Processors

Laptop using future Intel 'Haswell' chip surfaces

Intel's new "Haswell" chip design is just around the corner. But we're already getting a peek at finished products, courtesy of a German PC vendor.

High-end laptops with Intel's upcoming fourth-generation Core series of chips appeared on DevilTech's site, according to Heise online.

Unannounced Intel silicon in those rigs includes quad-core Core i7s, such as the 4800MQ and 4900MQ.

And speaking of leaks, Haswell chips are actually up for pre-order on some online retailers.

For those who follow Intel chip rollouts closely, the chipmaker usually debuts quad-core mobile chips first and then follows up … Read more

Sorry, PC makers. Shipments will likely fall this year, IDC says

This year isn't looking much brighter for PC makers than last, IDC said today as it cut its expectations for 2013 computer shipments.

The tech research firm said it expects computer shipments to drop 1.3 percent this year, worse than its prior view for a 2.8 percent rise. And that decline comes after a 3.7 percent slide in 2012.

"Disappointing holiday sales, an underwhelming reception to Windows 8, and continuing economic malaise that further crimped IT budgets marked the face of the market during the second half of 2012, leading to a year-on-year decline of … Read more

Intel's best shot at tablets hasn't arrived yet

Intel won't have its best shot at mobile salvation until late this year. Let's hope that's not too late.

As of today, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Dell, Samsung, and Acer, among others, are all shipping high-profile Windows 8 tablets and hybrids with Intel's "Clover Trail" Atom processor.

And all are billed as running "all your favorite Windows applications."

The problem is that Atom still isn't up to the task, as CNET Reviews and many other reviewers have pointed out.

In short, it's Netbook deja vu all over again. Atom-based Netbooks were never … Read more

Intel talks new chips, partners at Mobile World Congress

A year ago, Intel's CEO took the stage at Mobile World Congress to tout new partnerships and talk up the benefits of Intel's mobile chips.

At that time, the Santa Clara, Calif., semiconductor maker's presence in the smartphone market was essentially nonexistent. Today, Intel has 10 phones shipping in 20 countries (though not the U.S.), and it keeps improving its power consumption and performance.

While that's good progress, Intel still has a long way to go, as the company readily admits. It hopes the new chips it's officially launching today at MWC 2013 will … Read more

Intel claims 'superiority' over ARM in phone video

Intel is turning up the bravado in a new video that boasts "superiority" over ARM in phones.

Intel may be engaging in a bit of ad copy puffery with this caption penned by Francois Piednoel: "A little demo of x86 superiority over ARM."

Intel's first dual-core phone chip, Clover Trail+, isn't shipping in products yet, so it's by no means clear if it can out-benchmark and outlast phones based on the newest ARM chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Samsung.

That said, the phone that the Clover Trail+ processor will debut in is worth … Read more

Nvidia unveils first mobile processor with integrated LTE

Nvidia's big chance to expand into smartphones has arrived and it's called Tegra 4i.

The company today unveiled its new mobile chip that integrates its app processor and 4G LTE on the same piece of silicon. The processor, previously codenamed "Project Grey," includes 60 Nvidia GPU cores, a 2.3 GHz quad-core CPU based on ARM Holdings' R4 Cortex-A9 architecture, a fifth low-power CPU core, and a version of Nvidia's i500 LTE modem.

Nvidia expects Tegra 4i to appeal to smartphone makers and help it better address that key market. While the Santa Clara, Calif., … Read more

Tilera's 72-core chip doubles down on multicore approach

Tilera, one of the most aggressive advocates of the multicore-processor approach, today announced a new member of its Tile-Gx family that doubles the number of computing engines to 72.

The Tile-Gx72, the company's new flagship chip, isn't geared for general-purpose computing tasks like running smartphones or PCs. Instead, it's for tasks that can be sliced up into many independent operations -- networking equipment handling multiple data streams or servers for handling lots of streams of media.

But even if you're not going to find Tilera Inside stickers on your next tablet, it's an interesting product, … Read more

Questions remain about Nvidia's traction in mobile

Nvidia has pretty strong ambitions for its Tegra mobile chip business, but the operations still aren't enough to move the needle for the company.

Nvidia today reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that were better than analysts expected, and its revenue for the period ended January 27 was in line with its earlier projection. However, Nvidia's revenue forecast for the current quarter -- $940 million, plus or minus 2 percent -- was less than the $1.07 billion analysts had been expecting.

"The guide clearly isn't all that great for them...and a part of that is definitely … Read more

Intel's TV service will be on mobile devices too, exec says

Intel wants to revolutionize the TV industry, and that change won't come just through the chip giant's planned set-top box.

Erik Huggers, general manager of Intel Media, told CNET today that Intel's new Internet-based TV service also will be available on mobile devices, but he cautioned that it could take some time to expand to multiple platforms. He compared the process to the launch of the BBC's iPlayer video player, a project he oversaw while at that company.

"I absolutely and completely believe in the world of multiplatform ... anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Consumers and audiences expect … Read more