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I'm going to break from the well-established tradition of comparing Netbooks to notebooks. This time my yardstick is going to be the smartphone. And no better yardstick than the Apple iPhone.
Verizon is selling Netbooks as kind of an upscale smartphone
(Credit: Verizon)This post updates a year-old piece (which, by the way, at least one writer took exception to).
As the holiday-shopping season approaches, many consumers face an ostensible choice between an inexpensive Netbook or more expensive notebook. I personally face that choice (or, at least, I thought I did).
Let me state up front that though I have used Netbooks on a temporary basis, I have never owned one.
I (now) believe that Netbook comparisons to mainstream laptops (which will always disappoint because Netbooks are slower, screens smaller, keyboards more cramped--and this list of comparative shortcomings is long) is really the wrong way to look at it. Let me illustrate.
I recently interviewed the chief technology officer for a large school district in Louisiana that had purchased a lot of Netbooks. And I asked what I thought was the most pertinent question: weren't performance and screen size a concern? She quickly pointed out that my perspective was all wrong.
In short, students in K through 12 are accustomed to iPhone-size screens and performance. So moving to a Netbook is a big step up. From this perspective, the screens are large, the keyboards expansive, and the performance more than adequate.
This suddenly made a lot of sense to me because of my personal experience. Take the iPhone 3GS (or Motorola Droid or BlackBerry Storm, take your pick ). To state the obvious, in many respects, this is a personal computer platform for e-mail, texting, Web surfing, music, navigation, YouTube, and the list goes on.
In other words, the iPhone is for consuming data and media as well as light production. Like the Netbook. But the Netbook, obviously, takes this to the next level. It adds a keyboard and a larger screen, which also makes it potentially a better production platform. So, it's an iPhone Plus, if you will.
And here's the real proof in the pudding. Where do you see Netbooks being sold these days (think Nokia Booklet)? At phone carriers, like Verizon. The last time I visited a Verizon store, it had 3G Netbooks prominently displayed right next to the Motorola Droid.
The point seems obvious to me now. Want to be more productive? Step up to a Netbook. And this follows the same logic of the CTO at the Louisiana school district. And upcoming tablets and media pads from Apple and others will also be marketed as a high-end iPhone-like device, in my opinion.
So, in the next month or so when I try to sort out which Netbook to buy (This CNET review says the HP Mini 5101 is one of the best Netbooks on the market now), I'll be shopping for an upscale smartphone not a stripped-down notebook.
NOTE: I'm not suggesting that anyone replace their iPhone with a Netbook. My point is that a Netbook can be used as an inexpensive adjunct to an iPhone or Droid for people who need to be more productive than an iPhone (or Droid) would allow.
In a bit of a Thanksgiving appetizer, many companies were beefing up their structures by--as one of my colleagues put it--gobbling up other companies.
The biggest deal was announced by Hewlett-Packard, which plans to acquire 3Com, maker of network switching and routing products. The deal is valued at $2.7 billion, or $7.90 per share. HP says the purchase is intended to boost its networking business, particularly in China, where most of 3Com's business is focused.
The 3Com deal is the most recent in a string of enterprise-related acquisitions HP has made in the past year, including most recently file serving software maker Ibrix. HP wants to be a leader in providing customers with an integrated stack of computing technology ranging from servers and storage at the foundation all the way up to services.
Other deals
EA picks up Playfish for social gaming push
Electronic Arts makes some serious waves in the social gaming by acquiring Playfish for $275 million in cash and $25 million in equity.• A new set of rules for social games
Google to acquire AdMob for $750 million
Mobile advertising is AdMob's specialty, and the deal gives Google a technology inroad into a fast-growing segment of online advertising.• With AdMob, Google seeks mobile-ad advantage
Logitech buys video-conferencing firm LifeSize
Acquisition puts the maker of Webcams and other peripherals into the video-conferencing market.
More headlines
Intel to pay AMD $1.25 billion in antitrust settlement
AMD drops its litigation while Intel agrees to "abide by" a long list of prohibitions. And renewed patent cross-license agreement frees AMD to spin off chip manufacturing.• What Intel just bought for $1.25 billion: Less risk
• AMD-Intel deal: No big change for consumers
• AMD: Our claims about Intel have been 'ratified'
Windows 7 use continues to climb
It now makes up 4 percent of Web-accessing computers, a mark that took Windows Vista nearly seven months to reach.• Microsoft pulls Windows 7 download tool
• Microsoft probing Windows 7 zero-day hole
Microsoft bans 1 million Xbox Live players
Players who were caught modifying their consoles to play pirated games have been booted from the popular service.• Craigslist brimming with banned, 'modded' Xboxes
Google hopes to remake programming with Go
A Unix co-creator is among those behind a language Google hopes will speed computers and programming. Today, Go becomes open-source software.• Google hopes Go will give a browser boost
Research: Twitter has yet to grow into valuation
Company is worth significantly less than $1 billion, one company surmises. That's in part because the effectiveness of its possible business plan is still up in the air.• Judge bans Twitter from court
• Twitter issues mulligan on new 'retweet' feature
• Mint makes Twitter an investor hub
Microsoft denies Windows 7 is based on Mac OS
Following comments from a U.K. Microsoft executive that Windows 7 was designed to create "a Mac Look," a company blog post distances itself from his words.• Microsoft exec: Mac OS inspired Windows 7
Verizon tests sending RIAA copyright notices
The No. 2 phone company, known for its reluctance to intervene in antipiracy cases, has struck an agreement to forward copyright notices on behalf of the music industry.• Even in media mecca, plenty are willing to pirate
• Former RIAA chief tries to save Qtrax image
Expert says Adobe Flash policy is risky
Adobe Flash Player allows arbitrary content to access applications without permission, says researcher at Foreground Security.
As alternative energy grows, NIMBY turns green
With more renewable energy projects trying to come online, the country grapples with the balance between local land use and a national push for clean energy.• Students pitch green businesses for greenbacks
Also of note
• Bill Gates' home tour on charity auction block
• U.S. Army orders bridges made of recycled plastic
• Facebook status update saves man from jail
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It looks as though Microsoft may have a winner in Windows 7, at least in comparison to Vista.
The software giant saw relatively strong early adoption of Windows 7 in the 10 days since its official launch. According to Net Applications, more than 3 percent of PCs accessing the Web in the past two days have been doing so using the new operating system. Usage of the operating system has been growing strong in recent days, though Windows 7 already accounted for 2 percent of global Web traffic in the days ahead of its formal launch.
Judging by its initial sales, Windows 7 is certainly proving more popular than Vista. Microsoft sold 234 percent more boxed editions of Windows 7 than it did Vista in the initial releases of both products, according to research released by NPD Group.
In actual dollars, Windows 7 has also been more successful than Vista. However, early discounts on pre-sales copies and a lack of a promotional boost behind Windows 7 Ultimate led to revenues only 82 percent greater than those of Vista.
• Windows 7 upgrade version: The dos and don'ts
• FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade
• Microsoft Windows 7 vs. Apple Snow Leopard
More headlines
New York antitrust suit accuses Intel of bribery
Intel used payments to keep computer makers from selling systems with AMD chips, according to New York's attorney general. It's a new front in an old Intel war.• N.Y. lawsuit details Intel's 'largesse' toward Dell
T-Mobile experiencing widespread outage
The cellular carrier acknowledges problems affecting both its voice and data networks.• T-Mobile users still reeling from outage
• T-Mobile says software error behind outage
AT&T vs. Verizon: There's a lawyer for that
AT&T is suing Verizon Wireless over its "There's a Map for That" ad campaign, stating that it misleads consumers about AT&T's network coverage.
Corporate bank accounts targeted in online fraud
Small and medium-size businesses, governments, and school districts are targets of online bank fraud involving malicious e-mails, key loggers, and money mules, FBI says.• Phishing, worms spike this year, say Microsoft and McAfee
• New Trojan encrypts files but leaves no ransom note
• Hacker breaks into jailbroken iPhones, asks for $7
Barnes & Noble hit with suit over Nook
A Cupertino, Calif.-based start-up claims the bookseller misappropriated its trade secrets in its design of a similar e-reader.• Spring Design seeks injunction barring Nook sales
Microsoft gives the MSN butterfly a makeover
It's given a new look to both its home page and the MSN butterfly logo. The main page now has just half as many links, with more videos and photos.• Microsoft to fix holes in Windows, Office
Mozilla: Firefox 3.6 won't be late
The first beta of Firefox 3.6 may have crossed the finish line weeks late, but Mozilla says the final version should still be done this year.• Firefox gets a quick fix
• Firefox gains Windows 7 features
Lack of global climate deal won't crush green tech
No matter what happens in Copenhagen next month, green-tech companies say industry and national governments will drive investment in the near term, an analysis shows.• Waste Management squeezes fuel from landfills
• LA changing its glow for more efficiency
• PetroAlgae signs deal with Indian Oil
Mac game: Art project or malware?
Is the Lose/Lose game a legitimate art project, or should it be flagged as malware because it deletes files?
Virtual goods: Duping the masses?
When is ad not an ad? When it's an offer for something other than what you think you are signing up for.• After onstage spat, Offerpal replaces CEO
• Offerpal Media mess gets stickier
Beatles copyright case down a legal rabbit hole
BlueBeat is streaming Beatles recordings for free and selling them for 25 cents apiece, claiming that they aren't the original recordings and therefore aren't copyright-protected.• Beatles catalog comes to USB
• No Doubt says 'no' to Band Hero depiction
Also of note
• An unofficial way to 'dislike' things on Facebook
• Best Buy to launch branded movie download service
• Wi-Fi-free iPhone officially lands in China
Though the Motorola Droid and Apple iPhone have different chassis, their high-octane engines are similar.
The internal similarities begin with performance: both devices are fast. The iPhone 3GS is already distinguished for its speed. And the Droid is quickly garnering similar accolades.
The Motorola Droid has a radically different exterior compared with the iPhone but uses a speedy Cortex-A8 ARM chip like the Apple phone.
(Credit: CNET Reviews)"The Droid makes a big leap in internal performance. Compared with its rather sluggish Android predecessors," CNET Reviews said, citing the speed at which the Droid opens applications and menus and scrolls through lists and switches display screens.
"We're really pumped to see all the industry excitement it's created," said Jeff Dougan, the OMAP 3 product marketing manager at Texas Instruments, which supplies the OMAP 3430 processor that powers the Droid. "This is the first handset that truly realizes the full potential of Android," he said, referring to Google's Android 2.0 operating system that runs on the Droid phone.
The TI processor, like the one in the iPhone, is based on an a new architecture called Cortex-A8 from U.K.-based chip design house ARM, whose wide variety of chips populate most of the world's cell phones. Dougan says most smartphones currently on the market use an older, lower-performance ARM architecture than the Cortex-A8--with the exception of the Palm Pre, which opted for the newer TI chip. The Cortex-A8 provides a "two to three times performance boost" over older architectures, according to Dougan.
Max Baron, an analyst at Microprocessor Report, says the chips in the Droid and the iPhone (see not below) are so alike that differences are more dependent on the operating systems the two chips use and how successfully each phone maker optimizes the OS. "With chips that have near-similar specs, the optimum OS and the look-and-feel of the user interface may make or break the product," Baron said.
The core of TI's OMAP3 processor.
(Credit: Texas Instruments)"The caveat, however, is that even small differences in chips will surface and become important differentiators as soon as the market forces you to increase the screen size or add more pixels per screen, or execute more power-consuming applications," he added.
The raw MHz ratings on the chips are slightly different. The processor in the iPhone 3GS--which is believed to be based on the Samsung S5PC100 processor--runs at 600MHz, according to most accounts. The Motorola Droid's TI chip is rated at 550MHz though theoretically it can be run as fast as 600MHz, according to TI's Dougan.
Both phones also use PowerVR graphics from Imagination Technologies--a company that both Apple and Intel have invested in, testifying to how hot its ultramobile graphics technology is. The PowerVR SGX is renowned for its ability to process several million triangles-per-second--a key indicator of graphics chip performance--blowing away other phones and the previous version of the iPhone.
Other internal specifications are similar between the two phones, including memory capacity (either 16GB or 32GB) and communications chips that offer 3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections.
So, internally the Droid is every bit the iPhone's equal. And future versions of TI OMAP 3 chips that may appear in upcoming Droids will be backed by formidable ecosystems, according to Baron. "Investments in application software may lean more toward the TI components," said Baron, given TI's strong support of the entire chip ecosystem, including auxiliary chips and software development tools.
Note:: Apple's and Samsung's reluctance to release information about the processor used in the iPhone 3GS has made it difficult to determine if the chip is based on the Samsung S5PC100, according to the Microprocessor Report's Baron. Many iPhone 3GS reviews and teardowns, however, state explicitly that the iPhone's processor is essentially the Samsung S5PC100 processor.
If the speculation about a new MacBook Pro is on the money, the step up to Intel's quad-core mobile technology would have a profound impact on this vaunted line of Apple laptops.
Is a Core i series Apple laptop on the way?
(Credit: Apple)So, why would Apple adopt a Core i processor in a laptop? The short answer is OS X Snow Leopard. The new operating system is designed to be better at wringing more performance out of multicore processors--and the Core i chips pack four cores.
The long answer is the Core "i" chips themselves. The Core i, a.k.a. "Nehalem," is a brand new Intel microarchitecture brimming with performance improvements over the current Core 2 design.
For starters, the recently announced mobile i7-820QM processor integrates a hefty 8MB of cache memory--compared with the 6MB in the fastest Core 2 Duo that Apple currently offers on the MacBook Pro. Generally, the larger the cache memory, the better the performance.
But Intel has done a lot more than just up the transistor count via a larger cache. While the quad-core i7-820QM is rated at 1.73GHz, a single core can be "overclocked" to 3.06 GHz. Intel does this with a technology dubbed Turbo Boost, which speeds up and slows down individual cores to meet processing and power-efficiency needs, respectively.
Need more convincing? The Core i7 also comes with Hyper-Threading, which can double the number of tasks--or threads--a processor can execute. You won't find that in the Core 2 chips.
Digital media creation also gets a boost. Intel claims up to 81 percent faster video encoding.
And the mobile Core i7 is not a power hog--relatively speaking. The i7-820QM is rated at 45 watts, less than a third of the power envelope of the desktop Core i7. With such a powerful processor, heat would be an issue of course but the 45-watt power envelope is manageable.
That said, there are reports that Apple is not bringing out any more products this year. So, along these lines, alternatively, Apple could opt initially for the upcoming "Arrandale" Core i chips--due by the beginning of next year--that are based on a more advanced 32-nanometer manufacturing process. (Current Core i processors use a 45-nanometer process.)
Arrandale integrates graphics silicon into the same chip package as the main processor--a first for Intel. Because of this high level of integration, Arrandale, however, is a dual-core chip.
But probably the closest thing to a rumored MacBook Pro refresh is the iMac, which has the same space-constrained characteristics of a laptop. The quad-core Core i7 in the new iMac "boosts application performance up to 2x over the previous-generation iMac," according to Apple--and that's what consumers can expect with a Core i series laptop.
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By not coughing up a low-cost MacBook, as some had expected, Apple has ceded a potentially huge market to PC makers. But is this just all part of Apple's marketing genius?
$999 is as low as Apple will go.
(Credit: Apple)The announcement Tuesday of the $999 white polycarbonate MacBook was pretty ho-hum as product refreshes go (same price, same color as before) but the implication was important: Apple is surrendering a large, emerging laptop market to Microsoft and its coterie of PC makers.
Not that it's necessarily a bad strategy. Market researcher Gartner said recently that Apple's shipments in the U.S. grew year-over-year by 6.8 percent to total 1.57 million during the third quarter, putting it right behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Acer. Comparatively, overall PC shipments in the U.S. grew by 3.5 percent from a year earlier.
But among those unimpressive overall PC numbers (HP's third-quarter shipments grew only 2.7 percent), was an impressive statistic for Acer: buoyed by Netbooks, Acer's shipments grew by 61.4 percent year-over-year, and it blew past Dell to become the No. 2 PC maker worldwide based on this growth.
Granted, Netbooks are a relatively low-profit segment (i.e., profit on a $400 Netbook is going to be a lot less than that on a $999 laptop). Nevertheless, they're a hot market. Intel CEO Paul Otellini has stated numerous times that Intel was able to create a market that grew faster than either the iPhone or Nintendo Wii. Case in point: Windows 7-based Acer Netbooks are now big on the Home Shopping Network--which claims to have sold more than 5,000 in one segment on Saturday.
And that's not the only market Apple is punting on. A new category of inexpensive, thin laptops has emerged with the roll-out of Windows 7 on Thursday. Like Netbooks, these laptops are light (typically 4 pounds) and don't include an optical drive. But they are relatively powerful and full featured. The 15.6-inch Acer Aspire Timeline, for example, with a 320GB hard disk drive and dual-core Intel processor is fairly well-endowed at only $500.
Apple is not receiving a lot kudos in the mainstream business press ... Read more
Two of the Web's biggest search giants are making friends with social networks.
Microsoft is bringing real-time search results from Facebook and Twitter to its Bing search engine thanks to two partnerships. The Twitter partnership, which will bring all real-time public tweets to Bing, went live in beta on Wednesday at Bing.com/twitter.
The Facebook deal, which will access all information shared publicly on the social network, will arrive "at a later date," Microsoft said. It's all part of Bing's strategy to harness "the emerging hot area of real-time information."
In a deal announced just hours after Microsoft debuted integration of "tweets" into Bing, Google said it would also be indexing real-time Twitter messages in search results. Google has "reached an agreement," but the search results have not gone live like Microsoft's have on Bing. Reports started to surface earlier this month that Twitter was in separate talks with both Google and Microsoft.
Uncharacteristically for Microsoft, the new Twitter search feature on Bing went live shortly after the announcement. Here's how Twitterized Bing works for users so far.
• Study: Twitter users young, wireless, on other social sites
• Twitter hits 5 billion tweets
• Eight billion minutes spent on Facebook daily
• Web 2.0 Summit: Where tech worlds collide
More headlines
Windows 7: Microsoft's touchy-feely launch
A subdued launch left enthusiasts with plenty of time to get hands-on with all the new PCs--well, all but that Dell Adamo that everyone wanted to get their hands on.• Windows 7 born from Vista's frustrations
• Windows 7 default user account control worries experts
• Windows 7 security in pictures
• Microsoft's Windows 7 launch: Deals, deals, deals
• HP, Best Buy team on Windows 7 'home makeover'
• CNET's Windows 7 coverage
Apple unveils redesigned MacBooks, new iMacs
Apple revamped its desktop and laptop lines, dramatically redesigning the iMac all-in-one and MacBook laptop, and also adding a few updates to its Mac Mini line of small-scale desktops.• Apple: Best Mac, iPhone quarterly sales ever
Barnes & Noble debuts its Nook
The bookseller launches its Kindle rival at an event at the Chelsea Piers. As expected, the e-reader has a dual-screen display and will sell for $259.• Is Barnes & Noble's Nook a Kindle killer?
• Internet Archive's BookServer could 'dominate' Amazon
FCC sets Internet regulation in motion
Federal Communications Commission votes unanimously to gather data that will be used to determine regulations to keep the Net open.• Telco lobbyists don't mind some Net neutrality regs
• AT&T enlists employees to oppose Net neutrality
• Verizon CEO slams Net neutrality
• Google, Verizon Wireless find common ground on Net neutrality
• Net neutrality still faces political, legal hurdles
Another Facebook redesign: Birthdays are important
Leaked document shows some of Facebook's plan for a minor home page redesign that addresses some of the concerns members raised the last time the company did a big design overhaul.• Facebook COO: No PayPal killer, ad network--yet
• Facebook's Gift Shop gets down to business
News Corp. digital chief: MySpace 'kind of stopped'
As the social site attempts a turnaround, the parent company's chief digital officer talked about how it lost its way. Whether it'll be able to get back on top is less clear.• MySpace blasts out new music features
• MySpace takes one small step in the right direction
Utilities vow to prep infrastructure for plug-in cars
Utilities say they need to invest in infrastructure to ease the transition of plug-in electric vehicles with incentives for off-peak charging and charging stations in public places.• Investor: Green tech vital to U.S. competitiveness
• Toyota looks to electric car business
Also of note
• Nokia sues Apple over wireless patents
• France adopts antipiracy three-strikes law
• Judge: Craigslist not liable for prostitution ads
T-Mobile Sidekick LX
(Credit: CNET)A massive data outage for Sidekick handheld users has become a massive PR headache for Microsoft and carrier T-Mobile.
A massive data outage in Microsoft's Danger unit left many T-Mobile Sidekick users without access to their calendar, address book, and other key data. However, things got even worse as Microsoft said in a statement that data not recovered thus far may be permanently lost. Microsoft and T-Mobile have not said how many of the roughly 800,000 Sidekick customers have lost data.
T-Mobile USA has, at least temporarily, stopped selling all models of the device as the company continues to investigate the recent problems.
T-Mobile later said that it may yet be able to recover Sidekick users' information. Those who do suffer permanent data loss will get a $100 "customer appreciation card" good toward T-Mobile service or products.
Not surprisingly, a number of lawsuits have been filed, including two in federal court in Northern California that allege both negligence and false claims on the part of Microsoft and T-Mobile.
• Sidekick's lesson: We learn by failing
• Unanswered questions loom large in Sidekick fiasco
• Sidekick users share their horror stories
• Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage
• Microsoft: We've recovered most Sidekick data
• With outage, Sidekick service loses its footing
Microsoft wasn't alone in suffering high-profile data headaches:
Facebook database outage cut off about 150,000
A downed Facebook database left a small but vocal percentage of its userbase without access to the social network for as long as 10 days.• Growth of Facebook leaves MySpace in dust
Apple acknowledges Snow Leopard data loss issue
The company says it is aware of a problem related to guest account log-ins that "occurs only in extremely rare cases," and it does not yet have a fix for it.
Google's Postini suffers prolonged e-mail delays
Service was disrupted for a better portion of a day on some of Google's Postini e-mail security service, with customers reporting significant delays in e-mail delivery.
More headlines
Google revenue, profits increase
The search giant isn't growing as strongly as it was a year ago, but it beats revenue expectations amid signs the ad economy is getting stronger, and CEO Eric Schmidt says he believes the worst is over.• Levinson quits Google's board
• Business as usual in search market share
Intel earnings beat Wall Street predictions
The chipmaker's third-quarter revenue comes in at $9.4 billion, beating analysts' expectations, which hovered at just more than $9 billion.• Intel CEO remarks on Netbooks, Windows 7
• Intel, AMD feud over evidence in antitrust case
Critical Windows 7 holes fixed in record Patch Tuesday
Microsoft stitches up a pair of Windows 7 holes, along with fixing up zero-day flaws in SMB and IIS offerings.• Adobe fixes 28 holes in Reader and Acrobat
• Internet breaks in Sweden after DNS maintenance error
Microsoft wants multicore boost from Windows 7
The new operating system should be able to make better use of modern multicore chips--in part through changes to adapt Windows to big servers.• Using Windows 7 to 'Elevate Miami'
• Microsoft taps the 'Family Guy' to sell Windows 7
Financier Soros to invest $1 billion in clean tech
George Soros will invest $1 billion on clean-energy technology, and he plans to provide $10 million a year over the next 10 years for the newly created Climate Policy Initiative.• Where the clean-tech jobs are
Amazon offers same-day delivery to select cities
Online retailer upgrades its shipping options in time for the holiday season, also expanding its Saturday delivery options. Pricing may benefit Prime subscribers most.• Samsung delivers Blockbuster, Amazon on-demand video
Also of note
• New Wi-Fi spec challenges Bluetooth
• Cisco to buy mobile specialist Starent for $2.9 billion
• Steve Jobs bests Zuckerberg on teens' fave list
Drop the word "Apple" into any discussion with any company and the effect is nothing short of remarkable.
This innocuous logo can evoke fear
Over the last year, I have talked to middle-level and high-ranking executives at enough companies to know exactly what to expect when the topic of Apple is broached: fear.
A recent interview with a fairly big company provides an example as good as any. (But I could cite a much bigger company too, it's doesn't seem to matter.)
The way this interview proceeded was typical. Most of it was devoted to questions about the company's product plans (unrelated to Apple)--and the interviewee divulged plenty of information. A smaller slice of the interview was about customers or companies related to the interviewee (again, unrelated to Apple). Here, queries were answered with differing levels of transparency. Though less was revealed, nothing was a conversation stopper.
Then, toward the end, the conversation turned to Apple--which is not unusual as Apple's tentacles are everywhere, particularly in the case of hardware. My question began something like: "So, I understand Apple is..." The response was remarkably consistent with past interviews. I quote from the mid-level manager: "I don't want to lose my job." I've heard variations on this job security (I-have-absolutely-nothing-to-say) theme related to Apple during the last 12 months or so.
The angst is always palpable. When the interviewees clam up, then quip something like "I like getting a paycheck every month," with a wry smile, they aren't joking. And these people don't even work for Apple.
I haven't written about the Apple gag-order syndrome until now because it hadn't struck me as that surprising, i.e., the stock phrase "I can't comment on another company's product plans" is used often--not to mention the legal weight of nondisclosure agreements.
But this changed a few months ago when I realized how the Apple question consistently evokes fear (or call it distinct unease) in many interviewees.
A sensational claim? Maybe it sounds that way. But I'm calling it as I see it.
Why Apple? It's not a stretch to say that Apple is probably one of the most secretive companies in Silicon Valley. But it's also one of the most influential and, consequently, most powerful. How do I know this? This middle-level manager at this fairly big, independent, and successful company felt compelled to comment on his job security twice. And the second time he said it, the smile had clearly left his face.
Updated at 4:40 p.m. PDT: adding to discussion of next-generation Nvidia Ion chip.
As graphics kingpin Nvidia tries to reshape itself into a broad-based computing company, it is taking big gambles with potentially big payoffs, while it fends off challenges from rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
The world's largest supplier of standalone graphics chips for PCs needs to grow. Established markets have matured and Nvidia must seek out other ways to make money.
Nvidia's Fermi-based GF100 graphics processor.
"In almost every market they have entered they have become dominant," said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, which tracks the graphics chip market. "Almost 90 percent market share in the workstation business and 55 to 65 percent in the graphics business. But if you're that successful you can't really grow the market anymore, and if you want to keep growing your company, then you have to get into new markets."
Enter supercomputing and Nvidia's brand-new Fermi architecture. "That's a huge market and big margins," said Peddie. Fermi was announced last week at an Nvidia conference to great fanfare when prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory said it plans to use Fermi in a future supercomputer.
It would be an understatement to say that the Fermi chip potentially packs a computing wallop. The chip integrates an astounding 3 billion transistors, about three times the number of transistors in Nvidia's most powerful graphics chip now on the market, and it has been designed with features that make it more suitable for high-performance computers, the first time that Nvidia has architected a chip this way.
Fermi GPUs, each containing 512 processing cores, would enable "substantial scientific breakthroughs" that would be impossible without the new technology, Jeff Nichols, Oak Ridge's associate lab director for computing and computational sciences, said last week.
Nvidia hopes to parlay this computing power into the mainstream. (For a comparison of Fermi with AMD's newest graphics chip see: ATI and Nvidia face off--obliquely.)
"Fermi will offer Nvidia the opportunity to grow our consumer business by having the fastest raw graphics power," said Drew Henry, general manager of Nvidia's bread-and-butter GeForce graphics business. "But it's also going to expand our business by allowing people to process better video and photo applications and to use the GPU for many, many more mainstream applications." (GPU stands for graphics processing unit.)
... Read more
