Photo: Intel

Microchip giant Intel has been working on a new high-speed connection technology called Lightpeak, and it’s just been revealed that the company will start rolling it out on Thursday.

All about speed

Intel released a statement saying that this Thursday in San Francisco that they would be holding a ‘press briefing to discuss a new technology that is about to appear on the market’. On the same day at Intel’s campus, the company will be conducting technology and product demonstrations. In short, it’s definitely Lightpeak, and perhaps one or two other announcements.

What exactly is Lightpeak?

Development on Intel Lightpeak has been ongoing for years now. The technology is considerably faster than USB 3.0, with the ability to carry data at 10 gigabits per second. That’s right – 10GB/s in both direction at the same time. It’s absurdly quick. What’s more, Intel believes that they can scale the tech in future to an incredible 100GB/s transfer speed.

Intel isn’t shy to beat its chest about Lightpeak’s capability, with the tech’s webpage reading: ‘Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more.’

The Apple factor – and good timing

If you’ve been keeping your ears to the ground, you’ll also note that Apple is expected to make a major announcement of its own soon. The company is thought to be rolling out new Macbook Pros on Thursday, and various reports have suggested that Intel Lightpeak tech will be coming to Apple’s premiere laptops. So it seems fairly safe to say the reveal date is no coincidence, right?

Oh, and as some have pointed out, the first time Intel Lightpeak tech was demonstrated at a dev conference, it was using a computer that had Mac OS X as its software.

Everything is getting super quick

New Macbook Pros aside, it’s pretty exciting to see major computer manufacturers continue to focus efforts on technological improvements that may not earn that plaudits in consumer magazines and sites around the world, but are very necessary for the continued development of computing.

Photo: Masaru Kamikura / Flickr

On Tuesday, Lenovo unveiled its updated ThinkPad range. The major attraction for the Chinese computer manufacturer’s new PCs is the inclusion of Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors technology, as well as superior battery life when compared to previous models.

TLW models get TLC from Sandy Bridge

The company’s latest ThinkPad W, L and T computers run on Intel’s second generation Core i7, i5 and i3 respectfully. Not only does this mean the Lenovo Thinkpad range will get a major boost in processing prowess, the company’s power-saving features coupled with Sandy Bridge’s power-efficiency feature means the computers can run for longer, according to Lenovo’s Preston Taylor [via PC World].

That sure is a lot of battery life

Taylor gives an example of just how much juice the new Lenovo ThinkPad range has, citing the 14-inch ThinkPad T430 battery life lasting up to 15 hours. This is remarkable in itself, as well as a massive leap over the 11 hours its predecessor had.

From an Intel Sandy Bridge perspective, the silicon giant’s latest chipset features Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0 feature, where inactive cores are automated to shutdown so as to preserve battery power.

Release date and availability

Lenovo says the range will be available around the globe in March, made of quad- and dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3, 15, 16 processors, with clock speeds ranging from 2GHz to 2.7GHz. The entry level Thinkpad T520, which has a 15-inch display starts from $999, while the most expensive unit in the range, the ThinkPad W520, starts at a princely $1,529. The ThinPad T420 and T420S start as $1029 and $1,399 respectively.

Crossed the threshold

At 15 hours battery life, the latest Lenovo ThinkPad range has pretty much reached the promised land in terms of computing juice. It means one can go the whole day working on a single charge without stressing about finding power. Given I remember days when you could only get an hour and a half on one charge – and this is just three, four years ago – the convenience factor is definitely worth consideration. We’ll put these computers through their paces once review units arrive. Given how strong the current ThinkPads are, in terms of price to capability, we’re keenly optimistic.

Photo: Mike Turner / Flickr

Intel, the microchip giant, has laid bare its intention to dramatically increase production of Intel CPUs. With eyes set on expanding around the globe, the company has earmarked up to $8 billion (£4.92b) on its manufacturing facilities, including $5 billion (£3.07b) dedicated to building a brand new plant.

2013, we see you

In one of the most significant signs that a major tech company thinks the rumours of the world ending in 2012 are greatly exaggerated, Intel has eyes set on building a major, cutting edge chip factory in the state of Arizona, USA, come 2013. This high-tech plant, as well as one in Oregon, will see Intel spend in the region of $6 billion to $8 billion, boosting the US job market through the creation of 8,000 construction jobs.

This will allow the company to dramatically increase manufacturing of Intel CPUs in the US, as it looks to expand more aggressively into other markets around the globe.

Bad form doesn’t last forever

Intel, a long-term tech star, is comparable to a great footballer going through a bad patch of form, a la Wayne Rooney throughout most of this season. The company incurred major expenses when it had to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion in the interest of keeping the two companies out of court. Intel also had to recall its recently release Sandy Bridge next-generation processing technology after a long-term fault was discovered with the chipset. And, as if that’s not bad, the company’s brief fling with Nokia was broken up when Nokia decided to go steady with Microsoft.

All of that has added up to a FML period for the microchip giant, but Intel’s plans for the future indicate the company is already looking to put this bad patch behind it. We’ll see if Intel’s business, and Intel CPUs, make as spectacular a return as the aforementioned Wayne Rooney did recently.

Photo: JSFauxtaugraphy / Flickr

How do you own 80 per cent of the desktop CPU market and still concoct being in a position where you’re one of the tech industry’s biggest whipping bags at present? As crazy as that sounds, that’s exactly the position Intel is in.

Microsoft Nokia. FML.

In the wake of the great Microsoft Nokia hookup that you’ve no doubt read about a trillion times already, the biggest loser is without question Intel. Even though Nokia has committed to pressing on with MeeGo for a little bit still, there’s no sane app developer on the planet who will support a platform that will arrive in the world still-born.

This means the early stages of the Intel CPU smartphone play have been hobbled, since Intel’s biggest partner isn’t that focused on that partnership anymore. And, given the decline of netbook sales world over, it puts the entire Intel Atom chipset’s future at risk.

ARM. FML.

Incidentally, the Microsoft Nokia hookup has had the added effect of further slowing Intel’s long overdue charge for the mobile devices processing space now firmly in British-based ARM Holdings’ hands. And given that smartphone sales surpassed PC sales in a calendar year for the first time ever in 2010, with that gap looking likely to widen dramatically in coming years, it isn’t completely ridiculous to say Intel’s leadership in microprocessing technology could one day be under threat. Nothing necessitate Intel CPUs will always be the biggest sellers.

Sandy Bridge. FML.

However, with mobile processing technology, we’re talking Intel’s future. On the heels of Intel’s major Sandy Bridge recall, the tech giant’s present isn’t looking so rosy either. It was a financially costly mistake that also dented consumer, investor and partner confidence in the company and is an episode the microprocessing giant wants to put behind it.

Still, Microsoft Nokia aside, ARM aside, and even the Sandy Bridge snafu aside, owning 80 per cent of the desktop CPU market is enough Kleenex comfort for even the most bruised companies. Intel CPUs are still considered the best on the planet, and the company will invariably bounce back. Still, if ever a company had an FML moment, this period is certainly that for Intel.

Photo: Mike Turner / Flickr

When Intel recalled its Sandy Bridge processors, internal estimates pegged the damages at $1 billion. However, with Intel shipping 80 per cent of all chipsets in the world, the recall directly affected all of Intel’s partners – major PC vendors like Dell, HP, Samsung and Lenovo – who had already begun shipping the chipset.

8 million affected

The effect is not as widespread as it could have been, but 8 million Intel Sandy Bridge chipsets had been shipped, inconveniencing the vendors who had bundled them. HP was one of the earliest to announce it would issue refunds, while others like Samsung, who ship seven Intel Sandy Bridge laptop models already and Dell, who ship four, were affected. HP and Lenovo also have a few models between them.

What’s the cause?

When we reported on the Sandy Bridge recall, we wrote that: ‘Intel has pinpointed a problem with the SATA ports running in the chip, which the company fears “may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives”’. As to why this was only discovered after the Intel Sandy Bridge processors were shipped, Intel’s spokesperson Chuck Maloy attributed the late discovery to ‘stress tests conducted on the chipset’ and added that the problems didn’t surface during normal testing.

What must be particularly frustrating for Intel is the need to recall all of their processors, when only 5 per cent of the ones shipped were at risk. Stephen Smith, who is Intel’s vice president and direct of PC Client said that ‘It would be a low and continuing failure rate over the life of the systems’. Nevertheless, being unable to tell which Intel Sandy Bridge processors were affected, all had to be called back immediately, with Intel opting to suffer the acute pain now in lieu of losing consumer trust in the long run.

In the UK, however, it is still safe to buy Intel PCs, since the affected second-generation core chipset had yet to arrive on our shores, officially.

Photo: hugovk / Flickr

Tech journalists have learned to glean info on upcoming hardware in various ways. Sources and spy shots are up there with the obvious, and smartphones randomly left in bars being up their with the strangest. But this latest scoop – on what looks like Nokia and Intel’s MeeGo smartphone – has come from the unlikeliest of sources – a bug report.

That’s a beefy device

The bug report [via Intomobile] mentions an Intel-made 1.6GHz processor, an NFC chip, as well as a screen resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. What’s more, there’s also information relating to a proximity sensor, an accelerometer, and a compass, with the usual suspects wi-fi, GPS, Bluetooth and HSPA+ making an appearance in the bug report, too.

Coming soon

The long and short of it is if these are the specifications for the incoming MeeGo smartphone, that’s a hugely capable device, easily up there (and in excess of) the best on market at present. In addition, the perfect timing of the World’s biggest mobile devices conference, Mobile World Congress, means we could be seeing the fruit of Nokia and Intel’s smartphone labour this month already.

Okay, show time

Nokia and Intel, both tech icons, have been struggling in this current generation of smartphones. The fact of the matter is the sooner MeeGo arrives for the two companies, the better, and the collective hope is they knock it out of the park. Given their unusual positions as the ‘underdogs’, if you will, with their new mobile OS platform Nokia and Intel have the chance to prove the industry wrong about all the negativity.

At the same time, Nokia and Intel need this Meego smartphone to work out quite desperately. ARM Holdings is absolutely dominating Intel in the chips stake while Nokia’s market share continues to slip.

Photo: Intel do Brasil / Flickr

After months of anticipation in the build up to the launch of the new Sandy Bridge processors, as well as seeing them universally celebrated for delivering incredible speed, Intel has had to recall its entire Intel Sandy Bridge chipset range.

This is going to cost a fortune

The company had to recall all ‘Cougar Point’ chipset due to a problem with its design. Unfortunately this Series 6 chipset is used in every single Intel Sandy Bridge based desktop PC and laptop.

Outside of being an operative inconvenience, as well as a huge inconvenience to consumers who were anticipating the new chipset, its going to be a massive financial inconvenience, likely costing Intel a total of $1 billion (£620 mill). This massive cost is due to the company having to revise its Q1 revenue forecast by $300 million (£187 mill) this week, as well as incurring repair and replacement costs of the faulty chipset estimated in and around $700 million (£437 million).

What’s the actual cause?

Intel has pinpointed a problem with the SATA ports running in the chip, which the company fears ‘may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives’.

Long-term problem

The natural question is, ‘Why wasn’t this discovered before the silicon company began shipping their Intel Sandy Bridge chipset?’ Chuck Mulloy, who is a spokesperson for the company, said that the revelation occurred as a ‘result of stress tests conducted on the chipset. It didn’t show up under normal testing.’ He later added that ‘The problem wouldn’t happen immediately but after two to four years.’

When the chips are down

Intel is not having a good time of it, to put it lightly. The company faces stiff competition from ARM on mobile devices, is paying out $1.5 billion (£960) to Nvida to stay out of court and now this? Just to be on the safe side, if you’re planning on buying Intel processors some time soon, make sure they are not the second-generation Intel Core processors. These are the ones with the problems.

Photo: HighTechDad / Flickr

We always turn our nose to technology companies who turn to celebrities to rejuvenate their brand, or to make their brand cool with the kids. We were bemused when Kodak hired Lady Gaga as their creative director, but that yielded some interesting, if not completely functional results. Intel is making a similar bet, hiring Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am as Director of Creative Innovation.

Umm, that job title?

If we may just take a moment: ‘Director of Creative Innovation’? Seriously? Is innovation ever uncreative? What does that even mean? Is this what the post-celebrity endorsements world has come down to? Strange job titles?

Anyhow, Intel says that his unique roll means he will ‘collaborate with Intel on many creative and technology endeavors across the “compute continuum” that may include such devices as laptops, smart phones and tablets’. Does that mean he’ll actually give functional input, or merely his wacky multi-coloured, paint-myself-black-for-no-apparent-reason aesthetic input?

I got a feeling that we’re about to make more money!

Deserved sarcasm aside, Will says that: ‘Nearly everything I do involves processors and computers, and when I see an Intel chip I think of all the creative minds involved that help to amplify my own creativity.’

Wow, that’s a nice back rub. Give us more, Will: ‘Teaming up with the scientists, researchers and computer programmers at Intel to collaborate and co-develop new ways to communicate, create, inform and entertain is going to be amazing.’ There you have it from the man himself.

I’ll sing to you on the bridge, Sandy

On a more serious, real work, and not totally weird-celebrity-endorsements-as-employments world, Intel has worked its way back into the hearts of high-end computer lovers everywhere. The company’s second-generation Intel Core processors – widely known as Sandy Bridge – are, true to their promise, stupid fast, significantly boosting one’s computer’s capabilities. We’re still amazed at how big a difference they make, when compared to everything that preceded them.

Back to the focus, celebrity endorsements are nothing new, but this new age celebrity collaboration trend worries us.

Photo: McAfee

When Intel made the surprising bid to purchase security company McAfee, there were immediate anti-trust concerns, particularly in the EU region where regulators scrutinize major deals in excruciating detail. Word is Intel may have assuaged EU regulators in recent weeks, and is one step closer to swallowing the security company.

US Federal Trade cool, EU becoming cool

Given that McAfee is the world’s number two security company, behind only Symantec (the folks who make Norton), this deal was always going to come under a great deal of scrutiny in the US and with the European Commission.

Intel’s proposed $7.68 billion buy of McAfee has already been cleared by the US Federal Trade Commission, with sources telling Reuters the EU approval board is warming to the idea since Intel’s made concessions.

‘The Commission’s clearance is likely next week,’ the news agency was told by one of its sources.

What was being contested?

The natural questions are what concessions were made and what the sticking points were. Reportedly, the European Commission wanted Intel to allow competing products functionality on Intel’s offering without restrictions.

The primary concern was that Intel, who is by far the number one microprocessing chip maker in the world, would use the McAfee acquisition by embedding elements of the anti-virus tech into their chips, thus giving Intel an unfair advantage over competitors.

Side-by-side sales

With the explosion of web content, and the millions of hazards that accompany it now, online security has become a major concern. So it makes sense for Intel to make a play in the space.

What it comes down to, ultimately, is the distinction between software and hardware ‘blurring’ rapidly, and the European Commission doesn’t want any single big player in either space to gain an unfair advantage as a result of this.

Given that anti-virus software is big business with massive margins, Intel will want this to close in a hurry.

Photo: Josh Bancroft / Flickr

When Intel bought Infineon’s Wireless Solutions business last year, one of the big attractions was that the unit was a key supplier for Apple’s iPhone. And as long as Apple’s iOS devices keep selling ridiculous units, Intel will make good money from that.

Obviously the chip manufacturer realised that the Apple deal wasn’t permanent, and they could lose it to other competitors, and so they factored it into their risk assessment of buying the business. Still, though, who wants to be the person making the phone call to the bosses telling them that they have already lost the business to Qualcomm, if rumours are to be believed?

Alas…

Well, if an Engadget report on the specifications of the iPhone 5 and iPad 2 is to be believed, that is exactly what has happened. Apparently both devices are set to use a new Qualcomm chipset, which supports both GSM data and CDMA data.

What this means is there’ll no longer be any need for Apple to build a dedicated CDMA iPhone/iPad and a dedicated GSM iPhone/iPad, since one device will be able to handle both. Incidentally, it also means the Infineon wireless business Intel bought will lose out to Qualcomm, since it is those very chips the Qualcomm ones will replace.

ARM smiles

While mainstream eyes are focused on the battle for dominance between Apple, Google Android and Windows Phone 7 on the mobile OS front, industry observers are very interested in what is happening underneath the hood, especially with regards to processing power. Intel is finding itself in an unusual position, trailing ARM who have fast become a major player in mobile devices and, by extension, the future of microprocessing in general.

iPad 2 and iPhone 5 details

Incidentally, the iPhone 5 is scheduled for its usual US summer release – i.e. June/July – while the iPad 2 is scheduled for an April release. The smartphone’s release date is hardly surprising since, well, that’s the same period it’s released in for four years in a row now.

Nevertheless we think the Infineon wireless business under Intel’s control will be fine, but you can be sure that it has caused some annoyance.