have the processing power of low-end desktop computers, and they can also collect more varied data, thanks to devices such as GPS chips that track location. And researchers such as Pentland are getting better at making sense of all that information.

To create an accurate model of a person's social network, for example, Pentland's team combines a phone's call logs with information about its proximity to other people's devices, which is continuously collected by Bluetooth sensors. With the help of factor analysis, a statistical technique commonly used in the social sciences to explain correlations among multiple variables, the team identifies patterns in the data and translates them into maps of social relationships. Such maps could be used, for instance, to accurately categorize the people in your address book as friends, family members, acquaintances, or coworkers. In turn, this information could be used to automatically establish privacy settings--for instance, allowing only your family to view your schedule. With location data added in, the phone could predict when you would be near someone in your network. In a paper published last May, ­Pentland and his group showed that cell-phone data enabled them to accurately model the social networks of about 100 MIT students and professors. They could also precisely predict where subjects would meet with members of their networks on any given day of the week.

Web-based computer programs, unlike their desktop counterparts, are always up to date and are instantly available, no matter where the user is or what operating system she's running. That's why cloud computing--so called because it involves software that resides in the "clouds" of the Internet--has caused a "tidal shift in how people are actually creating software," says Kevin Lynch, chief software architect at Adobe Systems. (For a review of ­Nicholas Carr's new book on cloud computing, see "The Digital Utility.") But cloud computing has drawbacks: users give up the ability to save data to their own hard drives, to drag and drop items between applications, and to receive notifications, such as appointment reminders, when the browser window is closed.

So while many companies have rushed to send users to the clouds, Lynch and his team have been planning the return trip. With the system they're developing, the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), programmers can use Web technologies to build desktop applications that people can run online or off.

The project is rooted in Lynch's recognition of both the bene­fits and the limitations of the move from desktop to Web. He envisioned hybrid applications that would allow users to take simultaneous advantage of the Interne­t and their own machines' ­capa­bil­i­ties. Lynch's team started work on the concept in 2002 and launched AIR in beta last June.

AIR is a "runtime environment," an extra layer of software that allows the same program to run on different operating systems and hardware. (Java is another example.) With AIR, developers can use Web technologies such as HTML and Flash to write software for the desktop. Users won't have to seek out AIR to enjoy its bene­fits; they'll be prompted to download it along with the first AIR applications they want to use.

The Adobe team chose to base the system on HTML and Flash for several reasons, Lynch says. First, it makes it easy for desktop applications to swap content with websites: for example, information from a website can be pulled into an AIR application with its formatting intact. Second, it should simplify development, encouraging a broader range of applications. Programmers can easily rebuild existing Web applications to work on the desktop. And in the same way that Web-based applications can be built once and will then run on any device with a browser, an application built on AIR will run on any machine that has AIR installed. (Adobe currently offers versions for Windows and ­Macintosh and is developing versions for Linux and mobile devices.)

Adobe is already working with partners to demonstrate AIR's capabilities. One example: the popular auction site eBay has released a beta AIR-based application called eBay Desktop. Designed to improve the customer's bidding experience, the application itself retrieves and displays content about eBay auctions rather than relying on a browser. It also takes advantage of the processing power of the user's computer to provide search tools more powerful than those on the website. For example, it can scan search results for related keywords--a process that product manager Alan Lewis says works better on the desktop because the applicatio­n can store and quickly access lots of relevant information on the user's computer. The program also uses desktop alerts to notify users when someone bids on auctions they are following. AIR enabled the company to create a customized user interface, without constraints imposed by the browser's design and controls.

Lynch says that AIR was a response to the Web's evolution into a more interactive medium. The browser, he notes, was created for "the Web of pages"; while developers have stretched what can be done with it, Lynch sees the need for an interface more appropriate to the Web of software that people use today. AIR, he hopes, will be just that.

As you might guess, here at PCstats we like computers... things with 'gadget' value, and tiny electronic devices in general. When something comes along that can fulfill all of these cravings, we tend to take notice. Such was the case when this lovely little Sony laptop arrived.

This is the kind of device that can produce paroxysms of tech lust in anyone, never mind the gear heads among us. The navy blue and silver Sony VAIO VGN-T140P/L laptop is the size of a hardcover book and weighs only a little over three pounds. It packs a weighty list of features, beginning with a DVD/CDRW combo drive and a massive WXGA (1280x768) resolution on its tiny, shiny, 10.6" widescreen LCD. The outer shells (lower and upper) of the notebook are made from aluminum, and typical of Sony, the build quality is very solid. Its retail price hovers in the range of $2470CDN ($2000USD) .

Now that IBM is out of the laptop making business, Sony is one of the few 'boutique' laptop makers left. Traditionally, Sony laptops have not been business favourites, so now would be an excellent time for the company to make a move in this direction. We were eager to see how the VAIO VGN-T140P/L fared in this regard.

Like any ultra-portable notebook, there are a few compromises in the design which is meant to enhance battery life at the expense of all-out power, and is a typical trade-off in this category. It starts with the CPU, which is a low-voltage Core 2 Duo running at 1.2GHz. It also comes with a 64GB solid-state hard drive, and unfortunately there’s no option to configure it with a higher-capacity mechanical drive
.
Aside from those specs, the rest of the notebook is as full-featured as you would expect a flagship notebook to be. Lenovo hasn’t skimped one bit on features and includes three USB 2.0 ports, headphone and mic jacks, a Gigabit Ethernet port, optical drive, VGA-out, 1.3MP webcam and a switch to disable all wireless radios. There are no expansion slots however, such as an ExpressCard port, nor are there any slots for removable media.

Wireless Coverage

Speaking of wireless, it seems Lenovo shares Apple’s vision of a wireless future, but Lenovo has taken it to the next level by including every possible wireless option known to man, including onboard Intel Wi-Fi that supports legacy G speeds as well as the faster N standard. The system also supports Bluetooth, and has an internal Verizon Wireless broadband card as well. The wireless broadband isn’t free of course, and you have to sign up for 2 years paying either $39.95 a month for 50MB of data usage or $59.95 for 5GB.

Ultra-portable

Tipping the scales at a mere 2.9lbs., the X300 is certainly very light, but that doesn’t mean it’s a feathery notebook that will crack the first time it falls out of one’s laptop bag. Lenovo has designed the X300 to not only be easily portable but also rugged enough to withstand the rigors of frequent travel. It uses a roll-cage that wraps around the chassis, and features a magnesium chassis for increased strength. Internally it features carbon and glass fiber to reduce weight without sacrificing ruggedness.

Features and Design

The design of the 17" Intel iMac is nearly identical to its last-revision G5 predecessor. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Apple wisely stuck with the stunning all-in-one design of the iMac; a design that no other computer manufacturer has been able to duplicate or even approach; a design that had industrial designers and consumers all atwitter with excitement.


The 17" iMac has a tiny footprint for a full-featured desktop - 114.24 square inches (maximum width times maximum depth). In comparison, a small form-factor eMachines or Gateway computer plus 17" LCD screen has a clown-like footprint of 240 square inches or more. The iMac takes up less than half the space without sacrificing components, speed or style.


The front and sides of the iMac are surrounded in a thick, moderately scratch resistant, clear resin mold. The clear resin mold gives the iMac a gorgeous shine and protects the brilliant-white body from stains, mars and grubby fingerprints.


Even though most leading-edge computers on the market come with 16X DVD burners, Apple held back by supplying the 17" iMac with an 8X SuperDrive. Of course, the 8X SuperDrive burns CDs, DVDs and even Dual-Layer DVDs quickly and stably and produces few or no faulty burns. In my opinion, Apple really should have gone all the way with a 16X dual-layer DVD burner.


The USB keyboard that comes with the Intel iMac is the same keyboard bundled with G5 iMacs and Power Mac desktop computers. The keys are spaced properly and the typing action is very smooth and responsive. It also matches the iMac perfectly, which is a huge plus for fashion conscious geeks.


Apple's product page for the Intel iMac states that the Intel iMac has "Twice the Horsepower" of the fastest G5 iMac. Some people equate this statement with the idea that the Intel Core Duo architecture will make your computing experience twice as fast as the G5 architecture - everything from opening documents to editing photos and encoding movies should take half the time on the new desktops than it did on the old. While this logic works out in some cases (especially common benchmark tests), it cannot be applied universally.


Using the "horsepower" analogue, consider that the fastest purebred racehorses run upwards of 40 miles per hour. If you harnessed together two of the fastest horses in the world, would they go 80 miles per hour? Absolutely not. They would continue to run 40 miles per hour. Of course, if a single race horse was given a 300-pound load to carry - like processors are given heavy tasks to perform - that horse would be heavily burdened and would struggle to reach even half its potential. If the same two horses shared the 300-pound burden equally, each horse would be able to run significantly closer to its full potential. Similar logic applies to the Intel Core Duo processor. Some tasks, when shared by the two cores, allow the processor to be much more efficient and produce faster results.


There are many analogies that can be used to describe processing speeds, but the final and perhaps only significant argument is how a new processor affects your overall personal computing experience. If GarageBand used to open in 10 seconds and now it opens in 5, then you've experienced a doubling of speed. However if your everyday applications open only 10% faster - or in the case of Rosetta, 70% slower - then 'twice the horsepower' could be misleading.

By Bhavana Navuluri

Schlumberger Information Solutions, a supplier of information technology to the oilfield industry, has launched wireless broadband service for offshore and remote oil and gas drilling rigs and production platforms, in partnership with BT Openzone.

The service, which the companies says is the first-of-its-kind, offers email, instant messaging and webcam facilities to offshore workers to keep in touch with their friends and family onshore.

Demetrios Stellas, vice president for digital infrastructure at SIS, said: "Increasingly, offshore workers expect to have access to the internet services that they can get at home. We believe that this new service will be recognised as a real benefit by oil workers who often work in harsh and difficult environments both offshore and in frontier locations."

The Wi-Fi service has successfully completed a three-month trial at the Byford Dolphin rig in the North Sea by providing wireless connectivity over the rig's main satellite link. It has enabled about 100 workers on the rig to use their laptops and PDAs to access the internet. The connectivity remained unaffected by the movements and distances of the rig.

Tim Passingham, general manager for BT oil and gas, said: "The BT and Schlumberger Offshore wireless connectivity service allows the industry to realise further the benefits promised by the Digital Oilfield."

Schlumberger will now offer the Wi-Fi service globally for remote and offshore drilling and production operations. Users can buy vouchers onboard or can subscribe to the service online. The service is also offered to UK-based BT Total Broadband customers, who are members of the BT FON community.

Even as Acer goes through the hurdles necessary to acquire Gateway it continues to roll out products on American shores. It announced today its new P Series of of LCD displays, available now at around $230 for 19-inches, $270 for 20-inches, $330 for 22-inches and $500 for 24-inches.

The Acer P Series has widescreen design and are housed in a glossy, piano black bezel with curved edges. Control buttons are placed so as to add to the relatively clean lines. The displays are HD ready, being outfitted with either HDMI or DVI, get upwards of a 3000:1 contrast ratio depending upon the model and are Windows Vista enhanced so as to work better with the Office 2007 interface.

Acer sees this displays as being good for both home entertainment and productivity. That works fine for me - half the screen to type blog posts like this and half the screen to watch Cops and Jerry Springer.

Up to 100 Percent Performance Increase, Designed to Dramatically Increase Efficiency for New Enterprise Data Center

Mumbai, Munich, New York, Tokyo - 26 Feb 2008:

- Big leap in capacity reduces pressure on over-taxed, out-of-power data centers
- Single z10 equal to nearly 1,500 x86 servers
- Up to 85% less energy costs
- Up to 85% smaller footprint
- Consolidates x86 software licenses at up to a 30-to-1 ratio.
- Mainframe goes Quad-Core
- z10 brings discipline to data center chaos:
- Just-in-time capacity to meet ever-changing business conditions
- Automated management of system performance to favor high-value transactions

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the System z10 mainframe to help clients create a new enterprise data center. The system z10 is designed from the ground up to help dramatically increase data center efficiency by significantly improving performance and reducing power, cooling costs, and floor space requirements. It offers unmatched levels of security and automates the management and tracking of IT resources to respond to ever-changing business conditions.

In addition to the z10, IBM also announced it has invested $300 million in architects, technical skills, as well as design and benchmarking centers to help clients transform to a new enterprise data center. Qualified clients can receive free assessment services to prioritize and take action to implement a more efficient, shared and dynamic IT infrastructure.

IBM's next-generation, 64-processor mainframe, which uses Quad-Core technology, is built from the start to be shared, offering greater performance over virtualized x86 servers to support hundreds to hundreds of millions of users.*1

The z10 also supports a broad range of workloads. In addition to Linux, XML, Java, WebSphere and increased workloads from Service Oriented Architecture implementations, IBM is working with Sun Microsystems and Sine Nomine Associates to pilot the Open Solaris operating system on System z, demonstrating the openness and flexibility of the mainframe.

From a performance standpoint, the new z10 is designed to be up to 50% faster and offers up to 100% performance improvement for CPU intensive jobs compared to its predecessor, the z9, with up to 70% more capacity.*2 The z10 also is the equivalent of nearly 1,500 x86 servers, with up to an 85% smaller footprint, and up to 85% lower energy costs. The new z10 can consolidate x86 software licenses at up to a 30-to-1 ratio.

Hewitt Associates, one of the world's foremost providers of human resources outsourcing and consulting services, uses z10 mainframes as a cornerstone of its operations. "We've implemented z10 systems in our parallel Sysplex environment, which is running live, mission-critical benefits applications for the world's top employers -- so availability, performance, and reliability are of utmost importance," said Sandee Kotowski, manager of mainframe infrastructure, Hewitt Associates. "The IBM mainframe has been a key part of our IT infrastructure over the years, with clear cost benefits, but this new system takes that value proposition a leap ahead. The capacity and scale of this system changes the economics of the mainframe and is a significant step forward in addressing our constantly evolving technology needs."


Designed as Engine to Manage IT as a Service; Drive the New Enterprise Datacenter
Businesses are working to not only greatly reduce the inefficiency and complexity of today's data centers, but also share IT resources more efficiently and better align them to specific business objectives and ever-changing business conditions.
At the same time, they are grappling with how to log, track, audit, and charge back every business transaction. Their end objective is to move beyond basic virtualization (in which different computing tasks are partitioned on a server) to an environment in which their entire IT infrastructure, including business applications, security, storage, processing power, etc., is provisioned on demand.

The end result is that businesses can manage IT as a service -- using a policy-driven system that doles out, manages, and tracks appropriate IT resources where and when needed -- to create the new enterprise data center.

The z10 is the industry’s only server providing a complete range of policy-driven functions, including:

Authorization Management to authenticate and authorize who can access specific business services and associated IT resources. Designed with encryption algorithms, the built-in features allow for System z10 administrators to dictate multiple layers of security and security clearance to allow authorized users to access sensitive information that resides on the System z. For example, an employee with entry-level clearance to search employee records for histories of volunteer work for a corporate report might not be able to access salary, promotion, and HR information for those same employees -- based on the level of access that employee has been given as part of the authorization management policies built into the System z.

Utilization Management to drive maximum use of the system. Radically different from other classes of servers, the System z10 is designed to run at up to 100 percent utilization - based on the varied demands placed on it by users.

z/OS, one of the operating systems for the z10, can manage transactions based on preset policies, adjusting on the fly to peaks and valleys. For example, customers going to a bank have multiple needs - some need cash - which is an instantaneous response, while other are applying for a mortgage - which is a longer process. The mainframe and the integrated OS can be configured to decide which requests are mission critical and timely and allocate utilization based on these needs.

Just-in-Time Capacity to deliver additional processing power and capacity when needed to help businesses better manage risk (e.g. more computing power during a peak retail season).
For the first time, the 64-processor z10 will automate the provisioning of processing power when needed to address changing business conditions. For example, financial services and retail institutions can schedule and automatically provision pre-set levels of processing power to manage spikes in demand. Equally as important, the z10 can also automatically provision processing power when unanticipated demands hit.

z/OS anticipates when additional capacity is needed, for how long, and maps to that instantly. This is known as "Just In Time Deployment of Capacity Resources." The feature is built upon transaction needs and how customers prioritize them.

Virtualization Security with the U.S. government's highest level of security, Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (EAL5), via z/VM. The IBM System z is the only server on the planet that has achieved this level of certification for security and partitions (through the System z9 with plans in place to apply for EAL5 for the System z10). When customers are looking to allocate additional resources in the mainframe and partition them to save money and access capacity on demand, the EAL5 certification states that the virtual partitions that are opened running the specific operating systems are in effect the same as if you were running another server connected to the System z - the physical security for the virtual partition is the highest level it can be. This enables customers to allocate resources on demand, without fear of security risk to any of the information running through the operating systems, improving performance and enabling 24/7 availability.

System z Skills Continue to Rapidly Expand around the World with IBM Academic Initiative, Tied to Mainframe’s Resurgence; New Rational Tools Drive Continued Ease of Use
Launched in 2004, the IBM Academic Initiative offers a wide range of technology education benefits through IBM's deep technology capabilities and experience -- from IBM supplied instruction to technology -- that can scale to meet the goals of colleges and universities around the world.
Academic Initiative: System z works with schools to enable courses, labs, senior design projects, and research in large systems thinking. IBM today announced a new milestone as it topped the 400th University participating in the program around the world (up from 23 universities in the program in 2004). The news demonstrates the dramatic growth of the program tied to the resurgence of the mainframe in the data center (see separate press release on today's Academic Initiative news).

In addition, as part of IBM's $100 million Mainframe Simplification investment announced in 2006, IBM today announced new Rational software for System z to speed the deployment of applications running on System z and continue to drive ease of use. For example, the new Rational software translates COBOL applications into Web services eliminating the need for new developers to learn the COBOL programming language. (see separate press release on today's Rational software news).

Also as part of IBM's Mainframe Simplification investment, IBM today announced a new set of software that automates the management of complex IT disciplines (such as storage, databases and new software deployments) and delivers a single, integrated view of the impact on critical applications hosted on customers' mainframes. The IBM Tivoli Service Management Center for System z shows the linkages between IT assets and business applications and enables enterprises to monitor the overall service delivery from IT in support of specific business objectives in finance, security and customer satisfaction, among others. (see separate press release on today's Tivoli software news).


New Information on Demand Software for System z
IBM today is announcing new Information on Demand software for System z, including Cognos 8 Business Intelligence (BI) for System z. IBM Cognos 8 BI for System z combines the proven reporting and analysis capabilities of IBM Cognos 8 BI with the power and reliability of System z, enabling customers to use their data for competitive advantage, improve decision-making and optimize their business performance. IBM is also announcing a Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z customer beta program. IBM Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z will be available in the second half of 2008.
IBM's Information on Demand strategy is helping customers gain access to the right information they need, when they need it, along with key business insights needed to address and respond to changing market demands. By deploying Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z, customers will be able to easily report and analyze hundred of millions of transactions directly on the mainframe -- ensuring everyone across the organization can quickly identify and respond to critical business trends.

IBM is also announcing the immediate availability of DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition, which provides a new one-time-charge offering that enables the deployment of new application workloads. This offering strengthens the role of System z as a cornerstone for key business initiatives such as SOA, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and packaged applications such as SAP. DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition and IBM Information Server enable System z clients to further deliver trusted information for their dynamic warehousing requirements.

In addition, IBM will bring new Master Data Management capabilities to System z in the second half of this year. This will include the InfoSphere Master Data Management Server for Linux on System z, which allows businesses to centrally manage customer, product, and account data for use across an enterprise.

Customers can contact their IBM or Cognos Sales Representative to get more information about participating in the Cognos 8 BI for System z beta program.


New Attached Storage Offerings Help Optimize Mainframe Environments for Managing Information
Transactions, information, and data are growing by leaps and bounds, creating challenges for storing and accessing information efficiently. Today, IBM is introducing enhanced storage capabilities for mainframe environments that help optimize information availability, mitigate information risks and maximize information storage capacity for very large amounts of data.

Enterprise Disk Storage: Delivering the industry's leading mainframe storage solution, IBM is announcing an enhanced version of its enterprise disk storage solution -- DS8000 R3.1 -- with new disaster recovery and business continuity features that optimize the power of the mainframe. Working in concert with the IBM z/OS 1.10 operating environment, customers can now manage up to four times more information in their mainframe environments than with any other storage system.

Enterprise Tape Virtualization: Building on almost 40 years of virtualization expertise, IBM also enhanced the IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtual Tape solution for mainframe environments, delivering improved information retention, archiving and security capabilities thru exploitation of IBM's TS1120 tape encryption solution.

New IBM IT Transformation & Optimization Consulting Services for New Enterprise Data Center
To help clients move toward a new enterprise data center, IBM today also announced a new strategy and planning consulting service. The IBM IT Transformation & Optimization – Infrastructure Strategy & Planning services provide a proven, pragmatic approach to identifying, organizing, prioritizing, rationalizing, and financially justifying optimization initiatives that can help clients increase the business value of their IT infrastructure. Clients can use the service to make their IT infrastructure less complex and costly to operate -- and more agile, responsive, and supportive of their business objectives. IBM is now incorporating automated data discovery using Tivoli Automated Dependency and Discovery Manager that enables clients to get an accurate business case that details their return on investment.

IGF Financing for the z10
IBM Global Financing (IGF), the leasing and lending business segment of IBM can offer financing terms and conditions that in many cases, can make it possible for qualified clients with existing IGF z 9 leases to acquire the new IBM System z10 and its increased computing power at a lower monthly payment than they currently make today. For more information visit www.ibm.com/financing.

New services for System z and the New Enterprise Data Center
IBM also introduced several new services today which complement its existing strength in aligning data center transformation strategies and design with implementation and ongoing management. IBM IT Transformation & Optimization Consulting Services, a strategy and planning consulting service, provides a pragmatic approach to helping clients by building an overall business case for demonstrating the business value and return on investment of their IT infrastructure. IBM Implementation Services for Parallel Sysplex Middleware leverage the System z as a consolidation point for data to help clients move to a centralized DB2 data sharing environment while protecting data integrity. IBM Implementation Services for Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS) enables a unique integrated and automated end-to-end recovery solution across System z and other platforms.

For additional information please visit www.ibm.com/datacenter.

DELHI, INDIA and BANGALORE, INDIA - 21 Apr 2008: At the 10th anniversary commemoration of IBM's India Research Lab, the company today unveiled a new initiative to bring even more features and functions to mobile devices as they continue to rival the PC as the primary tool for Web-based business, education, communication, entertainment and more.

The new IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) program will entail a number of efforts to bring simple, easy-to-use services to the millions of people in the world who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing technology, and are instead using their mobile phone to access the web, conduct financial transactions, entertain themselves, shop and more.

"The world is entering the 'Era of the Mobile Web.' In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the World Wide Web, an education device and more, and globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs," said Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research laboratory. "Today, we are launching projects that will make a mobile device an even easier to use than the PC, allowing you to do everything you can with a PC and much more."

The projects, which will be led out of India, but also are being incubated in IBM's eight global labs in six countries, include:

The Spoken Web - Voice-enabled mobile commerce
Instant Translation - Real-time communication between multiple languages through mobile devices
SoulPad - Enabling any portable device to carry computing applications in your pocket
Social networking on-the-go
Good Samaritan - Mobile healthcare information made available in any emergency situation
For the past 10 years, IBM's India Research Lab has worked with local clients and partners to shape India's innovation landscape, helping transform it into a significant contributor to the world economy. Now, the India Research team will serve as IBM's catalyst for delivering new mobile web solutions to emerging markets around the world.

IBM Research examines in great depth the current trajectories of new technologies in the lab and marketplace, concentrating on trends that could be disruptive or the harbingers of change. In many regions, mobile devices are becoming an increasingly viable alternative to PCs. These devices are capable of delivering more types of data, applications and services through advanced wireless networks. This, coupled with the openness and convergence of Web applications, is making a major impact on the global mobile market.

"Today, staying competitive means looking ahead. The rise of globalization is shifting the way business works," said John Kelly, Senior Vice President, IBM Research. "Business leaders need to anticipate how these changes will affect their ways of operating and look to new technological innovations to help them succeed in this new landscape."

An innovative initiative currently being piloted by the India Research team is the "Spoken Web" project, which aims to transform how people create, build and interact with e-commerce sites on the World Wide Web using the spoken word instead of the written word. The Spoken Web is the World Wide Web in a telecom network, where people can host and browse "VoiceSites," traverse "VoiceLinks," even conduct business transactions, all just by talking over the existing telephone network.

For example, an average person on the street does not need a PC, but needs access to information such as:

Fishermen need weather info before heading out to sea

Farmers need to look up commodity prices

Plumbers can schedule appointments, set up transfers to partners, use advertisements

Grocery shops can display catalogues, offer order placement, display personalized targeted advertisements or reminders

Such locally relevant information is not available for a majority of world population. Computer access is not enough because there is a need to know what to look for, how to access it and how to use it.

IBM researchers across the globe are working on additional innovative mobile web solutions, including:

Universal Mobile Translator

IBM's researchers are developing new technology to facilitate speech between individuals who

speak no common language with the goal of free-form dialogue facilitated by a PDA. IBM technology is already allowing travelers using PDAs to translate menus in Japanese and doctors to communicate with patients in Spanish. IBM real-time translation technologies will be embedded into mobile phones, handheld devices and cars.

Portable Power in Your Pocket

IBM's SoulPad software allows PC users to separate a computer's "soul" -- the programs, settings and data it holds -- from its body, the disks, keyboard, screen, processor and other hardware from which it is comprised. Once a computer's soul is stored on a storage device like a portable USB hard drive or iPod with SoulPad software, it can be carried around and reincarnated in any other computer simply by plugging in the storage device and starting the computer up.

Social Networks Go Mobile

Consumers can communicate with their social network friends regardless of where they are with voice and SMS from either a PC or a mobile phone. This is huge for generation Y consumers. For example, young shoppers looking at purchasing clothes in a store are increasingly looking for immediate feedback via their social networks, and the easiest way to make this happen is via mobile devices.

Healthcare Goes Mobile

IBM Research has brought together mobile phones and "presence" technology combined with health records to provide a potential "good samaritan" with information on how to aid people in critical medical situations. This combination of IBM Research capabilities and IBM WebSphere Presence Server exemplifies IBM's ability to create enhanced mobile applications for everyday life.

Much of the world's population is looking to mobile devices to tap into online resources to fulfill basic economic needs -- in banking, e-commerce, education, transportation and government.

The World Wide Web (WWW) enabled quick and easy information dissemination and brought about fundamental changes to various aspects of our lives. However, a very large number of people, mostly in developing regions, are still untouched by this revolution.

Compared to PCs, the primary access mechanism to WWW, mobile phones have made a phenomenal penetration into this population segment. Low cost of ownership, the simple user interface consisting of a small keyboard, limited menu and voice-based access contribute to the success of mobile phones with the less literate. However, apart from basic voice communication, these people are not being able to exploit the benefits of information and services available to WWW users.

For the first time ever, more people will have a mobile phone than a regular telephone. Mobile devices outnumber PCs by three to one, credit cards by two to one and TVs by two to one. IBM's Institute for Business Value predicts the number of mobile Web users will grow by 191 percent from 2006 to 2011 to reach one billion. This proliferation of mobile devices and mobile Web users signals an incredibly lucrative growth opportunity for businesses.

IBM is making major investments in mobile software and hardware platforms and has opened several worldwide telecom solutions labs focused on research and development.

Cuts Core 2 Quad and Xeon chips prices in half as it moves to clear out 65nm processors

April 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Intel Corp. is slashing the price of some of its processors up to 50%, a slap in the face to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., long known as the low-price alternative in the chip market.

Intel announced on its Web site yesterday that it had cut the price of about a dozen processors. Patrick Ward, a spokesman for Intel, noted that most of the processors on the price-cut list were built on 65 nanometer technology, which Intel is phasing out in favor of its new 45nm chips. It's akin to car dealers cutting the prices on last year's models to make room for the latest ones.

"We're transitioning from 65nm to 45nm," said Ward. "We're in the process of refreshing our line. If you see a 65nm [chip], it's older technology and we're moving on from it."

According to Intel's new price list, its Q6700 Core 2 Quad processor price decreased from $530 to $266 for a shipment of 1,000 chips -- a 50% change. The Intel Xeon X3230 also had its price slashed in half, dropping from $530 to $266.

The company also noted that the price of 1,000 Core 2 Duo E6850 chips was cut from $266 to $183, a 31% drop, while the Intel Celeron 430 dipped 23%, to $34. And the price of an Intel Xeon 3085 shipment was cut from $266 to $188.

Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said it's fairly common for Intel to trim some chip prices, but he's surprised that the company would make such big cuts on so many chips at once.

"This really keeps up the pressure on AMD," he added. "Intel blankets the market from high end to low end, with multiple choices at almost every price point -- each competitive with AMD on either performance or price or both. They're making sure they have a compelling price and/or performance value proposition in every segment where they compete with AMD. In short, it isn't getting any easier to compete with Intel."

AMD said last week that it's on track to ship its first 45nm chips in volume in the fourth quarter. If that is when AMD enters the 45nm race, the company will be about a year behind Intel, which shipped its first 45nm Penryn chip this past November.

November 12, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Intel Corp.'s new 45-nanometer chip for the desktop, part of the newly released Penryn family, should give gamers, researchers and serious multitaskers a significant performance boost, according to analysts.


And that is not good news for rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which recently started shipping its quad-core Barcelona processor -- built using a 65nm manufacturing process. AMD isn't expected to move to 45nm technology until the second half of 2008.


The release of Intel's Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor came as part of a larger release of Penryn processors, including 15 server dual-core and quad-core 45nm Hi-k Intel Xeon processors. To make the move from 65nm to 45nm processors, Intel designed a new transistor, stemming leakage and improving energy efficiency. With 820 million of these newly designed transistors in just one chip, Intel is calling it one of its biggest advancements.


On the desktop side, all of this should add up to a major performance boost.


Dean Freeman, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said he expects Penryn will be 20% to 50% faster than Intel's previous chip releases in general purpose applications and 10% to 40% faster in technical applications, multimedia and games. For example, someone using Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint should see a 20% to 50% boost, while an Adobe Photoshop user should see a 10% to 40% increase.


"It's going to mean a faster desktop. It's a more powerful tool, operating applications faster," said Freeman. "Basically, it means that for those of us who are concerned about the speed at which applications work on our desktop, the good news is that it will work faster."


Boyd Davis, a general manager at Intel, said a larger L2 cache and support for new SSE4 media instructions are part of the chip's performance boost.


And while no one will be expectantly lining up around the block for the new chips, Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif., said that Penryn is a "step up" from previous Intel designs and should appeal to the high-end gamers and workstation customers.

"The Penryn architecture blends notably high performance with significant steps forward in power efficiency," he added. "It's a bit like a new sports car that hits a higher top speed than previous models, while simultaneously delivering better gas mileage."


Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said the Penryn desktop won't just appeal to the gaming community. Power users with more than 10 applications open at once, video editors and researchers are going to be eager for a performance boost.

Asustek plans to launch a new version of the Eee PC armed with Intel's Atom microprocessor at the Computex trade show in Taipei this June, Asustek's CEO said Monday.

Atom is the name of the processor formerly called Diamondville. It was designed for low-cost laptop PCs, ultramobile PCs, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and other small devices aimed at connecting to the Internet. The processor is tiny, less than 25 square millimeters, will be priced low, and run at a battery-efficient 0.6 watts to 2.5 watts thermal design power, according to Intel.

Intel developed the chip for a class of low cost laptop PCs aimed at the developing world that started with the XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC). The foundation's dream of a $100 laptop for kids in poor nations has turned into a global obsession, and technology companies are climbing aboard.

Asustek's Eee PC may be the most successful commercial low-cost laptop so far. Since its launch late last year, Asustek has sold over one million Eee PCs, the company said.

"The [Eee PC] has really opened up a new product category," said Sean Maloney, an executive vice president at Intel, during a launch ceremony for the Eee PC 900 in Taipei.

There are already more than 25 low-cost laptops being developed around Atom, according to Intel.

Taiwan's Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has already revealed plans to launch the G10IL low-cost laptop, which is based on Atom. Acer has said it will have a low-cost laptop PC ready this year as well, as have Taiwan's Micro-Star International and Giga-byte Technology.

But while such laptops are aimed at developing markets, they are finding success in modern areas. Europe accounts for 40 percent of Eee PC sales, and that figure is expected to grow to around 50 percent later this year, said Jerry Shen, CEO of Asustek, at a news conference in Taipei.

Shen did not give any further details about the Eee PC to be launched with Atom, only that it would be the second wave of the Eee PC.

Monday, April 21, 2008 2:30 AM PDT

Micron Technology, one of the world's largest DRAM (dynamic RAM) chip makers, and Taiwan's Nanya Technology on Monday signed an agreement to jointly invest US$1.1 billion by the end of next year to open a new DRAM company in Taiwan.

The two companies also plan to jointly develop new chip technology, they said.

Micron, of Boise, Idaho, and Nanya will each hold a 50 percent stake in the new joint venture company, which they named MeiYa Technology Corporation.

The initial investment by the two companies will be to convert an existing Nanya factory in Taiwan into a state-of-the-art 300-millimeter DRAM manufacturing plant.

The two companies will also jointly develop and design DRAM with transistors smaller than 50 nanometers. The smaller the components that make up a chip, the more can be fitted into the same space and, typically, the lower the power consumption.

Germany's Qimonda is currently Nanya's technology partner. Nanya plans to let its current technology agreement with Qimonda expire once they have developed components as small as 50 nanometers. For more advanced, sub-50-nanometer technology, Nanya will work with Micron.

The loss of Nanya Technology as a technology partner deals a blow to Qimonda because the two companies had shared research and development costs and jointly own an advanced chip company in Taiwan, called Inotera Memories.

Founder Shuttleworth is confident, but admits there's a 'long way to go' to get market penetration

April 21, 2008 (Computerworld) With its release today of its Ubuntu 8.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Server Edition, Linux vendor Ubuntu is firmly aiming its long-awaited, enterprise-ready server operating system at the world of business computing.

Technically, this isn't Ubuntu's first server release -- that one came two and a half years ago -- but this is the first one that is truly enterprise-ready, with a full specification sheet of features needed in complex business IT shops, including support for virtualization, enhanced performance and certification on an assortment of hardware from Sun Microsystems Inc.

And despite his excitement about the possibilities now that the operating system is done, Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth said he knows there's a lot of competition in the enterprise marketplace.

"We're modest about where we stand," Shuttleworth said. "We know we're a new entrant in that game and that we have a long way to go still."

In addition to releasing the new server edition of the operating system, Ubuntu also today released Version 8.04 desktop Linux. Both versions are now available for free download at Ubuntu's Web site. Both are LTS releases and will be supported by Ubuntu's commercial sponsor, Canonical Ltd., for five years, much longer than Ubuntu's standard 18-month support cycle, he said.

"The LTS [does] appeal to those who are making larger scale deployments," such as businesses, that want to replace their systems again for a long time," he said. "I think this is our most significant release ever."

The enterprise version is certified for use on a host of Sun x86 servers, Shuttleworth said, though it will not be offered as a preinstalled operating system by Sun. Other vendors have provided hardware for certification compatibility and other testing, which is pending.

"We're truly not yet seen by the hardware community as a preload candidate," Shuttleworth said, but the company is working with hardware vendors to try to encourage such partnerships.

Two key features in the new server release are built-in support for two virtualization platforms, the free software KVM platform and VMware's platform, as well as a "significant uptake in [independent software vendor] certifications" for enterprise applications that will run on the new operating system.

"There's a great portfolio of ISVs on the server side who've all indicated to us that they will certify on this release," he said, including Zend, Zimbra, Alfresco, VMware and others. "That's a very encouraging story. Perhaps the most important thing from my perspective is the fact that all of those ISVs are saying that they are now hearing quite consistently from customers that Ubuntu is now a very serious option for them both on the desktop and on the server."

So now that Ubuntu has an enterprise-ready server operating system, will the company begin following the model of other Linux vendors, such as Red Hat Inc., and create an offering for enterprise applications as well?

"No, I think I can categorically rule out ... any sort of shift from Canonical into the application space," Shuttleworth said. "We far prefer to partner with vendors of open-source and proprietary applications. That's been a key driver, for example, of strategy with virtualization. We've partnered with VMware. We make sure that Ubuntu meets their standards, that it is the most optimized and tested platform that we can make ... on their virtualization infrastructure."

"Ubuntu's focus will continue to be on the operating systems ... instead of eating away up the stack as other companies have done," he said.

Instead, he said, Ubuntu will continue to work with partner ISVs that are the true creators of application innovations.


"These are companies that are investing in the actual innovation itself, the evolution of the key components in that platform. It's very clear to me that we should not pursue a path that would put us in opposition or contention with those key partners. I would much rather learn how Ubuntu can be a sales channel for them, how Ubuntu could help drive their revenue rather than trying to identify the key pieces of the stack and try to acquire those."

"It's a very clear difference in our stated strategies between Ubuntu and some of the other players in the Linux space," he said. "I think that will deliver a more vibrant result for end users."

Intel plans to spend as much as US$500 million in Taiwan over the next five years on procurement and investing activities, the company said Monday.

A portion of that figure will be to promote WiMax technology on the island. The company Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the Taiwan government to establish a new company that will work with Taiwanese businesses on interoperability and other technology issues related to WiMax.

The time frame of the $500 million investment will be between 2008 and 2013, Intel said in a statement.

Company executives declined to comment on how much of the figure will be invested in WiMax, as compared to other activities. Intel procures computer motherboards and other products, as well as some contract manufacturing work from Taiwanese companies.

Taiwan is one of the world's largest makers of WiMax networking equipment, including base stations and PC cards. Companies on the island shipped $159 million worth of WiMax gear last year, up from just $22.6 million in 2006, according to the Market Intelligence Center, a publicly-funded researcher in Taiwan.

As PC users clamor for Microsoft to continue to support Windows XP, company CEO Steve Ballmer called the Vista OS "a work in progress" at an annual Seattle event on Thursday.

"It's a very important piece of work. We did a lot of things right and have a lot of things we need to learn from. You never want to let five years go between releases," he said.

While Microsoft recently extended the date when the XP software will be available for low-cost PCs, it doesn't plan to listen to some other complaints, including that Vista is too big. "Vista is bigger than XP and it's gonna stay bigger than XP," Ballmer said. "We have to make sure it doesn't get bigger still."


During the lively session, peppered with flag waving by a rowdy group of Canadians, hoots and applause, Ballmer spoke about a few other key areas that the company will focused on in the near future. "It's virtualization time for Microsoft," he said. "We're gonna make sure we democratize virtualization." Probably less than 5 percent of servers in the world are virtualized today, he said. "It's too darn expensive and too hard to manage. We intend to take major strides around addressing both of those."

He also said to expect more work from Microsoft in the search market. "There's an opportunity to knock the socks off in terms of innovation," he said.

Once Microsoft introduces some blog services later this year, Ballmer intends to ask its MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) to switch their default searches to Live Search for one week. After that week, he'll ask for their feedback about what they liked and what they didn't, as part of a broad effort to improve Microsoft's third-place standing in the search market.

Another key area for the future of Microsoft is services. Overall, the use of hosted services worldwide is small, but Ballmer expects that in two to three years there will be an inflection point after which millions of people will use hosted services, he said.

There are 4,000 Microsoft MVPs around the world, and nearly 1,800 of them gathered in Seattle this week for an annual summit. MVPs are technology experts who provide feedback to Microsoft about its products -- Ballmer said they are his favorite group to address.

The topics Ballmer tackled during his talk were sometimes similar, but much broader compared to the big issue that he, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft's founders, discussed while beginning to develop software at Harvard University. "Our strategy and mission have expanded," Ballmer said. In the very beginning, year after year, Allen would approach Gates with the idea to start building computers. And each time Gates sagely said, 'No, Paul, we're not hardware guys,'" Ballmer said. "We're on that same strategy 30 years later ... but we do have an expansive vision."

Positive Perceptions, Engaged Participants

Findings from formal and informal evaluation efforts indicate that participants in the Intel® Education Initiative programs have positive perceptions of program quality.

Teachers report feeling well-prepared to integrate technology and use student-centered instructional strategies after they have participated in the Intel® Teach Program.

Children are enthusiastic and engaged in the learning strategies they are exposed to in the Intel® Learn Program, which is bringing the future within reach for tens of thousands of young people in developing countries around the world.

The program is targeted to young learners in communities with little or no access to computers in homes or schools. This program teaches young people technical skills through hands-on learning in informal learning environments.

While developing these capabilities, learners also master skills necessary to compete in the 21st century, such as technology literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration. To develop the skills in analysis, problem solving, and adaptability, students must use technology in relevant, hands-on learning activities that require higher-order thinking.

Beyond Initial Perceptions: Measuring Impact

For Intel, perceptions of program quality reflected in formal and informal evaluations are instrumental in continuous improvement efforts.

The perceptions are also useful in demonstrating the value of Intel Education Initiative programs to school and district administrators, ministries of education, multilaterals, and even parents and other general community members.

Although these perceptions are, therefore, quite important, Intel's global evaluation commitment extends beyond studying the perceptions of program quality. Intel's evaluation commitment also encompasses the impact of the training on the teacher's ability to effectively integrate technology into the classroom and the student's ability to use the appropriate technology tools to support learning activities.

Telling the Stories of Impact

The international evaluation teams use a wide range of sources, such as surveys, observations, case studies, focus groups, and interviews, to reveal a rich and multidimensional description of the programs' impact on participants.

The stories of program impact revealed through this research, therefore, are best understood as both individual and collective. Data compiled from global investigations provide a comprehensive context for the anecdotes and testimonials collected from individual program participants, and the statements of teachers and students help illustrate the individual experiences that make up the global data set.

TEACHER IMPACT