intel

Sony said to be developing online TV service

Word on the street is that Sony is creating a Net-connected multichannel television service that could roll out as soon as this year, according to Variety. Purportedly, the company is in talks with at least two big content companies about channel licensing.

Such a service would put Sony in direct competition with both satellite and cable TV, as well as other tech companies that are branching out into the television market, such as Intel; Google, with Google Fiber; and Dish.

This isn't the first time rumors have floated that Sony has been looking to develop a TV service. In … Read more

Special Intel 'Ivy Bridge' chips to enable new laptops, tablets

Intel will talk more about limited-run versions of its Ivy Bridge processor next week at the Consumer Electronics Show. Those chips are expected to be used by select laptop and tablet vendors, as the chipmaker tries to take on rivals with increasingly power-efficient Core series silicon.

"Limited SKUs" of Intel's 3rd Generation processor, aka Ivy Bridge, will have a power rating below 10 watts, allowing the processor to throttle down to a sub-10-watt power envelope, an Intel spokesperson told CNET. This "will enable new ultrabook designs" and the chip is "coming very soon," … Read more

Power on: Intel's cable TV box could debut at CES

Intel may offer a peek at its rumored cable TV set-top box to people attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

An unnamed source inside Intel said that the first working version of the chipmaker's set-top box will be shown at Intel's CES event on January 7, according to tips received by TechCrunch. A video distribution industry source familiar with Intel's plans also told the blog site that the rollout of the new service will start "soon," but couldn't provide a specific date.

TechCrunch's source further said that Intel is … Read more

Suppliers hint at changes to MacBook Air -- Digitimes

One of the first MacBook Air rumors of the season alludes to internal changes but few external tweaks.

A fresh report from the not-always-reliable Taipei-based Digitimes claims the "industrial design will not see any major changes" in 2013.

Apple introduced the accentuated wedge aesthetic in late 2010 (see photo above), so about a year and a half will have transpired if new MBAs are introduced in the first half of 2013.

The report makes no mention of displays, but that's an area of intense focus for Apple. The high end of the MacBook Pro line now sports … Read more

Could PBS Silicon Valley doc spawn 'Mad Men' for geek set?

Somehow "Mad Men" just sounds cooler than "Sili Men." Still, there's no telling what sort of martini and microchip soaked show some wild-eyed TV exec might concoct after seeing PBS' upcoming "American Experience" documentary on the origins of Silicon Valley.

Take a peek at the photo above. Just look at that chrome-y Fairchild Semiconductor logo in that oh-so-midcentury interior. Check out those natty suits and spectacles. And (sigh) look at that dreamy, tieless rebel in the foreground -- he makes Don Draper look like a wuss.… Read more

Intel-based Windows 8 tablet beats Surface, but 'bug' cited

A fresh review of a Windows 8 Acer tablet by chip site Anandtech shows it beating ARM-based devices pretty consistently on central processor unit performance benchmarks but not on graphics. The site also noted a "bug" that has delayed the release of some Intel-based tablets.

"The [Intel] Atom architecture is still faster than every single ARM based [processor] core on the market today with the exception of the Cortex A15," -- ARM's newest chip design -- wrote Anandtech when it posted a review of the Acer W510 today.

Intel's Atom z2760 "Clover Trail&… Read more

Intel-based Windows 8 tablets see spotty availability

A tablet from Hewlett-Packard running the full version of Windows 8 is expected to finally ship to customers, though a full Win 8 tablet doesn't appear to be imminent from Lenovo.

HP's Envy x2 laptop-tablet hybrid "convertible" was originally slated for November 14 availability but is now expected to reach customers soon, HP said.

"Customers can expect to receive an Envy x2...in January, if they order today. Customers who ordered their units on Dec. 3 or prior are expected to receive their PC by Dec. 21 at the latest," an HP representative told … Read more

The PC's past and Intel's future

Is the desktop PC on the road to oblivion? Well, let's put it this way: it's hardly an Intel priority anymore.

Yeah, desktops will still be around in 2016, but it's not something Intel -- which makes most PC processors -- thinks about a lot.

Survival in the age of the big-screen smartphone and tablet is what Intel thinks about.

A recent 75-page study from Goldman Sachs titled "Clash of the Titans" puts it, rather delicately, this way: "We believe the ongoing share shift in consumer computing toward smartphones and tablets and away from … Read more

Intel discusses shift to system-on-a-chip tech

Intel today disclosed technology that it hopes will get more of its silicon inside smartphones and tablets.

At the International Electron Devices Meeting, Intel laid out its next-generation 22-nanometer "SoC" system-on-a-chip technology. An SoC puts most of a device's core functions onto one piece of silicon and is typically used in mobile devices where space and power efficiency are paramount.

"In the past...we were focused primarily on developing transistors with ever higher performance," Mark Bohr, an Intel senior fellow, said to journalists in a teleconference. "Now we're developing technologies with a much … Read more