Nanotech - The Circuits Blog

Updated at 5:15 p.m. PDT: correcting for AMD dual-core Neo in HP dv2 laptop and adding Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T discussion.

Advanced Micro Devices will debut its dual-core low-power Athlon chip technology on an updated laptop from Hewlett-Packard next week. This will be followed by "Congo" low-power silicon later this year.

HP will update its Pavilion dv2 laptop with a dual-core version of AMD's low-power Athlon processor

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

AMD is aiming its Neo technology at the ultra-thin laptop market. This is the same market that Intel has addressed for a long time with its ULV (ultra-low-voltage) chips. However, until very recently, laptops using Intel's ULV chips were expensive "executive jewelry," as Intel CEO Paul Otellini has described the segment. (Think: $2,000-and-up Sony Vaio TT or Toshiba Portege R600 laptops.)

That was then. Intel now targets its ULV silicon at inexpensive ultra-thin laptops. It's probably safe to say that AMD beat Intel to the punch (and got Intel's attention) when HP announced the 0.9-inch-thick, $700 dv2 laptop at CES in January, sporting the first Neo chip.

And the dv2 was more than a Netbook: it had a 12-inch screen, ran Windows Vista, packed ATI graphics, and came replete with a 320GB hard disk drive and 4GB of memory.

The updated HP Pavilion dv2 is expected to debut on June 10 with the dual-core Athlon Neo.

The dual-core Neo chip used in the updated HP dv2 (which is exclusive to HP) will be followed by AMD's Congo technology, due in the third quarter, which integrates AMD's HD3200 graphics, an improvement over the current "Yukon" platform. The all-important power envelope--that, after all, is what sets the technology apart from mainstream mobile silicon--of the whole package including the graphics is expected to be about the same as the first-generation Neo, according to AMD.

Other vendors will follow with low-power dual-core Congo chips later this year, according to AMD. The new silicon will be used in 24 designs across 11 different PC makers--though AMD says this list is expected to grow.

One of the challenges that AMD faces is benchmarks. This CNET review of the first HP dv2 laptop with the initial Neo chip said that though the "1.6 GHz Neo CPU MV-40 has enough processing power to run Windows Vista smoothly, something that has tripped up Intel-Atom-powered systems" when "running multiple apps simultaneously, none of these low-power, single-core CPUs were particularly impressive, and the Neo and Atom were essentially tied in our multitasking test. By way of comparison, a standard Intel Core 2 Duo ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor, as found in more expensive 12-inch laptops, easily beats them all."

Another challenge is power efficiency. Though a dual-core Neo chip should close some of the performance gap with Intel dual-core ULV chips, it remains to be seen what kind of battery life Neo delivers with two cores. AMD says the extra core only adds three watts over the current single-core 15-watt power envelope. The newest Intel-based ultra-thin laptops boast significantly better battery life than older Intel ULV laptops, with some models, such as the Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T, delivering up to eight hours on one charge.

Updated at 1:45 p.m. PDT with additional comments about Moblin market share.

On Tuesday, Intel released information on its next-generation Atom silicon and the next version of its Linux operating system for Netbooks.

Noury Al-Khaledy, general manager of Nettop and Netbook Computing at Intel, announced a technology platform called "Pine Trail" that--at the risk of confounding readers with similar product names--uses a new Atom processor dubbed "Pineview."

Intel announced the Moblin v2.0 Beta Tuesday

(Credit: Intel)

Essentially, what all of this means is that Intel will move more features onto the "Pineview" Atom processor that are currently in the surrounding chipset. The graphics function and so-called memory controller--which connects memory with other parts of the system--will now be on the same piece of silicon as the processor.

Other functionality--the so-called I/O hub--will remain on a separate chip.

"We have a processor, we have a chipset, and we have an I/O hub. What we've done is reduce that three-chip partition to a two-chip partition," Al-Khaledy said.

The new Atom technology will launch in the second half of this year, Al-Khaledy said.

The goal of integration is to reduce power consumption and increase performance in Netbooks--which are small, inexpensive laptops designed for Web browsing, email, and less-demanding media applications.

Intel also announced the Beta version of the Moblin version 2.0 Linux operating system, which is targeted at Atom processor-based Netbooks, handhelds, Nettops (Atom-based desktops), as well as other markets such as automotive. "We're doing Moblin to unify Linux across all these segments," said Doug Fisher, general manager at Intel's software and services group.

Moblin 2.0 includes a new interface called the M-zone, which replaces the desktop and is "the entry point to the Netbook and Nettop," according to an Intel statement. This new interface is aimed at improving social networking and media--audio and video--consumption.

Intel did not disclose what PC makers may use the operating system--which will compete with Windows 7--but said Acer and Asus have used Linux in the past for Netbooks.

"We're seeing 20, 25 percent Mobilin share in Netbooks and Nettops," Al-Khaledy said. Much of the Netbook market today uses Windows XP and is expected to adopt Windows 7 when it comes out later this year.

Moblin 2.0 Beta is available for immediate download here.

Apple COO Tim Cook's recent comments about Netbooks may reflect an incipient movement to look beyond this category of laptops--now more than a year old. The comments also echo lingering disaffection with the Netbook business model. Sentiment that may not be that far removed from Intel's internal thinking.

Toshiba's first crack at a Netbook was hardly an endorsement of the category--the lackluster design was officially only available in Latin America

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

This New York Times blog does a good job of dispelling any ambiguity about Cook's comments when it says that "contempt may be too kindly a term" to describe his attitude toward Netbooks.

Cook joins a small chorus of less blunt but equally disdainful companies. Toshiba initially resisted Netbooks and in conversations I had with Toshiba at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January (where its Netbook offering had been relegated, quite intentionally, to an easy-to-miss corner of its sprawling booth) they clearly were not enthusiastic about (if not disdainful of) the category.

Toshiba, caving to pressure in its home market (Japan) from Acer and Asus, has since come out with a redesigned Netbook but has yet to offer anything officially in the U.S. market--more than a year after the Atom processor was launched.

And in case anyone misses the irony. Toshiba practically invented the laptop category and, to state the obvious, is one of the largest laptop vendors in the world.

And Sony has gone out of its way to say that its Netbook-like notebook is not a Netbook--and priced it accordingly.

Advanced Micro Devices has been more outspoken than most. Their contempt, to a large extent, is a given since they are Intel's chief rival. And, unlike Toshiba and Sony, they're not a customer of Intel's and don't have to couch their disdain in diplomatic language. (Skeptics will cite a host of other reasons too: AMD's lack of R&D funds to develop an Atom equivalent, for one.).

That said, in conversations I have had with AMD (including CEO Dirk Meyer), they seem to genuinely believe that Netbooks--as defined by Atom--are not going to be around for the long haul. In short, like Apple's Cook, they think they're too dinky. (See Cook's comments linked above for a variation on this theme, including the words "junky," "terrible," and "cramped.")

There is also some anecdotal evidence that demand for Intel's Atom Netbook processors is slowing a bit. (It should be noted that the source for this information is Digitimes, which is not always the most reliable font of information.)

Updated at 10:45 p.m. PDT throughout.

Intel celebrated the first anniversary of the Atom processor by introducing two new models, while confirming the arrival of Nehalem-based mobile processors later this year and disclosing a new chip dubbed "Jasper Forest."

The chipmaker also did a live demonstration for the first time of the next-generation Atom-based platform, code-named Moorestown. The platform will include a new Moblin software version that will enable a PC-like Internet experience along with cellular voice capabilities, Intel said.

Intel senior vice president Anand Chandrasekher did a live demonstration of the upcoming Moorestown Atom chip in Beijing

(Credit: Intel)

Intel announced two new Atom processors for mobile Internet devices, or MIDs: the Z550 and Z515. The Z550 extends the performance of the Atom line to 2GHz. The Z515 incorporates the Intel Burst Performance Technology (Intel BPT), which enables the processor to run at 1.2GHz when performance is needed, Intel said.

Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, in a keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, discussed upcoming processors for laptops based on the Nehalem architecture that will be available in the second half of this year as part of the "Calpella" platform. These processors will be more powerful than their predecessors by including such technologies as Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

Chandrasekher also touched on Intel's ultra low-voltage (ULV) processors and how they are creating a category of ultra-thin laptops less than 1-inch thick. Intel is slated to offer lower-priced versions of these processors by early summer that are expected to engender a class of low-cost ultra-thin laptops, which some have described as a MacBook Air for the masses.

Pat Gelsinger, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, disclosed, for the first time, the Nehalem EP-based processor code-named Jasper Forest that is specifically designed for embedded and storage applications "to deliver optimal performance per watt...Jasper Forest will be offered in single-, dual- or quad-core designs; ranging from 23 watts to 85 watts," Intel said.

Intel's Atom is proving to be a very popular chip. But is it too low-rent for Apple?

First the news. iSuppli reported Monday that Intel gained share, based on revenue, in the global microprocessor during every quarter of 2008 to finish up with 80.5 percent of the total processor market--a 1.6 percent gain over rivals--partly due to the success of its Atom chip in Netbooks.

Would a hypothetical Apple Netbook be a high-end product like Sony's Vaio P line?

(Credit: Sony)

"Intel's low-priced Atom has become increasingly popular as the Netbook market has gained steam," Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms research, for iSuppli, said in a statement.

Worldwide unit shipments of Netbooks soared by more than 2,000 percent in 2008 and are expected to rise by about 68 percent in 2009, iSuppli said.

Not surprisingly, every major computer maker has announced a Netbook--some, like Toshiba, begrudgingly--and others, like Dell, seemed, at least initially, to put a product out there just in case.

Hewlett-Packard--one of the early leaders in the market--came out (back in April 2008) first with an upscale business-class "Mini-Note" Netbook, but since then HP has added a lower-cost consumer-focused HP Mini 1000 series too. All HP Netbooks now use the Atom processor after a brief flirtation with a Via processor (used because HP developed its Mini-Note before Atom was available).

Sony finally chimed in this year with the a luxury Netbook--the Vaio P series, which ranges in price from $900 to $1,499 with a 128GB solid-state drive and 2GB of memory--both atypical for an Atom-based system.

But not Apple. Now about a year after Intel rolled out the Atom brand. A Russian magazine has posted a pretty compelling mock-up of what an Apple Netbook could (should?) look like. The magazine even proffered some believable specs that were slightly off-kilter--a typical Apple product strategy: a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 (typically not used in Netbooks, most vendors default to the 1.6GHz N270), a 64GB solid-state drive (not unheard of in Netbooks but certainly not common), and, most interestingly, an Nvidia chipset and Nvidia graphics.

One of the challenges Apple faces with a luxury Netbook configuration like this is that it comes uncomfortably close to its pricey MacBook Air, which also offers Nvidia graphics and solid-state drives. This, of course, could change if Apple updates the Air with a more upscale configuration.

Or Apple could bring out an un-Netbook (Apple, of course, will dare not speak the name "Netbook") like Sony but trump Sony by using an inexpensive Intel Core 2 ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processor (due by early summer) that keeps it up-market but far enough below MBA territory.

That said, if Apple goes the Atom-based Netbook route, it will not be immune from the inevitable cannibalization that Atom brings with it.

Some potential MacBook Air buyers would look at a 10- or 11-inch Apple Netbook and say why pay the $1,000 premium? Maybe too many for Apple's taste. We'll see.

Intel's newest Atom processor has slipped out of the starting gate sooner than expected.

Asus 1000HE Eee PC uses the new Atom N280 processor.

(Credit: Asus)

Though the Atom N280 had been expected later this year, it is now shipping to Intel customers. "Asus is already taking preorders for the 1000HE with the N280," Intel spokesperson Bill Calder said Thursday.

Intel doesn't expect the rollout to be as big as the Atom N270, introduced back in June, but the N280 is expected to appear in a few systems, Calder said.

The N280 brings a minuscule clock frequency improvement to the N270, bumping up the speed to only 1.66GHz from the N270's 1.6GHz.

The most noticeable improvement is delivered by the accompanying chipset--the GN40. Its built-in graphics silicon offers--for the first time on an Intel Netbook platform--1080p HD playback (though there will be no Blu-ray logo). Nvidia's Atom-based Ion platform will offer even better graphics, however.

Intel has also increased the front-side bus--a data path between the processor and other silicon--speed from 533MHz to 667MHz.

The N280 won't necessarily be the fastest Atom, however. The Z540, which is targeted at handheld-size mobile Internet devices, has been around since April and runs at 1.86GHz, a faster clock speed than the N280.

News about N280 was reported earlier here.

Advanced Micro Devices' chief executive predicts that Netbooks will eventually disappear. This thinking, though obviously favorable to AMD's strategy, isn't completely at odds with Intel's.

The lightweight HP Pavilion dv2, which uses the AMD Neo processor, is marketed as a notebook

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

"The distinction between what is a Netbook and what is a notebook is going to go away," AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said Thursday in the company's earnings conference call.

"There will be a continuum of price points and form factors," he said.

"Given the way Netbooks are configured today, consumers who want a notebook at those kind of (low) price points have to compromise and as a result don't enjoy a full PC experience, particularly around the graphics and media capability of the machine," Meyer said. "And likewise people who wanted a thin and light machine had to pay a lot of money, typically well over a thousand dollars."

Upcoming inexpensive ultra-thin notebooks will meet the need for a small, thin, lightweight laptop that is more powerful than a Netbook, Meyer said.

This sentiment is actually backed up to some extent by Intel's recent behavior. Intel CEO Paul Otellini, in that company's earnings conference call last week, spoke oddly of Netbooks in the past tense. He said the buzz around Netbooks at the Consumer Electronics Show "validates our view that (the market) had a high potential for growth and it was an exciting segment, in particular in this kind of economic environment." (Emphasis added.) Otellini did add, however, that he expected Intel "would do very well in the Netbook market in the course of the next couple of years."

Whether his use of tense is just a way to refer to the Netbook market to date or a Freudian slip tied to Intel's intention to bring out new mainstream Core architecture chips for inexpensive thin notebooks later in the year, is not clear. This chip platform could potentially suck a lot of the enthusiasm out of the Netbook market.

And Intel has small plans for its Atom processor in 2009. Aside from a tiny increase in processor speed and a slight improvement in graphics, nothing big is slated for the platform. Is the demise of the Netbook market as we know it today something both AMD and Intel agree on? We'll see.

That Eee PC Netbook too slow? Well, it probably won't get much faster in 2009, according to reports, proving that Intel is not keen on revving up Atom to compete with itself.

Both Digitimes and Engadget are reporting that the Atom N280--an update of the 1.6GHz N270--will appear by the third quarter of this year and run at 1.66GHz.

This is a whopping 0.06GHz jump in speed--very underwhelming and very different than the performance fast track that consumers are used to with higher-end Intel Core architecture chips. It highlights a theme that will be repeated often in 2009: As Atom gains in popularity, Intel will have to manage the Atom platform so it doesn't imperil more lucrative processor lines.

Another theme that's emerging in 2009 is the Netbook--typically priced below $500--as the computer for the sinking economy, tailor-made for shrinking household budgets. In fact, a recent report from Forrester Research exhorts Netbook vendors to discourage this, saying they should "avoid the temptation" to tap into this sentiment.

"This cannibalization is bad for industry pricing," according to a report by Forrester analyst J. P. Gownder, citing statistics that say 23 percent of consumers say they are interested in buying a Netbook in lieu of "a more expensive laptop." (See chart.)

About 23 percent of U.S. adults say they are interested in Netbooks as a replacement for a more expensive laptop

(Credit: Forrester Research)

To be clear, Intel has always been quick to say that Atom is not designed as a high-performance processor and ardently tries to dampen excessive expectations. CEO Paul Otellini and other executives have stated clearly in many forums (regularly in earnings conference calls, for example) that Netbooks are a "complementary" device to a notebook and meant for casual Internet usage only.

And Intel is going to take this a step further later this year by plugging the hole between cheap Netbooks and pricey ultraportables with a new processor for less-expensive ultraportables. More than anything, this chip is meant to send a message: Netbook performance will be capped. Want something more than a Netbook? You will need to buy an ultraportable with a chip from Intel's more mainstream Core architecture lineup.

So, what are Intel's plans for Atom in 2009? Aside from tiny frequency improvements to the processor, Intel will increase the front-side bus--a data path between the processor and other silicon--from 533MHz to 667MHz, which will boost performance more than the teeny uptick in processor clock speed.

(Let's not forget the Atom Z540, which is targeted at handheld-size mobile Internet devices. This has been around since April and runs at 1.86GHz, a faster clock speed than the upcoming N280.)

The biggest improvement, however, will come in graphics. The Atom upcoming GN40 chipset will offer improved graphics performance and will be HD playback compatible, though there will be no Blu-ray logo.

Will this ability to handle HD discourage Netbook vendors from going with Nvidia's Ion processor? That may also be a theme that repeats itself in 2009. Nvidia's Ion platform, aimed at Netbooks, can do Blu-ray. Whether this will provide enough incentive to Netbook makers to include Ion--which appears to offer better graphics performance overall than the GN40--won't be clear until at least summer.

It also isn't necessarily a slam-dunk that Netbooks will rule in 2009. Remember the UMPC? I didn't think so.

Updated at 11:05 p.m. PST with additional information throughout.

Another Netbook? No, not exactly. Hewlett-Packard's new Pavilion dv2 is an ultraportable, thank you. And the new Athlon Neo silicon inside from Advanced Micro Devices will try to prove that point.

AMD is introducing new chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that target the no-man's land between Netbooks and notebooks. Typically, these designs are referred to as ultraportables--the most salient examples being Apple's MacBook Air, the Toshiba Portege, and the Sony Vaio TT series.

So what makes AMD's platform different? In one word, price. Ultraportables fall into the boutique category of laptops: very stylish, very slim, very light--and very expensive. Usually ranging between $1,500 and $3,000. HP's notebook with Athlon Neo silicon cuts the price in half. The Pavilion dv2 will start at $699 and top out at $899 for standard configurations.

HP 12-inch Pavilion dv2 ultraportable starts at $699, at least half the price of traditional ultraportable notebooks like the MacBook Air, Toshiba Portege, and Sony Vaio TT series.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The dv2, at 3.8 pounds, is slightly heavier than ultraportables that typically weigh between 2.5 and 3 pounds. It is 0.9-inches thick, slightly thicker than more expensive ultraportables like the MacBook Air.

But the Pavilion dv2 will pack features such as an AMD-ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 separate (discrete) graphics chip, a relatively large hard disk drive (HP lists drives up to 500GB), and a 12.1-inch LED screen. Features that differentiate it from Netbooks and put it squarely into ultraportable territory.

AMD Athlon Neo silicon details

(Credit: AMD)

The dv2 will also come with WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) options as well as standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Bahr Mahony, AMD's manager of mobile products, said in an interview that one of the few ultraportables available today with discrete graphics is the MacBook Air, but this starts at a whopping $1,800. (The Air uses Nvidia's GeForce 9400M graphics and Intel's Core 2 Duo low-voltage processors.)

The Athlon Neo platform can handle 1080p HD playback and a "casual" gaming experience with realistic 3D graphics, using the optional ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip.

AMD's Athlon Neo processor--formerly code-named "Huron" under the platform codename "Yukon"--runs at 1.6GHz and has a power envelope of 15 watts, comparable to Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) Core 2 Duo processors that power ultraportables today.

AMD's Neo does fall short in one respect, however. Currently it is only single-core, whereas Intel ULV processors are dual-core at a comparable power envelope, and, moreover, typically integrate 6MB level-2 cache memory to boost performance. AMD's Neo has only 512K of cache memory.

A dual-core chip, code-named "Conesus," will come in the second half of this year, according to AMD's Mahoney.

The first HP Pavilion dv2 ultrathin notebook is expected to be available from HP in the second quarter.