Hasta La Gadget!

Intel’s been trying to break into the home entertainment market for years, and while it’s made some inroads, it’s also looking at a notable list of ho hum attempts that never managed to gain traction. Take the CE3100 processor, for instance — a couple of years ago, the outfit seemed certain that this here chip would be powering every last living room box for the rest of eternity, and nowadays it’s hardly a household name. But this week, Intel has picked up Texas Instruments’ cable modem unit, which gives it a direct link into the very area it’s been trying to exploit. The goal of the acquisition — which is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter of this year — is to combine TI’s Puma product lines with DOCSIS and Intel SoCs. Once that magical marriage takes place, Chipzilla intends to push out complex set-top boxes, residential gateways and modem products, possibly even going for the OEM artery. Details beyond that are few and far betwixt, but we doubt it’ll be too long before the pickup begins to bear fruit.

Continue reading Intel acquires TI’s cable modem unit, might be sneaking into your AV rack

Intel acquires TI’s cable modem unit, might be sneaking into your AV rack originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may be a cheaper way to join the high-end Core i7 family, but that doesn’t mean it’s “cheap.” Intel’s Core i7-970 ($899), which just started shipping to consumers around a month ago, has just undergone a thorough looking-over at Hot Hardware, where the six-core chip was tested alongside its more potent (and in turn, more costly) siblings. If you’ve no interest in dropping over a grand for a Core i7-980X, and you aren’t about to lower yourself by purchasing a quad-core Core i7-975, this here chip might just do you proud. In testing, critics found the 970 to be quick, but hardly mind-blowing, when handling more mundane tasks; stir in a few heavily threaded applications, though, and it managed to “sail past” the quad-core contemporaries and “keep pace” with the aforementioned 980X. All told, the silicon managed to perform around 5 percent worse than the 980X, yet it rings up for around 12 percent less. If you’ve got the workflow to truly take advantage of all six cores, and you can stomach not having the absolute best, it seems as if the 970 strikes a fine balance — and hey, if you’re down with overclocking, you can probably get that 5 percent back with just a mild uptick in your energy bill.

Intel’s Core i7-970 gets reviewed: great for overclocking, still expensive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still waiting on leaked (or official, we’re not partial) images to confirm, but based on a presentation slide and a bit of insider information passed on to Notebook Italia, ASUS is gearing up to replace its aging EeeBox EB1501 with the EB1501P. Reportedly, the box will be based around Intel’s dual-core Atom D525 processor and will feature NVIDIA’s Ion GPU, a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 802.11n WiFi, an HDMI output, six USB sockets and Bluetooth. That aligns quite nicely with the EB1501U (shown above) that we spotted back at CeBIT, which has yet to launch in any capacity since. A proper introduction at IFA, perhaps? We’ll be watching, ASUS.

ASUS’ EeeBox EB1501P leaks out with Atom D525, Ion GPU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We got a glimpse into the world of MeeGo for In-Vehicle Infotainment late last month when BMW, GM, Hyundai and a few others announced that the fledgling OS would one day show up front and center in their motorcars, and now v1.0 is out for the world to try. Of course, we’d probably recommend a helmet and a wide open — preferably private — roadway before you let a barely-tested system take over critical functions in your vehicle, but we digress. Those interested in digging into the first public release of MeeGo for IVI can do so right now by visiting the source link, and while we still aren’t hopeful that this will begin supplanting existing (awful) infotainment systems in the very near future, at least we’ve got some progress to smile about. Head on past the break for a brief overview.

[Thanks, vgrade]

Continue reading Meego for In-Vehicle Infotainment 1.0 launched today, all testing recommended on a closed course

Meego for In-Vehicle Infotainment 1.0 launched today, all testing recommended on a closed course originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so maybe we’re only half-kidding about the prospective of having home health robots that can barely multitask, but we’re hoping that Intel and GE at least have the heart to equip any domicile servants with a Core i3 or stronger. If you haven’t heard, the two aforesaid companies have joined hands this week to create a 50/50 joint venture, one that’ll result in the creation of a new healthcare company “focused on telehealth and independent living.” Financial terms aren’t being disclosed, but the goal is pretty simple: “to use technology to bring more effective healthcare into millions of homes and to improve the lives of seniors and people with chronic conditions.” It’s a bit unclear at this point what all the duo will be creating, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see medical tablets, Core i7 980X-based “medical monitoring PCs” and Moorestown-powered “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” neck pieces surface in the near future.

Continue reading Intel and GE form healthcare joint venture, sluggish Atom-powered home servants on the way

Intel and GE form healthcare joint venture, sluggish Atom-powered home servants on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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