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Intel quad-core 'ValleyView' system-on-a-chip coming

Intel's system-on-a-chip design for small devices is slated to go quad core.

Leaked Intel documents dated August 15 have appeared on a Chinese-language Web site that indicate Intel's next-generation system-on-a-chip (SoC) will be offered in configurations that include quad-core, a first for Intel's Atom chip design, according to a report at CPU World.

At the risk of wading too deeply into a codename quagmire, the Atom 22-nanometer architecture is dubbed "Silvermont" and the SoCs are referred to as "ValleyView."

The chips will also get punched-up graphics. ValleyView SoCs will integrate a graphics processing … Read more

Rare footage captures real sound of 1953 A-bomb blast

Odds are that not many folks out there have seen a nuclear explosion up close. And it turns out that most of the films we've seen are dubbed or contain stock blast sound effects, a point I wasn't aware of before coming across a blog curated by Alex Wellerstein, an historian of science at the American Institute of Physics.

Most films of nuclear explosions got dubbed. If they do contain an actual audio recording of the test blast itself (something I'm often suspicious of -- I suspect many were filmed silently and have a stock blast sound … Read more

Atom Ukelele for pickin' and grinnin' with chemistry

The Atom Ukelele is a $700 custom-made Etsy offering with a maple body and neck. It's a four-string uke, but its most outstanding feature is the atomic age design of the body. Happy little red electrons sit in stasis around the nucleus of the sound hole.

Celentano Woodworks is the creator behind this sweet stringed beauty. It's part of a lineup of unusual ukes including instruments that look like a shark, a toy rocket, Pac-Man, and a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot.… Read more

How Nevada became America's Nuclear Age ground zero

MERCURY, Nev. -- From the side that faced away from the blast, you might never even have bothered to look at this concrete dome. But walk around the other side, and there's no question something extraordinary happened here.

Welcome to the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test Site. As part of Road Trip 2012, I've come to visit this 1,375-square-mile expanse of harsh desert and even harsher mountains that begins about 75 miles north of Las Vegas. Here, from 1951 through 1992, a total of 928 nuclear weapons exploded, many of them sending … Read more

Leap second: June 30 to be longer than other days

Oh good, I can get one second more sleep the night of June 30. In an effort to keep our extremely accurate atomic clocks in line with the more arbitrary nature of the way the world wobbles, we're getting a leap second this weekend.

Sure, it's not as dramatic as what happens during a leap year, but it's still exciting for clock aficionados, science geeks, and time lords. The leap second will be added to Coordinated Universal Time at the end of the day on June 30.… Read more

Orange San Diego available in the U.K. on June 6

While the debate of what San Diego translates to in German still rages on, what is known for sure is that Orange's new device, named after said sunny California town, is going to hit U.K. stores on June 6.

According to Engadget, the phone will cost about $247 USD on a pay-as-you-go plan. With a two-year agreement, however, the handset will be priced at $20 a month.

We first caught wind of the Intel-powered device at Mobile World Congress, back when it was known as the Orange Santa Clara.

Though I'm sad to see the NorCal moniker … Read more

Lenovo, Intel launch K800 phone sporting 4.5-inch display

As expected, Lenovo and Intel jointly announced the K800 smartphone today in China -- the second phone powered by Intel silicon to hit the market.

In addition to the 1.6GHz Atom processor, the K800 boasts a 4.5-inch 720x1,280 IPS display, 1.3MP/8MP front-rear cameras, Intel wireless display technology for steaming video to a compatible HDTV, and an Android 2.3.7-based operating system.

The K800 will run on China Unicom's network. The phone supports HSPA+.

Lenovo follows the first Intel phone, the Lava Xolo 900 launched in India last month.

Smartphones running on Intel processors … Read more

Intel-inside Lenovo K800 phone coming next week

Lenovo is expected to announce its K800 smartphone next week in China, according to a source familiar with Lenovo's plans -- the second phone powered by Intel silicon.

In addition to the 1.6GHz Atom processor, the K800 boasts a 4.5-inch 720x1280 IPS display, 1.3MP/8MP front-rear cameras, Intel wireless display technology for steaming video to a compatible HDTV, and an Android 2.3.7-based operating system.

Other features include HDMI-out, near-field communication (NFC), and Intel wireless display technology for steaming video to a compatible HDTV.

Lenovo's phone will run on China Unicom's network. The … Read more

Intel to investors: Now we're serious about smartphones

Intel has a message for investors and the rest of the tech industry: We're dead serious about smartphone chips now. (Finally, wags might add.)

At its annual investor day on Thursday, Intel reiterated that its first dual-core smartphone processor, the "Medfield" Z2580, is coming later this year and will be offered with Intel-branded 4G LTE silicon.

And to drive home its commitment to phones, CEO Paul Otellini said that phone chip development will move ahead at "twice the rate of Moore's Law." Put another way, chip development that would ordinarily take six years will … Read more