Hasta La Gadget!

We knew it was Intel’s plan to launch its Sandy Bridge or Core 2011 processors at CES, but leave it to Chipzilla to throw in some total surprises ahead of the show. Yes, you read the headline right — Intel’s planning to launch its very own movie and video service in the first quarter of 2011. Unlike iTunes or really anything else out there, Intel’s Insider will allow those with Core 2011-powered laptops or desktops to purchase or rent the latest movies in full HD — yes, good ol’ 1080p. But, why exactly is Intel teaming up with studios, content owners, and video distributors when so many others out there are trying to do the same thing? In essence, the company sits in a good place to combat a lot of the issues movie studios have had with HD video distribution — Insider is tied to the new 2nd generation Core processors, and thus provides hardware protection, rather than software protection of the content. According to Intel’s Erik Reid, the company has already struck deals with CinemaNow and Warner Brothers, and the plan is for all content to be made available at the same time as the DVD or Blu-ray release. It is unclear whether there will be an Insider portal for all this content or if other services will just be certified to work on the hardware platform, but we will be finding out much more once the show starts.

Naturally, Intel doesn’t only want you to watch those brand spankin’ new 1080p movies on your laptop screen — it is pushing WiDi in a big way, and the second generation, which will be baked into new Core 2011 systems, will support 1080p streaming and will eventually enable streaming of protected content, including DVDs and Blu-ray discs. WiDi 2.0, as they are calling it, will work a lot like the original version we like so much and allows you to extend your desktop to an HD monitor, but unfortunately, it will require a new HDTV receiver to enable the full HD capability and it still has that two second lag. No word yet on who is making those boxes or how much they’ll cost, but we’re hoping to learn a few more details about Intel’s big push to tie video content to its new processors at its CES press conference in just a few days.

Continue reading Intel to launch Insider movie service with 1080p content, WiDi 2.0 will let you stream it to your TV

Intel to launch Insider movie service with 1080p content, WiDi 2.0 will let you stream it to your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man, who needs to go to CES anymore? Intel’s frailly maintained secrecy around Sandy Bridge processor identities has been blown to smithereens today by Italian systems integrator Santech. The company lists a now familiar Core i7-2630QM (quad-core, 2GHz) alongside an i7-2720QM (2.2GHz), an i7-2820QM (2.3GHz), and an i7-2920XM (2.5GHz), confirming once and for all that Intel has completely lost its mind when it comes to naming chips. Other specs include up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 750GB of magnetic storage or 160GB of the solid state stuff, a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and a 15.6-inch display that can be either glossy or matte, with a resolution of either 1366 x 768 or 1920 x 1080, depending on your preference and budget. Deliveries are said to start on January 27th and prices range between €1,200 ($1,577) and €3,000 ($3,943).

Santech can’t wait for CES, lists a bunch of Sandy Bridge CPUs on new N67 laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let us all warmly greet the Core i5-2300, the i5-2400, and the Core i7-2600, three desktop-bound members of Intel’s upcoming Sandy Bridge CPU brigade. You’ll note that all three are fully dressed in their retail attire in an image coming from Malaysian electronics store Compuzone, which also has a full pricing and speed breakdown for these central processing units. The 3.4GHz Core i7 part costs 939RM ($301), followed by 609RM ($195) for the 3.1GHz 2400, and 585RM ($188) for the 2.8GHz 2300. It seems like Intel’s up to its old tricks again, letting some stock roll out early in distant Asian locales. At least this should mean there’ll be plenty to go around once the CES 2011 launch of these chips is out of the way. Hit the source for more details and to scope out pricing for the new LGA1155 motherboards.

[Thanks, Melantha]

Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and motherboards now on sale in Malaysia, what Consumer Electronics Show? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s full unveil of the next-gen Sandy Bridge processor line isn’t due until January, but the products are already starting to leak out. The M17x is our second 17-incher (HP’s dv7 being the first), and this time we’ve got in-the-wild shots and benchmarks to chew on. In 3DMark06 a 2GHz Core i7-2630QM machine running Intel’s integrated graphics scored 15,940, while a 2.2GHz i7-2720QM with AMD Radeon HD 6900M graphics nailed a 20,155 mark, and a 2.3GHz i7-2820QM chip paired with a GeForce GTX 460M GPU did 16,957. Of course, these numbers are supremely preliminary, but it sounds like Intel’s integrated graphics are (finally) starting to pull their weight, just like Intel keeps promising. Otherwise, the M17x looks to be mostly unchanged, which is probably good news for gamers, bad news for anyone hoping Alienware would pursue some new sort of “understated” design language in 2011.

[Thanks, vikingrinn]

Unreleased Alienware M17x spotted running next-gen Intel Sandy Bridge chip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just a month after pushing out a smaller duo of gaming laptops, Maingear has now revealed an entirely new line catering to mid-range gamers. The Alt-15 and Alt-17 both start right around the magical $1,000 point, and moreover, both rely on NVIDIA’s graphics-switching Optimus technology to conserve battery life when you don’t need the GPU pegged. The Alt-15 is a 15.6-incher with a Core i5 or Core i7 Mobile processor, NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 425M (1GB), up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, an optional Blu-ray drive, your choice of an HDD or SSD, Windows 7, a fingerprint reader, HDMI / VGA outputs, a USB 3.0 socket (plus a trio of USB 2.0 sockets) and a $1,049 base price. The bigger, beefier Alt-17 gets away with a 17.3-inch LCD (1080p) and most of the same specifications as listed above, though you’ll see a starting tag that’s $50 more. Hit the links below if you’re up for a little customization.

Continue reading Maingear targets mid-range PC gamers with Alt-15 and Alt-17 laptops

Maingear targets mid-range PC gamers with Alt-15 and Alt-17 laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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