The inventor of the Sugar user interface used in the One Laptop Per Child's XO says his company is developing a version for Intel's own low-cost laptop.
(Credit:
Intel)
Walter Bender said in an interview Thursday with PC World that "a community volunteer is working with Intel on Sugar for the Classmate PC. Sugar Labs helped to expedite the relationship."
Bender is the inventor of the kid-friendly interface, which sits on top of a computer's operating system. His company, Sugar Labs, was spun off from OLPC in May. At the time of the announcement, Bender said Sugar Labs was already talking about sharing the UI with at least four other low-cost laptop makers, including Asus.
He described OLPC as the "primary, but not exclusive, downstream project" for Sugar Labs, and confirmed that the two companies continue to work together on further development of the UI.
That Intel will be working tangentially with OLPC again is notable. The chipmaker left its position as board member of OLPC in January, citing "fundamental differences" between the two companies' visions for low-cost computing. Previous to that, OLPC's founder Nicholas Negroponte had asked Intel to stop selling their Classmate PC platform because it was interfering with sales of the XO. Unsurprisingly, Intel declined his request.
UPDATE: With headlines this week like "AMD jumps into the netbook game," it sounded very much like Advanced Micro Devices was making a belated entry into the netbook segment. But this isn't the case, according to AMD.
AMD chips are already used in a number of existing netbook-like designs like the 10-inch Red Fox Wizbook (above) and OLPC XO laptop.
(Credit: Red Fox)An AMD spokesperson said that this photo of a purported AMD netbook is, in fact, just a small notebook from Raon Digital--not an AMD reference design.
"It is a Raon Digital product and will start production at the end of July," AMD spokesperson Phil Hughes said in response to an email query. "They have two models. One is TL-56 (Turion processor)-based and the other is Sempron 3700-based."
And Hughes said there are already a raft of netbook-like products in the market using AMD chips including the progenitor of this category of small, low-cost laptops, the One Laptop Per Child XO (OLPC) laptop (which uses the AMD Geode LX-700).
Other products include Red Fox Wizbook (which uses the LX-800), and Kohjinsha E8 (which also uses the LX-800).
So it isn't a question of AMD entering this market or not. It's already there. "Our journey with OLPC started three years ago," said AMD vice president Pat Moorhead. "We are in this market. But what we are (also) saying is that because we've learned a lot in this market, we see a much better opportunity in that 8 to 12 inch notebook space. As opposed to passing something off as a PC that is very un-PC like," Moorhead said.
Moorhead has listed pluses and minuses (mostly minuses) about the Asus Eee PC 8G netbook in his blog. He believes it is critical that netbook suppliers be clear about what the netbook lacks.
"Be very clear what (a netbook) can't do. With SSD flash versions it's not going to be able to sufficiently hold your audio collection. It prompted me to load (Windows) XP SP3 (service pack 3) and I only have a 167 megabytes remaining," he grumbled.
And AMD sees similar compromises that may disappoint users in the mobile Internet device (MID) category, too. But it's not that AMD is not a player. The company has shipped over 250 million Imageon processors to mobile handset suppliers that offer a wide range of devices including MID-like smartphones, according to Moorhead. "We licensed our intellectual property to Qualcomm, Nokia, STMicro, and Freescale. So we know that market pretty well," Moorhead said.
Intel, on the other hand, is pushing its Atom processor hard and finding a lot of interest in netbooks from companies like Acer, Dell, MSI, and a host of smaller companies.
Intel expects the market for low-cost computers to increase to 100 million units per year by 2011, according to Bloomberg, compared to the total worldwide notebook market that will hit 194 million units a year over the same period.
The proliferation at Computex of ultra-small, inexpensive netbooks poses this pesky question: why are traditional ultra-compact laptops so expensive?
The Asus Eee PC 1000 debuted this week with a 10-inch screen, 40GB solid state drive, and Windows XP. Pricing has been rumored at between $600 and $700.
Features and size threaten to push the Eee PC 1000 netbook into a category traditionally referred to as subnotebooks--with one glaring difference: price.
Subnotebooks like the 11-inch Lenovo IdeaPad or Sony Vaio TZ series typically start at above $1,500 and go up from there, ranging up to $3,000.
HP mini-note and traditional ultra-portable notebooks: both ultra-compact designs, but big price gap
(Credit: HP)But as netbooks inevitably add more features, analysts and industry insiders are beginning to wonder what will happen to the traditional laptop category. "(If) you add more (gigabytes) of storage and a bigger screen, I don't know what makes this any different than a normal laptop," said Avi Cohen, a managing partner at Avian Securities.
Cohen said the obvious downside is a slower Atom processor--compared with a mainstream Core 2 chip--but on the upside Atom has better battery life. "Arguably there's a category of consumers that don't need such high processing power. Or, at least, a different kind of processing power," Cohen said.
Maybe many more than computer makers realize. Industry sources familiar with Intel's netbook strategy also see a potential clash of categories eventually. "Of course, it's always been a concern, as (netbooks) gets more and more traction," said one source familiar with Intel's thinking on this topic.
And as netbooks add more features and creep up in price, Intel has to worry about the market confusion that may ensue. "Is a $700 laptop, even running Atom, a netbook?"--the source asked. That may be the question that laptop vendors and Intel will have to grapple with as the netbook category grows.
(An Intel company blog back in March described the netbook as a small laptop "designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet. And they cost about $250, making Netbooks a potentially disruptive and high volume market segment.")
Of course, subnotebooks like the HP 2510p, Lenovo IdeaPad, and Sony Vaio TZ offer more features than today's netbooks: faster processors, more memory, bigger hard disk drives, and usually larger screens than a netbook like the HP Mini-Note.
But two forces may be working against this purported advantage: One, all of these features may be overkill for a lot of consumers who use traditional, pricey subnotebooks for only email and simple Web browsing. And, two, netbook makers may continue to expand their offerings to push them closer to subnotebooks while keeping the price low.
This is something that Glenn Henry, CEO of Centaur, the Via Technologies subsidiary that designed the Isaiah processor, has said. "The one gigahertz (Isaiah) is plenty powerful enough to do lots of things," Henry said. Via is also targeting the low-cost netbook category--and has been for some time. Its C7 processor is currently used in the HP Mini-Note 2133.
"If this category continues like it is, at the end of the year you may have mega hard drive-based netbooks," said the source familiar with Intel's strategy. "Let's say someone comes out with a really nifty (design), it's got some extra features, a bigger screen, and a few extra bells and whistles. I don't think that's a netbook even if it's running an Atom processor."
What is it then? That's the $64,000 question.
Comments by CEO Paul Otellini and CFO Stacy Smith during Intel's 2008 first-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday cast a pall over the chipmaker's flash business while boosting the outlook of Netbook chips.
First, a quick inventory of the comments made by Otellini and Smith about Intel's NAND flash memory business. Overall Intel gross margins were affected by collapsing prices in the NAND market. Intel is currently in a joint NAND chip manufacturing partnership with Micron Technology. NAND flash is used in large-capacity storage devices which are, in most cases, interchangeable with hard disk drives. Intel said earlier this year that it is getting ready to enter the large-capacity solid state drive (SSD) market with capacities ranging up to 160GB. Intel sold off its NOR flash assets to STMicroelectronics last year.
Flash cannot become a long-term drag: "We made a decision with Micron to push out the timing of the joint Singapore plant. Last month I committed to our investors that I would not let the flash memory business become a long-term drag on company financials. I want to assure shareholders that we entered this business to make money and we will continue to make the appropriate decisions to that end," Otellini said.
Sale of NAND business possible?: In response to a question from an analyst about the possibility of selling off the NAND business Otellini, carefully choosing his words, said this: "There's a lot of ideas that we have here. Talking about them publicly before they're realized or discussed I think is inappropriate and weakens our negotiating position and our options. Really can't comment on that prior to doing it. We had similar questions raised on NOR a year and a half ago. About what are you going to do about it. Couldn't answer those even though we were in discussions with ST (Microelectronics) at that time."
NAND double whammy: "Gigabit production doubled in Q4 to Q1. We had a new factory come online. Bit doubling (doubling the storage capacity of the chips) hit us at the same time that prices came down," Smith said.
Otellini and Smith referred to the positive outlook for "Netbooks" a number of times. Netbooks are inexpensive ultrasmall, ultralight notebooks such as the Asus Eee PC or HP Mini-Note (though the Mini-Note currently uses a Via processor). In some instances during the conference call, it was apparent that "Netbook" was a blanket term for any small computer design using the Atom processor.
Netbook drives desktop-mobile crossover: "With the intro of the low-cost notebook category (Netbook), we believe shipment crossover of desktop PCs to mobile PCs will now happen this year not next year as anticipated...Netbooks and Atom (processors) are starting to show fairly good volume projections," Otellini said. Crossover is the point at which Intel ships more mobile processors than desktop processors. "(The Netbook is) like the early phase of the iPod as different versions and different price points come out," he added. The last remark referred to the many different iPod designs that eventually emerged.
Netbook ramp: "I see (the Netbook) as being a contributor over the course of the year and we're going to start to see the impact of that in the second quarter. It does look to be driving some incremental unit growth beyond what I thought when I first set my forecast for the year," said Smith.
Eight million 45-nanometer processors: Intel has now shipped "in excess" of eight million 45nm units, according to Otellini.
Boasting bigger screens, bigger hard drives, and an integrated Webcam, updated versions of the Classmate PC were introduced at the Intel Developer Forum Thursday.
The 7-inch Classmate PC in blue
(Credit: Intel)Blurred images of laptops that looked strikingly similar to the Classmate have been floating around the blogosphere over the last couple of weeks, popping up with different names, like the 2go PC. That's just one version, which will be made by Computer Technology Link, or CTL.
Intel creates the basic design for the Classmate PC, a category of computer the chipmaker is calling a NetBook, and regional manufacturers put their own spin on it.
The latest versions will be available starting this month with a 9-inch screen and a 30GB hard drive. It will sell for between $300 and $500. Those prices put it just above the cost of the Classmate PC's chief competition, the XO from the One Laptop Per Child program. The XO costs just under $200, and is chiefly targeted at students in developing nations.
The price of the new Classmate PCs put it in direct competition with the popular Eee PC from Asus, which is also a small, light laptop. From the beginning, Asus has said its Eee PC was intended for children, not necessarily for emerging countries, however. The larger screen, bigger hard drive, and higher price show Intel intends to go after mainstream Western markets now, too.
Don't miss CNET's full review of the new 9-inch Classmate PC.
While the marquee processor theme at IDF Shanghai is "milliwatts to petaflops," Intel is also set to offer a vision of universal connectivity.
The main theme for the event, which starts Wednesday, Beijing time, refers to "very, very big to very, very small and low power," according to Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and co-general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group, speaking in a video.
(See: Intel rolls out five new Atom processors.)
"Milliwatts" refers to chips such as Atom, a tiny low-power, low-cost processor destined for ultramobile devices and low-cost desktops typically running either Linux or Windows XP. The first Atom chips will launch in June.
"Petaflops" refers to high-performance computing--what used to be called supercomputing. ("Peta" is quadrillion, or a thousand trillion; "flop" is floating-point operation.) Intel is targeting petaflop supercomputers that would compete with the fastest supercomputer in the world: IBM's Blue Gene/P machines.
Though more technology and product details will certainly emerge in the next two days in Shanghai, the main chip themes are already out there. Gelsinger spelled them out at briefing earlier this month.
The specs for Intel's Dunnington processor
(Credit: Intel)The chip buzzwords are: Tukwila, a new quad-core chip with 2 billion transistors, a whopping 30MB of cache, and a new interconnect technology called QuickPath; Dunnington, a six-core chip for multiprocessor computers that can support four or more processors (in this case, each with six cores); Nehalem, a follow-on to the current "Penryn" processors, it is a new 45-nanometer chip microarchitecture due in the fourth quarter that scales up to eight cores; and Larrabee, a visual-computing architecture that uses many cores ("many" usually means many more than a typical quad-core computer).
In addition to Atom, the processor spotlight will likely fall on Nehalem and Larrabee. Nehalem is a relatively known quantity; Larrabee, a relatively unknown quantity. So interest should focus on the latter.
Nehalem boasts increased parallelism, better branch prediction (to move instructions more quickly through the instruction pipeline), and an on-chip memory controller for increased memory performance--what Intel calls "memory latency reduction." Something, by the way, Advanced Micro Devices already has in its chips.
Larrabee is a graphics processor scheduled for the 2009-2010 time frame. It will include a new vector instruction set to improve the performance of graphics and video applications. Larrabee will be compatible with Intel's popular x86 instruction set, theoretically making life easier for software developers.
On another front, Intel is evangelizing universal connectivity, always a problematic proposition, simply because it invariably promises more (sometimes much more) than it can deliver. Intel puts it this way: "Imagine a day when a single device small enough to fit in your pocket...knows your tendencies and preferences and can adapt and optimize its interfaces to match what you are doing at any point any time...Imagine a day when this device...can dynamically become a hybrid combination of other computing and multimedia devices in close proximity." You get the picture. Intel calls this "Carry Small, Live Large."
On a slightly more practical level, the Cliffside technology is being demonstrated from the Mobile Products Group; it enables a single Wi-Fi adapter to function like two independent Wi-Fi adapters. The hope is that this technology could sync your MP3 and video files without a USB cable, directly and wirelessly connecting your notebook to your TV to view HD movies. More here.
There is also a demonstration of wireless device discovery and setup. This demonstration shows how to detect and connect to nearby wireless displays, using the familiar FnF7 (Function F7 key combination).
The following is a partial list of the sessions at this week's Intel Developer Forum in China, which runs April 2 to 3. Topics set to be covered at IDF Shanghai include Netbook, Nettop, Bloomfield (Nehalem), solid-state drives, QuickAssist (accelerators), system-on-chip (Tolapai), and USB 3.0.
The items below are taken directly from Intel's own material:
Intel Atom Processor for the Desktop
The Essential Building Block for Purpose Built, Basic Desktop Computing Devices: Intel's strategy for basic desktop computing devices. See how the new Intel Atom processor based desktop platforms provide the world's best solution for basic computing, content consumption, and thin client.
Intel Basic Mobile Platform with Intel Atom Processor: Growing New Markets
Overview of growth opportunities for internet-centric computing devices or netbook market. Introduction to 2008 Basic Mobile Platform with Intel Atom Processor Architecture. Understand low cost system BOM (Bill Of Materials) & implications for netbooks. How netbooks are different from Mobile Internet devices, Ultra Mobile PCs, and Entry Notebooks. Opportunities for OEMs/ODM/Software community.
The Intel-Powered Classmate PC: Innovating for the Future
An introduction to technology for the next billion users and how to designing a product for first time user in environments that are not ideal. This includes the implementation of specific technical features in the Second and Next Generation Intel-powered classmate PC including: - PATA MLC Flash - Rugged and high temperature tolerant parts/design - Fan-less thermal system design.
Passive and Fanless Thermal Enabling for Affordable Internet-Centric Nettop
Introduction of Nettop, internet-centric computing devices roadmap and associated thermal solution space. Value proposition of passive/fanless cooling - Cost, Noise, new usage.
High End Desktop Platform, Next Generation (Nehalem) Processor
Background on the Desktop version of our Next Generation Intel Microarchitecture (Nehalem) Processor. Key electrical and system design guidelines to consider in designing a platform with the new Intel desktop processor (Bloomfield). Information on the new Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) & the Integrated Bus Controller on the new Intel desktop processor (Bloomfield) processor. Updates on other key new technologies of this High End Desktop platform and the advantages they bring to developers
Microsoft Windows Rally Technologies
The Windows Rally technologies provide manufacturers of network-connected devices with an architecture that enables effortless setup, more secure and manageable connectivity to other devices and computers, and rich end-user experiences. Using Windows Rally technologies enables hardware and software developers to focus development resources on product differentiation rather than connectivity fundamentals. For our mutual consumers, the result will be a dramatic reduction in complexity. Connecting a network device to a PC will be effortless, reliable, and more secure.
SATA Solid-State Drives: Not All Drives are Created Equal
A technical overview of NAND-based high-performance SATA solid-state drive (SSD) technology. A comparative review between Intel's upcoming SATA SSD products and other SSD and conventional hard disk drive alternatives, focusing on the areas of performance, power and reliability
DDR3, the Optimal Memory for Notebooks
Understand the benefits of DDR3 memory. Understand the DDR3 eco-system readiness and outlook for Mobile. Learn how memory impacts critical performance and power benchmarks and what these benchmarks mean to end-users.
Extreme Mobile Gaming: Design Considerations for High Performance Notebooks
Introduction to Extreme Edition Gaming Notebooks. Details on Extreme Edition Notebook hardware & software offerings. Updates on available Thermal technologies. Methods to tune platform performance
Inside Intel Next Generation Nehalem Microarchitecture
Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture is the next major microarchitecture update from Intel aligning to it's "Tick-Tock" cadence for processors. This session will provide architectural insight into this new microarchitecture that will start shipping in the second half of 2008. You will learn the details behind the key microarchitecture features including: Enhancements to the out of order execution engine. Enhancement to the Platform bandwidth. Enhancements to the cache subsystem. Extension to the instruction set with SSE4.2. And more...
Intel QuickAssist Technology Components
Understanding of the scope of Intel QuickAssist Acceleration Technology and Components. Hardware and software architecture of Intel QuickAssist Technology FSB-FPGA Accelerators and AAL. Learn about the Integrated Accelerator & Intel's new System On Chip Product (Tolapai). Hardware and software architecture framework of Tolapai
Moblin.org - Open Source Development for the Intel Powered Mobile Internet Device
Moblin.org, the umbrella open source project hosts the core software stack and technologies for Intel powered Mobile Internet Device (MID). This course will go into technical details on Moblin.org, for how you could setup platform-specific environment and build applications based on Moblin.org sub-projects and technologies.
SuperSpeed USB - Fast Sync-N-Go for Mobile Devices
SuperSpeed Market overview and Industry timeline updates. Update on SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) specification architecture details. Guidance on industry opportunities for 2008/2009
Intel Architecture Based SoC (System-on-Chip)
Join us to hear about the vision for Intel Architecture-based SoCs and the unique benefits that they bring to the industry. This Technology Insight will focus on a generic SoC on-die architecture and its impact on SoC-based platforms for embedded communications, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. The talk will also outline Intel's expectations of the industry ecosystem in the areas of Electronic System Level (ESL) language, tools, and new methodologies.
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