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Intel CEO fires back at EU

In a conference call this morning, Intel CEO Paul Otellini responded aggressively to the allegations attached to the $1.45 billion fine levied by the European Union.

The fine was levied because EU regulators determined that Intel had violated antitrust legislation and engaged in anticompetitive practices to exclude competitors from the market for x86 (Intel-compatible) processors, the Commission said in a statement Wednesday.

Otellini began with an opening statement, citing the Commission's allegations of the chipmaker "granting conditional rebates, where the conditions just weren't just volume-based but allegations about exclusive dealings or in one case exclusivity on retail shelves."

"Intel strongly disagrees with this decision. We do not have those kinds of conditions in our contracts. Our contracts are straightforward. They're consistent worldwide and they're volume-based: the more you buy, the less you pay," he said.

Otellini said Intel will appeal the decision. "We intend to appeal this decision to the (EU) Court of First Instance. We believe a significant amount of evidence was either ignored or disregarded or both by the case team that would refute the allegations," he said, adding: "We intend to abide by whatever was written in the decision as we go through the appeal process."

Responding to a question about the evidence that Intel showed to the EU, Otellini said that OEMs (that is, PC and system suppliers) have stated they were no exclusive deals. "There are a number of documents that refute what was claimed here. In some cases, OEMs made statements that they were not exclusive deals and they were not under conditional terms and those documents were not allowed either into the case file or used properly by the case team in making a determination," he said.

He continued: "The process is originating from a single complainant--AMD. None of the customers complained as part of it or joined the complaint," Otellini said. "I don't see any consumer or competitor harm happening here." … Read more

Report: EU set to levy big fine on Intel

A number of reports say the European Commission will levy a large fine on Intel this week for violating antitrust rules.

The decision to fine the world's largest chipmaker will be handed down on Wednesday, according to Reuters. This action has been expected.

The Commission, part of the European Union, will also order Intel to change the way it provides rebates to computer makers, according to Reuters. On Friday, Commission officials discussed the Intel fine with "national competition authorities," Reuters said.

Intel's only real competition in the worldwide PC processor market is Advanced Micro Devices, which … Read more

Wake up to your favorite cup of tea

Coffee lovers have it too easy. In order to enjoy their favorite brew, all they have to do is head down to the corner. Chances are there will be a caf? on one of those four corners (if not on the way). For those that prefer to make coffee at home, there are numerous ways to go from bean to brew, and once a method (drip, espresso, French press, etc.) is determined, usually all that is required is finding a consistent grind. Not so with tea lovers, the magic in tea is usually unlocked by temperature and steeping time. Since … Read more

Guy Kawasaki gets the inside scoop from Hartmut Esslinger

Famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Internet entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki offers a colorful interview with Frog Design founder and legendary designer Hartmut Esslinger. Hartmut discusses his philosophy on design and his new book "A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business," to be published in June by Jossey-Bass. Hartmut talks about how Steve Job’s brain works and why the world’s richest companies continue to put out “crappy” products. Hartmut also reveals his top 10 best and worst products of all time.

Here's the article: The Inside Scoop on Design: Ten Questions with Hartmut Esslinger.&… Read more

Collaborate on the quick with Finetuna

Finetuna is a dead simple collaborative image annotation tool. Meant mostly for casual designers, it lets you make a few short notes on an image and send it off to someone else. As soon as they get it, they can view your edits, make their own, then send it back. This keeps the paper trail out of your e-mail in-box, and in a single place.

Finetuna's key appeal is that it does several simple things with ease. You can highlight, underline, and cross out text. There are also simple tools to insert text and make comments, which are essentially … Read more

Fujifilm playing Cupid: Get closer to snap

We thought we'd seen it all with face, smile, and even blink detection. But Fujifilm surprised us once more (after face detection 2.0) with the "Couple Timer" in its new FinePix Z200fd.

Apparently, this feature is used in conjunction with face detection to gauge how close the two faces are in the frame. Depending on how intimate you are to the other subject, you can change the setting on the point-and-shoot from one heart to three. When the camera sees that the subjects are close enough, it will snap a shot automatically.

Also a new feature … Read more