Business Tech

How will Apple redesign the ultraslim, seminal MacBook Air that launched dozens of me-too ultraportable laptops? Only Apple knows. But here are some gratuitous musings anyway.

Dell Latitude Z: a 16-inch laptop that's less than 0.8-inches thick and under five pounds.

(Credit: Dell)

In a previous post, I said I wouldn't hazard any guesses on what Apple may do with the MacBook Air. And I won't. That doesn't stop me from looking at the most recent ultrathin laptop competition to see where Apple might be able to improve the design that turns two years old in January.

Enclosure: This will be a tough act to follow. The original design was good enough that Apple didn't change it for gen 2--aka Rev. B--of the Air. And the aluminum enclosure was a trendsetter, which all MacBook Pros (and other PC makers) eventually copied.

But that doesn't mean the Air is perfect. The razor-thin slab of aluminum provides little room for ports and connectors. (Apple's implementation is a flip-out set of USB, Mini DisplayPort, audio ports that retract back into the body.)

A design modification that the Dell Adamo uses (some say retrogressed to) was putting the ports on the back (behind the screen). This allows Dell to offer a fuller array of connectors.

Could Apple come out with a tablet version of the Air?

(Credit: OLPC)

Hewlett-Packard, for its part, went another route: it just made its Envy 13 slightly thicker (at 0.8 inches) than the Air, allowing a couple more connectors (a second USB port and an SD card slot). HP also molded the base of the Envy in magnesium, which makes it lighter, according to HP.

Then there's just-announced Dell Adamo XPS. This is even thinner than the MacBook Air and puts the CPU-complex-plus-circuit-board (aka motherboard) behind the screen, not underneath the keyboard--standard design practice for all laptops.

Sony Vaio X is a good example of how small and thin a premium laptop can be: it has an 11.1-inch screen.

(Credit: Sony)

Of course, there's the recurring rumor that Apple is looking at different materials to make it even lighter while maintaining its famous sturdiness. This could potentially be a combination of aluminum and something like carbon fiber. (Though, as stated above, HP claims that magnesium is the way to go.)

Other possibilities: make one model bigger (wider), a la the Dell Latitude Z, which offers a 16-inch 1600x900 WLED Display and at its thickest point is only 0.79 inches.

Or make it smaller. The Sony Vaio X is a great example of how light (1.6 pounds) and thin (0.55 inches) a premium laptop (technically it's a Netbook) can be.

Tablet? There is the remote possibility that a version of the Air becomes a tablet. And that would mean potentially a new enclosure and new silicon.

Graphics:. The second feature I'll touch on is graphics. A good graphics chip is tough to squeeze into ultrathin designs and this a major feature that set the Air apart from other slim designs, ... Read more

Third-quarter sales of servers across the globe showed a 17.3 percent decline from the same quarter in 2008, sagging to $10.4 billion, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker.

But server shipments improved, falling only 17.9 percent for the quarter, compared with 30.1 percent in the second quarter, noted the IDC report released Wednesday. Even more promising, shipments grew at a healthy 12.4 percent over the second quarter, the market's largest sequential quarterly gain since 2005.

All three server segments tracked by IDC--volume, midrange enterprise, and high-end enterprise--saw lower third-quarter sales compared with the same quarter last year. Revenue for midrange enterprise servers fell 23.4 percent, while sales of high-end enterprise servers dropped 19.3 percent.

But revenue for volume servers, the lower end of the market, improved over the second quarter and experienced their lowest drop since the third quarter of 2008.

"The worldwide server market exceeded expectations in the third quarter with improving x86 server demand leading the way, which was driven in part by the infrastructure refresh momentum that is building in many geographies," said Matt Eastwood, IDC's group vice president of Enterprise Platforms, in a statement. "In fact, x86 server revenues experienced their largest sequential quarterly revenue increase in nearly five years."

(Credit: IDC)

Among the major players in the server industry, IBM and Hewlett-Packard vied for first place in both sales and market share with a statistical tie. Big Blue took a 31.8 percent slice of the market, with a 12.9 percent drop in third-quarter sales to $3.3 billion. HP grabbed a 30.9 market share as its revenues fell 16.8 percent to $3.2 billion.

Third-place Dell saw its sales decline only 6.8 percent to $1.4 billion, helping it capture a 13.5 percent share of the market.

With its future cloudy, pending regulatory approval of its takeover by Oracle, Sun Microsystems suffered a 35 percent drop in third-quarter sales to $778 million. Reports have surfaced that IBM and HP, among others, have taken advantage of the uncertainty surrounding Sun to lure over several of its customers.

Bringing up the rear of the top five was Fujitsu, which saw an 8.2 percent drop in sales to $594 million, carving out a 5.7 percent slice of the market, an improvement over its position from last year's third quarter.

Though optimistic that the market will continue to improve in the fourth quarter and beyond, IDC is still waiting to see how the recovery plays out.

"IDC believes that platform migration is once again gaining steam in the market and the post-recession server deployment patterns will establish the technology agenda in the datacenter for the next business cycle," said Eastwood. "For server vendors, after five quarters of market contraction, the next few quarters will be critical to determining the technology platform winners and losers in the years ahead."

Intel is set to announce the biggest makeover for its Atom processor since it was introduced back in the spring of 2008. And PC makers are ready with new Netbook models, some due before the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show in January.

HP has stopped selling preconfigured Mini 5101 Netbook models directly as it readies models with the new Atom processor.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

Netbooks--tiny laptops used for Web surfing and light production tasks--have gained in popularity as a cheap alternative to a laptop. They can be had for as little as $250--or under $100 when bought as part of a two-year contract at phone carriers such as a Verizon.

Inside new Netbooks will beat Intel's latest "Pine Trail" Atom processor technology. This watershed design will squeeze the graphics function--previously on a separate chip--into the central processing unit, or CPU, a first for Intel. And what does that mean to consumers? "Better battery life. But performance more than anything," Intel executive vice president Sean Maloney said in a recent CNET interview.

Evidence of a rejiggered Netbook lineup can already seen at Hewlett-Packard, which has stopped selling preconfigured models of its well-received Mini 5101 directly from the HP Web site in preparation for new models to come, according to the company.

And Dell is on board too. "You can expect that Dell will be offering products based on Intel's next-gen Atom platform, aka Pine Trail," said a Dell spokesperson Monday. All major vendors currently offering Netbooks--such as Acer, Asus, Toshiba, and MSI--are also expected to refresh their lineups.

Intel, which is already on the record saying that the Pine Trail Atom is shipping this quarter, has made integration one its biggest themes in 2010 and beyond. Its Arrandale Core i series of processors for mainstream laptops, due by early next year, will also combine the graphics chip (GPU) with the CPU. And future generations of the Atom processor will be even more highly integrated.

One of the first new Pine Trail Atom processors expected to appear is a 1.66GHz version (rumored to be dubbed the N450). After this, a faster 1.83GHz version, the N470, is due.

Updated at 8:00 p.m. PST: Pine Trail is the name of the technology platform; Pineview is the name of the new Atom processor.

With possible action by the Federal Trade Commission looming, an unidentified Dell executive is cited prominently in legal documents as a person who might exonerate Intel, or at least mitigate the severity of the charges leveled against it for alleged antitrust behavior. So, what is known about this Dell mystery man?

This week the Dell executive, referred to as "Mr. A," was cited throughout the European Union ombudsman's "decision" on on a complaint filed by Intel about the European Commission's ruling against the chipmaker. Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros' November 18 decision found "maladministration" on the part of the Commission because of its failure to make a "proper note" of a meeting with Dell--represented most prominently by Mr. A in the the ombudsman's decision.

Diamandouros has been the The European Union's ombudsman since April of 2003.

Most importantly, Mr. A is brought up by Intel as a person who has made exculpatory statements--and therefore could refute allegations such as those made about Intel and Dell in New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's complaint against the chipmaker.

And who is Mr. A? He was "a senior Dell executive" and the person "responsible for Dell's relationship with Intel," according to the ombudsman's published statement.

What else is known about Mr. A? Intel asserts in its complaint to the Commission--which the ombudsman responded to in its decision--that "Mr. A's FTC [Federal Trade Commission] testimony exonerates Intel and contradicts the allegations contained in the statement of objections concerning Dell's relationship with Intel."

And Intel has had more to say about this person. "Mr. A again gave sworn testimony confirming that the key points made in his 2003 FTC testimony, to the effect that Dell did not have an exclusive relationship with Intel and that Intel did not 'threaten' or 'punish' Dell for considering a dual-source [Intel and AMD] strategy."

Also in the ombudsman's decision--which refers to Intel as the complainant: "It is clear from these events that the Commission sought to conceal and suppress exculpatory evidence. Also in the complainant's view, this misconduct (and the failure to make a complete note of the meeting which would have eliminated any debate as to what Mr. A said) constitutes a serious act of maladministration."

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said Thursday that Intel continues to talk to the FTC. "Yes we are talking. We are continuing to answer their questions concerning our business practices and now we are also explaining the settlement we just completed with AMD [Advanced Micro Devices]," Mulloy said.

Dell announced on Tuesday that it has completed its $3.9 billion offer to buy Perot Systems. By accepting Perot's stock at $30 per share, Dell will own more than 90 percent of the company.

Dell's takeover of Perot has created a new business unit called Dell Services, which will provide IT services to customers. Dell's reach will now extend into technology hosting, consulting, and application outsourcing, among other segments.

Former Perot Chief Executive Officer Peter Altabef will become president of Dell Services, reporting directly to Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell. Altabef has steered Perot for the past five years as the company expanded its operations into more than 25 countries and captured sales of $2.8 billion in 2008.

"Dell Services will be a powerful organization with the extensive capabilities and global reach to address the needs of organizations of all types," said Altabef in a statement. "The Dell and Perot Systems integration teams have been extremely productive in their planning, and we are ready to work on behalf of all our customers."

Dell is looking at Perot to expand its niche in technology consulting and other services, combining its own large customer base with Perot's vast IT services. Also appealing is Perot's huge market in hospitals and medical facilities, a growing segment driven by the need to streamline and modernize the health care industry.

Dell revealed its intent to buy Perot Systems on September 21. No date was announced for completion of the acquisition, but Dell said it expects it to be done promptly.

Windows 7 has spawned a new breed of inexpensive laptops at retailers like Best Buy and Frys.

At many stores on Thursday, Best Buy refreshed almost its entire stock of laptops: all running Windows 7 and all sporting new model numbers. Frys--a megastore electronics retailer with locations throughout California, Arizona, and Texas--also refreshed many of its laptops with new Windows 7 models.

One of the most inexpensive Windows 7 arrivals is the Gateway model EC1410U. This tiny laptop is distinctly Netbook-like in appearance but uses a more powerful Celeron M ULV 743 processor (1.3GHz, 1MB cache) than the Atom-chip fare found in Netbooks. In addition to the Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit version, other features include 2GB of memory and a 250GB hard disk drive.

Small Gateway laptop comes in a Netbook-like package but uses a more powerful Celeron processor than the Atom chip found in Netbooks--and it's cheap at $399

(Credit: Best Buy)

Many seductive Windows 7 newcomers are categorized as "ultrathins." These slim designs are typically discernibly bigger than Netbooks (though, as evidenced by the Gateway above, it's now always clear-cut) and pack more processor horsepower. The Toshiba Satellite T-135 (model: T135-S1309), which falls into this category, is priced at $549 at Best Buy and comes with Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 32-bit operating system, a 13.3-inch display, a dual-core power-efficient Pentium processor, 3GB of memory, a 320GB hard disk drive (5400RPM), and built-in Web cam.

The HP dm3 (model: dm3-1035dx), also an ultrathin and also priced at $549, packs 3GB of memory ... Read more

Cages at Best Buy are stocked with new models preloaded with Windows 7: behind bars until October 22.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

Best Buy is locked and loaded for the Windows 7 launch.

And I don't use the phrase "locked and loaded" figuratively. "Locked" in that all the new Windows 7 machines are locked down behind cages. And "loaded" in that all the cages are full. (See photos.)

I visited a Best Buy Friday night in Southern California where the cages were loaded exclusively with new models preloaded with Windows 7. And I learned a few odd tidbits from a stoked salesperson who had definitely been drinking the Windows-7-is-totally-awesome Kool-Aid. Let me add that the information was conveyed to me at one store in Southern California and may not necessarily apply to all stores nationwide.

Dell is closing its desktop PC manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The cost-cutting move will ax 905 jobs, with 600 workers set to be laid off in November and the rest in January, Dell said Wednesday.

"This is a difficult decision, especially for our North Carolina colleagues, but a necessary one for Dell customers and our company," Frank Miller, vice president of Dell's Public Business Unit Supply Chain, said in a statement.

Dell had announced some layoffs at the North Carolina plant in March but gave no indication that the plant itself might be in danger of shutting down.

This plant closure is just the latest in a series of efforts by Dell to shrink expenses worldwide by billions of dollars.

In 2007, the company said it would lay off 8,800 employees, or 10 percent of its global workforce. However, the company modified that number last year, cautioning workers to expect even deeper cuts.

Over the past few years, employees in Canada, Ireland, and, of course, the U.S. have gotten pink slips.

The appetite of consumers toward laptops over desktops was a factor behind the decision to close the North Carolina plant, which opened four years ago. Last year, Dell shut down its desktop manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.

Dell enterprise CTO Paul Prince

(Credit: Dell)

SAN FRANCISCO--More than a decade ago, Intel ran into an issue trying to deliver what was to be the world's top-ranked supercomputer: it looked possible that its new Pentium Pro processors at the heart of the system might not arrive in time.

As a result, the chipmaker made an unusual move by paying Hewlett-Packard $100,000 to evaluate building the system using its PA-RISC processors in the machine, said Paul Prince, now Dell's chief technology officer for enterprise products but then Intel's system architect for the supercomputer. Called ASCI Red and housed at Sandia National Laboratories, it was designed to be the first supercomputer to cross the threshold of a trillion math calculations per second.

Intel ultimately met that 1-teraflops performance deadline using the Intel chips, HP dropped its PA-RISC line in favor of Intel's Itanium processor line, and the Pentium Pro paved the way for Intel's present powerhouse status in the server market. But the supercomputing division within Intel was phased out, and ASCI Red was its last job, Prince said in an interview here on the eve of the Intel Developer Forum.

The division had enough independence that it could have used another company's chips, but doubtless eyebrows would have been raised had a rival processor design showed up in such a high-profile machine that ultimately used more than 9,000 processors.

It wasn't the only hurdle the Intel group overcame in the design and construction of ASCI Red, which used ordinary processors but plenty of one-off technology including a customized operating system and Intel's own router chips to send data from through the system.

Sandia National Laboratories Vice President Rick Stulen and Intel designer Stephen Wheat look at ASCI Red's innards at the system's decommissioning in 2006 after nine years of use.

(Credit: Sandia National Laboratories)

The first version of the router chip had a data integrity problem, and Intel didn't have time to fully validate a fixed version even though the engineers knew what caused the problem, Prince said. However, in a presentation titled "Statistics for the Common Man," Prince convinced Intel management that a variety of worst-case scenario tests could reduce the validation time from more than a dozen weeks to about four to six weeks. He prevailed.

"It worked, and they didn't fire me," Prince said. ASCI Red, developed for the Energy Department's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative to simulate nuclear weapons physics in a computer rather than with real-world tests, led the Top500 list of supercomputers from June 1997 until November 2000, when IBM's ASCI White took the top spot.

Meanwhile, in today's world
Naturally Prince now is focused on the best directions for getting Dell servers, storage, and networking gear into customers' hands. And though he's comfortable with nitty-gritty chip details, he said customers these days are gravitating toward higher-level discussions.

"At this point nobody's keeping up with the gigahertz rating of chips," he said, no doubt to the delight of Intel and AMD, who ran into physical limits on clock speed and focused their attention on multiple processing cores and getting more work done in each tick of a chip's clock.

Instead, he said, customers are asking, "How does this fit into my virtual environment? What's my management look like?" Thus, Dell is leading a lot of marketing with virtualization, which lets a single physical computer house many independent operating systems called virtual machines. Dell had expected Microsoft and various Linux players to challenge virtualization expert and EMC subsidiary VMware, but it's withstood the competition so far, he said.

Dell itself has about 6,000 VMware-hosted virtual machines running on about 620 real machines in its own computing infrastructure, but that's only a small fraction of the 12,000 physical servers total the company has. Some physical machines house as many as 20 virtual machines, but for business-critical tasks, Dell puts 10 virtual machines on a physical server, Prince said.

In Dell's analysis, using virtual machines saved $60 million in capital equipment expenses, he said. But virtualization poses problems, too--the virtual equivalent of server sprawl, in which new servers are added to a company's infrastructure faster than administrators can keep up.

"You can deploy new servers in hours instead of weeks. The downside is you crank 'em out, so you have this proliferation of resources," Prince said, and virtual machines don't come with handy tracking technology. "The reason it's hard to get rid of them is it's hard to track them. There's no asset tag. There's no depreciation on a virtual server."

Hardware still matters
Though sales have moved to a higher level, hardware details still matter, Prince said. One he's most excited about is solid-state drives, which use flash memory rather than the spinning platters of conventional hard drives.

Many SSDs today directly replace hard drives, using the same size and SATA or SAS communication protocols to connect to a machine in a way that makes them interchangeable with conventional hard drives. But Prince is more interested in a technology that bypasses that older hard drive technology in favor of a more direct connection over a computer's PCI Express subsystem.

Companies including Fusion-io and Texas Memory Systems supply the technology, and Prince is among those in the server realm who like the idea. "You can get a massive performance upgrade in terms of IOPS," or input-output operations per second.

He's also a believer in a technology called wear leveling, which moves data around the physical storage device so elements don't get overused and therefore effectively worn out. "The life has to be better than enterprise-class drives," he said.

Prince also predicted the eventual triumph of Ethernet over more special-purpose high-speed network fabrics, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand. Fibre Channel will reach 16 gigabits per second, probably won't move beyond 40 gigabits per second, but Ethernet is headed for 40 and 100 gigabits per second today with 400 gigabits and even 1 terabit per second on the horizon, he said.

"Everybody is converging on Ethernet as the high-performance fabric of the future," Prince said.