Toshiba won't bring any new netbooks to the US market, a company executive told Liliputing. This means that the NB510 netbook powered by Intel's Atom N2600 processor introduced at CES won't be sold in the US. Instead, Toshiba America will sell ultrabook computers, which are lighter and thinner, but also more expensive.
Intel crossed a milestone Thursday and confirmed that its first shipping Intel-based phone would be the Lava Xolo X900. The phone is due both online and in Croma stores in Lava's native India on April 23, when it will cost 22,000 rupees ($422) off-contract. Despite early hopes, it will ship with Android 2.3 at first and get 4.0 relatively soon afterwards.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini during a call discussing his company's latest results revealed that the first phone with one of its company's processors would at last be shipping this week. The executive didn't name the specific phone, but it may be the Lenovo K800, which had originally been promised for May. Other candidates could include the Orange Santa Clara or its near-identical cousin, the Lava Xolo X900.
Intel had relatively lackluster results that showed a dampened PC environment with most of its hope resting in the future. Its revenue was flat from year to year, at $12.9 billion. Intel hadn't divulged its exact PC Client group revenue in 2011 results, but it noted that the mostly desktop- and notebook-focused group's revenue was down seven percent from this past fall, to $8.5 billion.
Intel's Developer Forum in Beijing has slipped out a new set of guidelines for Intel-based Windows 8 tablets. The chip designer wants tablets based on its Atom Z2760 chip to largely fit in with a 10-inch, touch-only tablet or a 11-inch version with a keyboard, CNET saw in its copy of the hardware advice. All of the dimensions would be targeted at matching or beating the iPad, with weight under 1.5 pounds, thicknesses below 0.35 inches, and over none hours of at least theoretical battery life.
When the full Corpora website goes live on April 18, it will allow visitors to pre-order the Qbo open-source robot. Qbo runs Linux operating on its x86 component hardware, letting developers experiment with their code. It will be available in three models, with the entry-level one coming as a kit buyers will need to assemble on their own.
Intel China chairman Sean Maloney at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing on Wednesday said many Intel-based tablets with Windows 8 are coming before year's end. He went on to say the company is working with 10 Chinese and global hardware makers on such tablets, but didn't name them. The most likely candidate chip to power the tablets is the Atom Z2460, also dubbed Medfield internally.
Lenovo's Intel-powered K800 (hands-on) is expected to arrive in North America by the end of May, according to Intel's China Chairman, Sean Maloney. The K800 is the first smartphone to run Intel's 1.6GHz Atom Medfield processor, although it may launch with an x86-compatible variant of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), instead of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Google has developed an x86-compatible version of ICS, although it is not known whether it will arrive in time on the K800 for its US launch.
Intel just officially announced its Studybook tablet for students. Part of the company's Learing Series, the device sports a rugged design and is preloaded with tailored educational software. The seven-inch tablet sports a 1024x600-resolution touchscreen and a 1.2GHz Atom Z650 processor. In a unique touch, it can be made to run on either Android or Windows 7, depending on the wishes of the school district that buys it.
The first CPU from Intel to be based on the company's 14nm manufacturing process will be the Atom Z2580, SemiWiki reported recently. Production is likely to begin early in 2013, and the chip will fill an as-yet-untapped market necessity. The Z2580 will support 4G LTE networks but be very energy-efficient, making it ideal for use in tablets and smartphones.
Nissan and Intel have forged a relationship to integrate the latter's Atom chips into some of the former's vehicles. Only higher-end vehicles will be equipped with these Atom-powered in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems starting in 2013, however, and will likely first appear in Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti. The Infiniti LE electric car concept was just unveiled earlier on Thursday at the New York International Auto Show sporting the twin-display IVI.
A new discovery within Chromium OS bug tracking has suggested that Chrome OS is not only close to using ARM but may use one of its fastest processors. Thomas Taschauer has spotted numerous references to "Daisy," an unknown device that would use Samsung's Exynos 5250. The 2GHz, ARM Cortex-A15-based chip could both significantly improve battery life and thinness while making a Chrome OS device as fast or faster than current Intel Atom Chromebooks.
Intel through a combination of a Linux driver posting by its own engineer Jesse Barnes, as well as roadmap presentations by Advantech PPT 1, PPT 2), has given a peek at a major upgrade to the Atom platform due in early 2013. The processor, Valley View, would run on a Balboa Pier chipset and improve both the baseline performance as well as visuals. Chips would carry as many as four cores, and the graphics would be the same as in Ivy Bridge, giving about a fourfold improvement over the existing Cedar View and Cedar Trail platforms.
Intel's smart TV efforts got a lift early in the week with a newly updated Atom chip for digital media hubs. The CE5300, nicknamed Berryville, is its first 32-nanometer chip of its kind. Details are short, although it should carry two cores, "advanced" graphics with H.264 B-frame hardware encoding, and support both Hyperthreading (for up to four code threads at once) as well as virtual machines.
Intel is in the midst of developing its own online TV streaming service and hardware to match, leaks disclosed Monday. It would create a form of virtual TV that would sell access in cable- and satellite-style bundles, the Wall Street Journal understood. While possibly a white box service that would let others put their own badge on top, Intel would sometimes run under its own name.
Browser benchmark tests performed at CeBIT by Caschys Blog on a Medfield phone reveal strong performance. The handset, due out at carrier Orange in France this June as the Santa Clara, was tested using Rightware and Vellamo. In the former, which measures JavaScript and HTML rendering performance, it beat out the iPhone 4S' 87801 score, at 89180, while falling behind the Galaxy Nexus' top 98272 performance.
Sony may be readying its hybrid slate for a market launch. Pocketnow has posted a picture of the company's marketing collateral which shows the tablet/notebook cross bearing the "Vaio U" series label. Sony had shown off a prototype of the device concept, sporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, at CES back in January.
As expected, Intel and Indian phone maker Lava have debuted a new, Medfield-powered handset at MWC, the Xolo X900. It uses Intel's Medfield platform and gets a 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 chip. The screen is 4.03 inches in size and will have an HDMI port for HD video playback. There will also be an NFC radio onboard for wallet-less payments.
Intel and Orange confirmed late rumors in the evening and previewed the Santa Clara, the first officially launching Intel-based phone. Built behind the scenes by Taiwan's Gigabyte, the phone we first saw at CES will run Intel's new 1.6GHz Medfield-based chip as well as Intel's 21Mbps HSPA 3G chipset from its recent acquisition target Infineon. While not a high-end phone, it should potentially outperform many others at a similar price.
Intel has reportedly teamed with Lava to create a new series of smartphones based on Medfield-series Atom chips. The Indian handset maker is said to be preparing to introduce a new smartphone brand for the Medfield devices, rather than sticking with its own branding that is currently tied to feature phones and a single budget-priced Android handset.
Intel is readying a new dual-core Atom-based chip with a digital 2.4GHz Wi-Fi receiver built into the same die. Dubbed Rosepoint, the new architecture is built on a 32nm process and will show for the first time as a research project (PDF) at ISSCC 2012 in San Francisco. For end-users, devices equipped this technology significantly improve power consumption and produce a more reliable Wi-Fi connection than current analogue-based receivers.
The Intel-based Android phone shown off at CES may have secretly been the prototype for a production phone. A survey taker showed a sample description to Coolsmartphone that implied the phone was the London, a phone that would be branded by European carrier Orange. Along with its look, the specifications lined up closely, including the 1.6GHz Atom chip and the rapid-fire, 10-photo burst shooting.
Motorola's recent partnership with Intel may manifest itself soon if a possibly leaked render is accurate. The shot captured by PocketNow showed a silver, wedge-shaped design with no buttons on the front. Appropriately, it would be using Android 4.0 and appeared to have a handful of tweaks, such as a hybrid battery/time/weather widget and badges for missed messages.
Multiple sources stated Monday that the ARM-native version of Windows 8 is in good enough shape to reach developers in February. The release was deemed "quite stable" by CNET contacts, which had been told by hardware partners to anticipate a release sometime in February. There was no indication that Microsoft planned to separate the Intel- and ARM-based versions of Windows.
HP showed the changing roles of netbooks on Monday with the introduction of its first new netbook for 2012, theMini 1104. The 10-inch netbook is focused on schools and business and primarily adds Intel's faster Cedar Trail-era 1.6GHz Atom N2600 for faster graphics and overall performance. It comes with Computrace Pro and a TPM security chip to help track the netbook if it's stolen.
Intel on Friday shook up its executive structure at both technical and formal levels. To reward Dadi Perlmutter's responsibility for the chip architecture group, he would be promoted to the spot of chief product officer to take up responsibilities given by newly full-time executive chairman Andy Bryant. He would still head up architecture, but would take on a wider responsibility.
Intel has posted its full-year financial details, pointing to a record year with $54.2 billion in overall revenue. The chip maker's profits were up nearly six percent in the fourth quarter, as its PC client division posted a 17-percent jump in revenue for both the fourth quarter and the entire year.
Sony had a surprisingly large number of prototype devices at CES 2012, including a pure tablet. Those were only a small piece of its prototypes. We revisited to catch the rest as well as to see just how Sony was gearing up what looked to be a more direct challenge to Apple for 2012.
An insistence on earlier pricing policies from Intel and Microsoft may put Windows 8 tablets out of contention, notebook PC builders getting into the field claimed Monday. Intel was reported by Digitimes contacts as unwilling to cut profit margins on its Clover Trail-based Atom chips, while Microsoft wasn't planning on trimming its Windows 8 price. As such, Intel-based Windows 8 tablets might start at a minimum $599 and scale up to $899, all well over the benchmark $499 price of the iPad.
Intel is currently showing off a Lenovo tablet, the IdeaTab K2110, that appears to be the first Atom-based Android device to run the latest Ice Cream Sandwich build. The tablet utilizes the same Atom Z2460 processor that powers Intel's own Medfield smartphone reference design and Lenovo's K800 Android smartphone that are also on hand this week at CES.
Lenovo brought its new Atom-powered smartphone, the K800, to a special event following Intel's keynote at CES. Electronista had a chance to try out the unique device, which is expected to be the first Android handset to arrive on the market equipped with Intel's mobile processor.
Although Intel is focusing on ultrabooks this week at CES, the company also brought along a prototype Android handset referred to by the CPU code-name Medfield. Electronista had a chance to try out the Atom-based platform, which aims to compete with ARM-based hardware utilized by most Android smartphones.
Sony in the aftermath of its CES 2012 opener began showing a slew of unmentioned concepts and prototypes at its booth. Among the examples was a new, mystery VAIO tablet concept behind a glass case. The new device, presumably intended to run Windows 8, had an all-rounded design with an aluminum back and a separate, illuminated, capacitive touch keyboard.
An upcoming Toshiba NB510 netbook with Intel's Cedar Trail Atom chip has been spotted by Notebook Italia. The PC will get a choice of Atom N2600 or N2800 processors and sport 1GB of RAM along with a 320GB hard drive. It sports a 10.1-inch, 1024x600 screen and is preloaded with Windows 7 Starter Edition.
PC gaming peripherals maker Razer has released a teaser video for a mysterious new gadget it plans to reveal at CES on January 10. A video put up on the company's 'PC gaming is not dead' website (and embedded below) suggests something called Project Fiona will be unveiled. The video shows gameplay from Assassin's Creed Revelations, Tom Clancy's Hawx2, and FireFall, suggesting hardware capable of supporting these titles is coming. This may indicate a revamped or follow-up version of the SwitchBlade handheld gaming PC, which was unveiled at last year's CES as a prototype, may arrive.
ASUS has given a tease of the full strategy for the Eee PC 1200 series with renders and details of how they'll appear at CES. Now called the Eee PC Flare, the netbooks will have curvier designs colored almost end-to-end, with black, blue, red, and purple wrapping around the entire body. They should have a MacBook-style hinge that brings the display behind the base as well as a chiclet keyboard and a 'stealth' trackpad.
Acer and Lenovo are putting their faith in Intel-based Windows 8 tablets for the summer, part suppliers claimed Monday. The two, according to Digitimes, would depend on Intel's tablet-oriented Clover Trail Atom platform. No details existed for the tablets, although Clover Trail would help get thinness and battery life closer to ARM tablets like the iPad and some future Windows 8 models.
Pricing for a new Intel Cedar Trail-based Acer netbook have popped up in Europe. The Acer Aspire One D270 (AOD270) is a 10.1-inch said to be running the newer, faster 1.6GHz Atom N2600 processor. The D270 is also believed to come equipped with 1GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. It will be available with either a three-cell or six-cell battery.
A rumor spread Friday has asserted that LG will be the first to make phones using Intel's Medfield platform for Atom chips. Citing unnamed executives from both companies, the Korea Times would have LG use the CES expo to show at least one Android smartphone running on an Atom. When it would ship, if at all, wasn't apparent.
Lenovo has quietly chosen to show a netbook without waiting for CES. Both an official teaser video (below) and a listing at ProVantage point to the 10-inch mini PC being Lenovo's first with Cedar Trail-based Atom chips that should give a big lift to graphics and 64-bit OS support. It would carry a 98 percent of full-size keyboard and get relatively advanced extras such as USB 3.0 and a two-megapixel webcam.
The first tablet running Android 3 on Intel's Medfield platform has been spotted out in the wild by AndroidCommunity. While the Medfield tablets and smartphones are expected to be officially unveiled at CES, this latest leak reveals some tech specs. The 10.1-inch tablet will have a version of Android 3 preloaded and likely use a dual-core 1.6GHz processor. The source said the build quality of the tablet is great, with a hefty weight and thin build.
Intel ushered in what might be the swansong for netbooks on Wednesday by finally shipping Atom processors based on its Cedar Trail platform. Confirming rumors of another delay, it was shipping the 1.6GHz N2600 and 1.83GHz N2800 with the expectation that they would be available in early 2012. Familiar netbook supporters Acer, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba had pledged new systems using the chips.
A new discovery Tuesday has shown that Intel's Medfield chip for smartphones and tablets could temporarily claim the performance lead when it ships. Benchmarks at VR-Zone of a 1.6GHz example of the new Atom had it reach a score of 10,500 in Caffeinemark 3, an Android test for Java. The best ARM chip in the test, the 1.2GHz Exynos from the Samsung Galaxy S II, scored 8,500 points and let Intel take a roughly 24 percent lead.
New details have emerged of a shift in Intel's Atom strategy as it backs off of netbooks. The previously hinted-at Centerton platform is now said by Digitimes to be refocused on network-attached storage (NAS) hubs for the home and basic servers. It should be an all-in-one, system-on-a-chip design using a modern 32-nanometer process; past tips have pointed to it supporting 64-bit software and single-stick 8GB memory while running at 1.6GHz.
Intel in a rare step gave a hands-on test of its Medfield-based Atom phone and tablet reference designs to MIT. The institute's Technology Review in testing the Android 2.3-based phone called it "powerful and pleasing," noting that it could play "Blu-ray-quality" video with wireless TV streaming and could shoot burst photos at up to 15FPS for 10 shots. It was "on a par" with newer Android and iPhone hardware, according to the close look.
Intel later on Wednesday confirmed talk that it was uniting divisions to boost its poor standing in mobile. The mobile communications, mobile wireless, netbook and tablet, and ultramobile groups under one single mobile and communications group. It would be headed up by Mike Bell, a former iPhone team member who left Apple in 2010, and by ex-Infineon veteran Hermann Eul.
A series of early benchmark tests centering around the upcoming Intel Atom N2600 have been performed by NetbookLive. The low-power Cedar Trail chip uses 32nm architecture and uses dual cores to attain its 1.6GHz clock speed, though these specs aren't yet official. Intel's integrated HD 3600 graphics running at 400MHz are onboard and it should support as much as 2GB of RAM.
The Chinese-made copy of the MacBook Air introduced back in October has just been reviewed by MIC Gadget. The $500 notebook obviously falls short of the original, which starts at $1,000. The body is not as thin, it outweighs the Apple product, and the body is plastic with a coat of matte finish.
The unofficial first Android 4.0 x86 port won't get help from Intel, the company's Google program lead Alec Gefrides said in an interview Friday. He noted to EE Times that the Android-x86 project, which is focused on bringing Android to traditional PCs, was largely a straight compile of the basic source code with generic PC support that wasn't Intel's focus. Intel was focused only on optimizing Android for Atom-based phones and tablets, and a spokeswoman added that supporting Android-x86 might fragment the platform further.
Intel is giving Windows-based ultrabook makers a $100 discount to help them try to undercut Apple on price, part suppliers in Taiwan claimed late Tuesday. Designers were getting the "marketing subsidy" in a move that Digitimes understood would lead to prices dropping five to ten percent below the $1,000 mark. The drop would follow an earlier cut expected before the end of 2011 and would presumably come from Intel's $300 million ultrabook fund.
