core

Intel describes its 'Y' chips ambitions for tablets

LAS VEGAS--Intel is trying to move its chips from below the keyboard to behind the glass.

In other words, more emphasis on the tablet half of the equation.

Behind the glass: "We believe...detachables are fundamentally different," Adam King, Intel's director of notebook marketing, said in an interview with CNET, referring to laptop designs with displays that can be removed from the base to become standalone tablets.

"The point of differentiation is that the processor is...behind the glass," he said.

"Detachables we think of as a tablet first. Because when you take it … Read more

Samsung announces new Octa 8-core processor at CES 2013

Samsung CEO Stephen Woo unveiled a new super 8-core micro processor during a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.

The Exynos5 Octa is a processor that has two sets of four-core processors each. It's made to run intense apps while also conserving energy when handling basic tasks, Woo told the audience. He showed off a few demos of the new processor. The key function of the chip is to allow users to do several things at once while also making sure that the battery is not drained too quickly.

In one demo, he showed … Read more

Metrics for Intel's power-frugal Ivy Bridge chips questioned

The yardstick used for Intel's new power-frugal chips is being questioned in article posted by Ars Technica.

The article, titled "Power saving through marketing: Intel's '7 watt' Ivy Bridge CPUs," asserts that Intel may have been over-aggressive with its power-efficiency claims.

More specifically, the 7-watt Ivy Bridge processors Intel announced on Monday at CES are actually specified by Intel on its site as 13 watts, the article says.

"The 7-watt number advertised during Intel's keynote yesterday is actually from a new metric, 'scenario design power' (SDP), which purports to measure how much power the … Read more

At CES, tablets go full-bore Core, get 'real' Intel processors

LAS VEGAS--With Intel now pushing its mainstream processors into tablets and convertibles, some PC vendors are opting for high-performance designs that offer no-holds-barred performance.

Lenovo is delivering probably the best example. The PC maker announced the ThinkPad Helix at CES (see video below) which is built around Intel's low-power "Ivy Bridge" Core i5 and Core i7 chips.

Surprisingly, Lenovo's Helix doesn't skimp on battery life, offering a total of 10 hours when used in conjunction with its keyboard base.

So, why would Lenovo stick an ultrabook chip in a tablet? Intel's most power efficient … Read more

Intel CES preview: Quad-core 'Bay Trail' coming

LAS VEGAS--Intel plans to emphasize power efficiency and better performance in small devices, among other new tech at its Consumer Electronics Show event in Las Vegas this afternoon.

Here are some key technologies that Intel expects to talk about:

Bay Trail: a 22-nanometer system-on-a-chip processor sporting a quad-core design. In short, it's a redesign of the Atom processor boasting better performance. Power-frugal Ivy Bridge: The Ivy Bridge chip in virtually all new PC models today is being tweaked so it can be slipped into high-end tablets and skinnier ultrabooks and convertibles. Intel calls it "sub 10-watt." Haswell: … Read more

Quad-core smartphone shootout

Until now, smartphones with quad-core processors used to be just a twinkle in the eye of wistful Android addicts and gadget gurus. Either that or they remained exotic pieces of futuristic hardware reserved for foreigners. Quad-core handsets are now starting to arrive in force. The question is: which device packs the biggest CPU wallop? This chart lays it all out with deeper analysis below.

Phone HTC One X+ LG Nexus 4 LG Optimus G HTC Droid DNA Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Processor 1.7GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon … Read more

How to make a custom CoreStorage drive in OS X

CoreStorage is Apple's volume manager that provides an interface between the OS and physical volumes on the drive. It was introduced in OS X Lion for its full-disk encryption options with FileVault 2, but in addition allows for volume spanning, where multiple drives in the system can be combined into one logical volume for the OS to use.

The CoreStorage volume-spanning feature not only increases a single volume's storage beyond the capacity of a single drive, it also prioritizes storage to the primary drive in its logical volume. This means that if you use an SSD as the … Read more

Curtains for cursive? Typing replaces handwriting in schools

The slow demise of cursive handwriting is not a new story, but lately the death knell has been tolling a little louder. In a recent example, the State Board of Education of Kansas is about to debate the role of cursive lessons in the schools amid a nationwide decline in those lessons.

School districts large and small have been phasing out cursive. Verona, Wis., will phase out most third-grade cursive instruction by 2014. Indiana formally de-emphasized cursive last year in favor of pushing proficiency in keyboard use.

Common Core State Standards for what students are expected to learn have been picked up by most of the states in the union. Those standards don't require cursive. Keyboarding skills, however, are featured in the writing standards. That means most states no longer have a mandate for teaching cursive.… Read more

Analysts: iPad 4's graphics upgrade packs a punch

At its silicon core, the fourth-generation iPad is hardly an incremental upgrade, according to chip analysts.

The new iPad's A6X chip packs a brand-new graphics engine that boasts a serious step up in horsepower from the third-generation iPad's A5X.

"Nothing's incremental about this. The A6X is one massive processing machine," Jim Morrison, a product manager at Chipworks, which does reverse engineering and patent-infringement analysis of semiconductors and electronic systems, told CNET.

Chipworks posted an analysis of the A6X's circuit layout today.

Apple's newest chip is a full 30 percent larger than the A6 … Read more

Windows 8 touch-screen Acer laptop, desktop up for sale

An Acer touch-screen Windows 8 laptop has popped up on the Home Shopping Network, along with other systems.

Brace yourself: touch-screen laptops will not be cheap.

Most of the specs are pretty underwhelming: a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U "Ivy Bridge" processor, 750GB hard disk drive, DVD drive, a thickness of over an inch (that's considered plump in the age of the ultrabook), and a weight of 5.4 pounds.

But one hardware feature sets it apart from the Windows 7 rabble: a 15.6-inch touch screen to go with Windows 8's touch-centric interface.

And that … Read more