Hasta La Gadget!

Think the megapixel race is bad? Now we’ve another to worry about, with both Toshiba and Intel hastily approaching 0.01nm technology in order to make chips faster, more nimble and smaller. According to undisclosed sources at Digitimes, Intel has actually canned production plans for its 45nm Havendale processors, which were originally slated to slip into machines later this year. The cause? It’s heading straight to 32nm, reportedly hoping to ship its Clarkdale line in Q1 2010 with entry-level prices ranging from $60 to $190. In related news, Toshiba is joining the likes of IBM, Samsung and Globalfoundries in an effort to dish out chips based on 28nm process technology. Needless to say, the move is being made in an effort to “stay relevant in an area dominated by the likes of Intel Corp and Texas Instruments.” Now, if only we could get one of these potent, low-power chips inside of a netbook, we’d be pleased as punch.

Read – Intel cans Havendale in move to 32nm
Read – Toshiba speeds to 28nm

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Nanometer wars heat up, Toshiba and Intel enter unofficial race originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

It looks like the final step in AMD totally subsuming ATI has been taken. The company announced a reorganization around four specific pillars: products, future techology, marketing, and customer relations. The restructuring also marks the end of Randy Allen’s tenure, as the SVP of the Computing Solutions Group has decided to leave for unspecified reasons. ATI holdover Rick Bergman, who had also be head of the subsidiary known internally as the Graphics Product Group, will head up the products division with the goal of unifying the GPU and CPU teams (not necessarily the products). We highly doubt this means ATI branding is going anywhere — it’s far too valuable for AMD. Will Bergman’s lead help the company reclaim its position among the top ten chip makers? Give Fusion the kick in the pants it needs? Only time will tell.

Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets, Laptops

AMD reorganizes, ATI now fully assimilated originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 May 2009 20:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In a relatively hush-hush manner, Intel recently slipped out energy saving versions of its Core 2 Quad Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550 CPUs, all of which are suffixed with a simple “s.” Put simply, these S-Series chips are built using the same 45 nanometer process technology as used on the regular models, and aside from TDP, all the specifications are exactly alike. The difference comes in power consumption, as the S crew sucks down just 65 watts compared to 95 watts in the standard issue models. Tom’s Hardware had a chance to handle, benchmark and report on these new power sippers, and lucky for you, they found performance to be equal to that of the higher power chips. Granted, you’ll have to pony up a few extra bucks in order to treat Mother Earth (and your energy bill) better, but at least we’re working down the power ladder instead of the other way around.

[Via Tom’s Hardware, thanks Jonathan]

Filed under: Desktops

Intel Core 2 Quad S-Series shaves power consumption to 65W originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We followed up on iLounge and BBGadgets‘ finds this weekend about rumors that the iPod Shuffle has an authentication chip in its headphone controller in order to work with the new control scheme. It does. Updated

iLounge was apparently first mention the presence of a possible authentication scheme, and Boing Boing Gadgets was the first to find some kind of chip inside the headphones—whether or not it was an authentication chip was unknown.

V-Moda, one of the manufacturers who announced shuffle-compatible headphones last week, just confirmed to us that yes, an “authentication chip IS required to enable to volume control functionality with the new shuffle (as well as the latest gen of iPod and MacBooks).” The difference here is that iPods and MacBooks worked with headphones that didn’t have the authentication chip. The shuffle does not. Update: This statement was retracted by V-Moda. See bottom of post for details.

V-Moda also says that they’ve collaborated with Apple for the past few months developing the technology. It seems safe to conclude two things. One, manufacturers who want their headphones to work with the shuffle need to work with Apple in order to get access to the tech inside the authentication chip. Two, only people who Apple “like” are going to get this tech and make compatible headphones—but it’s likely that Apple likes almost anybody with the money to pay for licensing.

Whatever the consequences, it does look like Apple is going down the path of locking down headphones, hoping to crunch out another revenue stream from all the manufacturers offering ways of getting sound from your iPod to your ears, whether it be through earbuds or through car adapters.

Image courtesy Boing Boing Gadgets

Update: Another source, plus the original contact at V-Moda, are telling me something different about the chip. V-Moda is retracting their original statement and saying “it is NOT an authentication nor a DRM chip”, which I am trying to get clarification on now. The other source says it’s supposedly closer to a proprietary control chip that houses the new control scheme, and is an “additional component for the ‘made for iPod’ program”. Again, the phrase “authentication chip” was their language, which they are retracting now. Further updates to come.

Update 2: Joel @ BBG says he spoke to Apple, and they denied the fact that there’s any encryption or authentication in the chip. What’s also interesting is that another tipster says the chip is relatively easy to clone (a fact Apple strangely corroborates), meaning the reason why the manufacturers are licensing and using Apple’s version is most likely to get to market as fast as possible to beat their competitors. And, because they like the fact that they have a made for iPod certification.

Update 3: Spoke to someone else at V-Moda, and they assured me that it was not an authentication chip, but a control chip as part of the “made for iPod” program that they receive from Apple. They’ve also got no plans to go and duplicate the functionality without the “made for iPod” label, as is probably the case with all other major manufacturers.

After having to delay the final vote earlier this month due to a lack of participation (d’oh!), AMD has dotted the final ‘i’ in its attempt to spin off semiconductor manufacturing. Said company, along with the Advanced Technology Investment Company, have now secured the final approval necessary to create The Foundry Company. Stockholder approval was the only remaining hurdle to be jumped, and the joint venture transaction is expected to fully close by March 2nd of this year. By the numbers, AMD stockholders approved a proposal to issue 58 million shares of its common stock along with warrants to purchase 35 million shares of its common stock and 35 million shares of the company’s common stock upon exercise of those warrants to an affiliate of the Mubadala Development Company PJSC (perplexing, we know). Now, let’s see if AMD can keep up with Intel’s own $7 billion investment.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

AMD nets final approval to create The Foundry Company originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments