Appleton is attributed with building semiconductor company Micron into one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM memory chips. He has a long history with the company, starting out as a production worker and eventually working his way up. He became an advocate for fair trade against Japanese rivals, which dominated the memory chip market back in the 80s by selling chips below cost, a practice known as dumping.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO, passed away this morning in a small plane accident in Boise. He was 51. Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large,” read a statement issued by Micron’s board.

Appleton had survived a plane crash back in 2004, where he sustained head injuries, a punctured lung, ruptured disk, and broken bones. However, he had not revealed the severity of his crash until 2006.

[via VentureBeat]

AMD’s first APU for tablets is codenamed “Hondo” and will be built on a 40-nm manufacturing process. APUs combine a microprocessor and graphics on the same chip and feature ultra-low power consumption. The company revealed that the first AMD-toting Windows 8 tablet will be available this year.

AMD will also be refreshing its lineup with Brazos 2.0 chips that feature faster TurboCore and universal serial bus 3.0 built on a 40-nm process. A second-gen Trinity APU will be built on a 32-nm process and feature significant improvements in performance and power consumption. Additionally, AMD will be launching a new stand-alone graphics chip called Southern Islands, which is built on a 28-nm process and should debut this year.

In 2013, AMD will launch a successor to the Hondo tablet chip called Temash, which will feature new Jaguar processing cores. Kabini chip for laptops with Jaguar cores, a third-gen Kaveri APU with Steamroller cores, and a Trinity mobile chip will also be introduced in 2013.

[via VentureBeat]

The wholesale pricing leaked gives a good idea as to which next-gen processor falls in line with the current-gen Sandy Bridge processor. The pricing ranges from the lower-end Core i5 models starting at $184 to $332 for the Core i73770K that sports an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.

Most of the pricing for the new models fall right in line with current-gen models, except for the Core i5-3570K, which is priced at $225 compared to $216. Intel also continues to offer energy efficient “S” and “T” models without a premium on pricing. Most models are expected to be available in April with the dual-core Core i5-3470T expected in May.

[via CPU World]

SuVolta calls this new technology DDC for Deeply Depleted Channel. The technology could be making its way very soon to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets where systems-on-a-chip (SoC) technologies are aggressively competing to keep down power consumption, while providing greater performance.

The current mobile landscape is dominated by ARM chips with Intel pushing its way in, but SuVolta argues that its DDC technology has several advantages over Intel’s in the areas of cost and efficiency. The DDC technology is part of SuVolta’s PowerShrink platform and devices utilizing the SuVolta technology are expected to reach the market by the second half of 2012.

[via eWeek]

Despite the popularity and buzz around 4G LTE devices, Apple has refused to incorporate the technology. Current generation baseband chips with LTE support are too power hungry and require package size and power requirements exceeding what Apple has designed for its current lineup. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said before that “LTE would force design compromises we’re not willing to make.”

However, the new Qualcomm MDM 9×00 series chips are made using a 28nm process that greatly improves power efficiency. Plus, the Gobi 4000 platform is compatible with EV-DO Rev. A and B, HSPA+, and dual-carrier HSPA+., which suits Apple’s needs for a worldwide solution instead of separate variants for different regions. And since Apple’s iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 baseband chips are already from Qualcomm, it would seem a likely path to upgrade to the new more efficient Qualcomm LTE chips next year. The first of the series, MDM 9615, is due out in the first quarter of 2012.

[via Ars Technica]

The computer chip uses about 400 transistors to simulate the activity of a single brain synapse, which connects two neurons and is what allows information to flow between them. There are close to about 100 billion neurons in the human brain, each forming synapses with many other neurons, through ion channels that control the flow of charged atoms. The computer chip mimics the ion channels using an analog method instead of binary so that parameters can be tweaked to match specific ion channels of the brain.

Circuits have been built previously that fire off actions but did not take into account the differences in the intracellular processes involving ion channels. Dean Buonomano, a professor of neurobiology at UCLA, says that this new computer chip is a “significant” advancement and that “the level of biological realism is impressive.”

The MIT researchers intend to build systems using this chip for specific neural functions such as visual processing. A system built with this chip could function much faster than digital computers, which can take hours or days to mimic a simple brain circuit even on a high-capacity computer. The analog chip can actually perform even faster than the biological system.

Additionally, researchers can use the chip to build systems to communicate with biological systems, such as to enable control of neural prosthetic devices like artificial retinas. Usage in artificial intelligence is another possibility later on.

[via MIT News]

AMD has been struggling with setbacks this year, including the delay of important new chips due to manufacturing problems. Furthermore, worldwide PC sales have been stagnant while smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices experienced strong growth. In order to stay competitive, AMD may have to enter these emerging markets.

The 10 percent cut in AMD’s global workforce along with other cuts in operational costs will save the company a total of $200 million in 2012. That savings will then be reinvested into new technologies such as lower-powered chips for mobile devices or cloud computing.

[via ZDNet]

Key highlights include Qualcomm’s shipments of CDMA-based mobile station modems. A total of 127 million units were shipped in fiscal Q4, exceeding the forecasted 120 to 125 million units. Qualcomm also raked in a $39.1 billion in total sales for other CDMA device. And the company gets additional royalty revenue from CDMA-based devices.

Qualcomm also issued a strong forecast for this current fiscal quarter as well as the next fiscal year. The recent launch of the iPhone 4S marks the first time Apple is using Qualcomm chipsets for its entire line. Apple had previously only used Qualcomm’s chipset in its CDMA version of the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S sold about 4 million units just in its opening weekend. This may be what’s boosting the company’s guidance.

The company expects revenue to reach $4.35 billino to $4.75 billion during this fiscal quarter, beating analyst expectations of $4.25 billion. This strong guidance has led to an 8 percent jump in Qualcomm’s share values in after-hour trades.

[via MarketWatch]

Starting form the bottom of the series is a quad-core 1.8Ghz Xeon with 10MB of level 3 cache and no Hyperthreading at a $202 bulk price point. At the high-end, it offers 1.8GHz to 3.1GHz eight-core processors with Hyperthreading, and 20MB of cache, 70W to 150W power use for a price ranging from $1,106 to $2,057. This series has only one dual-core chip with the E5-2643 that’s clocked at 3.3GHz and sports 5MB of level 3 cache, Hyperthreading, and 80W power usage, but is priced at $884.

This new lineup could boost the number of cores on systems across the board, especially on Apple’s next-gen Mac Pros, which are expected to get refreshed in early 2012. The lower end dual-core model would certainly benefit from the new series, such as with the E5-2620, which would boost it up to 6 cores while maintaining about the same pricing. The lower-end single-core Mac Pro models may use Intel’s E5-1600 series processors that’s also scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2012.

[via MacRumors]

The ARMv8 will allow chips built on this architecture to handle more data and memory, resulting in overall faster performance. It will also now be able to support platforms like Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OS, which are both 64-bit. Additionally, Microsoft has already announced that it is developing Windows 8 versions that will be compatible with the new ARM 64-bit chip architecture.

However, it may be awhile before ARM partners start incorporating the new chip architecture. Specifications have already been made available to manufacturers with details of full-scale ARMv8 processors due in 2012. Actual enterprise products and systems using the chips most likely won’t ship until 2014.

[via ComputerWorld]

The new S4 class chipset based off the Krait architecture is built on a 28nm process. It will be available in single-core, dual-core, and quad-core versions with speeds up to 2.5GHz and will come with Adreno Graphics, 3D, full 1080p HD, as well as 3G and LTE connectivity as standard features.

The S4 class will be the high-end line whereas Qualcomm will also be offering less powerful chips for budget and mass market devices with its S1, S2, and S3 classes. The chips will be available to manufacturers by year-end and can be expected to ship in consumer devices at the start of 2012. This means that we can expect to see the first 2.5GHz handsets launching at Mobile World Congress in February of next year.

[via Android Community]

The partnership means that future Android versions will include optimization for Intel’s low power Atom processors, the latest being the Medfield chips. Google’s Andy Rubin went on stage holding a smartphone prototype running Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Intel’s Medfield chips inside. A prototype tablet powered by Intel’s Atom processor was also revealed, although no specific manufacturers were named.

Intel promises that the first Android phones to be running on Intel chips would arrive in early 2012. Interestingly, the Google-Intel announcement comes just following Microsoft’s unveiling of Windows 8, which now supports ARM-based chips. Now both chip architectures get to expand into new territory.

[via Engadget]

The Core i7 3960X will be the top of the line with a 3.3GHz Extreme Edition six-core processor. The clock speed may be lower than what’s offered on the Core i7 990X that it’s replacing, but it features a larger 16MB cache, quad-channel memory, and other updates for about 15 percent faster performance.

The Core i7 3930K will be replacing the i7 980, while a Core i7 3820 could reach mainstream products for performance users on a budget. Pricing for the 3820 is expected to start at $294 with the two higher end processors priced at $583 and $999.

[via Electronista]

The updated C and E series APUs will deliver enhanced HD graphics capabilities, performance boosts with enhanced memory, DisplayPort++ support for connecting to any HDMI or DisplayPort-enabled monitor or TV, and an extended battery life. The C series now has a resting battery life of up to 12 hours, while the E series is now up to 10.5 hours.

The updated E series will also feature DDR3 1333 support for enhanced memory bandwidth as well as faster performance and video playback. Additionally, it will support HDMI 1.4a connections, which allows for viewing 3D pictures and home video on 3D-enabled TVs and displays. Notebooks, netbooks, and other small form factor mobile PCs and all-in-one desktops using these updated APUs are available starting today.

To learn more about AMD Fusion APUs, make sure to check out our SlashGear 101.

[via AMD]

The A6-3500 APU combines three x86 CPU cores with 320 Radeon GPU cores, enabling DirectX11-capable discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. It also comes with AMD’s Turbo Core and Steady Video Image stabilization technology as well as DDR3 1333 support, HDCP compatibility, and AMD VISION Engine software.

The triple-core APU runs at 2.1GHz but can be clocked up to 2.4GHz depending on workload, while the GPU cores are clocked at 443MHz and a TDP of 65W. Like its predecessors, the APU can be paired with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 series discrete graphics cards. The A6-3500 is available now for $95. For more information, you can visit the AMD product page. For more information on AMD’s Llano or Fusion APUs, make sure to check out our SlashGear 101 post.

These new chips appeared on Intel’s price list on Sunday and are said to be superior to the current Sandy Bridge chips used by other ultra slim notebooks such as the Samsung Series 9. The chips are faster but just as power-efficient. Classified as ULV or ultra-low voltage, the chips have a thermal envelope of 17 watts. Intel’s mainstream notebook chips measure in at about 25 or 35 watts, which is too much heat for an ultra slim design like the MacBook Air.

New Intel processors for ultraportable laptops (chips can overclock or “turbo” to higher speeds):

Core i7-2677M: 2 cores, 1.8 GHz (turbos to 2.9GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $317
Core i7-2637M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.8GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $289
Core i5-2557M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.7GHz), 3MB cache, 17 watts, $250

These new processors are just the beginning of Intel getting more active in the ultraportable arena. The ASUS UX21 will be using the Core i5-2557M that’s listed as part of this new batch of high-performance low-voltage Sandy Bridge series processors.

[via CNET]

Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors are already used in Mac computers, including the recently refreshed iMacs. They’ve also collaborated on Apple’s Thunderbolt connector port. All this makes a partnership between Apple and Intel on future iPad processors very plausible. However, Apple’s current A5 chips contain dual-core technology from ARM, which is a direct competitor to Intel, making some analysts doubt that Intel would take on this task given their push for their own Atom processors in iPad rivaling tablets.

Apple, on the other hand, is in a legal battle with Samsung, which currently fabricates their A5 processors. Besides rumors that Apple is shifting its LCD display manufacturing to Sharp, a move for them to a new foundry would also be a good idea. This is especially so with Intel’s lead in rolling out a 22-nm manufacturing process by the end of the year. The new process would allow for spacing of transistors at only 22nm apart, versus the more common 40nm currently, that would make for smaller and more energy efficient chips. Current Apple A5 chips are built on Samsung’s 45-nm process.

However, Apple is also believed to have inked a deal with Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC to produce future A5 chips. So, it’s all up in the air until we get official word tomorrow from Intel.

[via Ars Technica]

The design that Adapteva is showing off has 64-cores and will sit inside a device like a tablet or a smartphone and offload the work from the APU or GPU. That will allow the devices to do more work on the gadget rather than sending that data over WiFi or data connections to be processed elsewhere. One of the key features of the Adapteva chip needs only a single watt of power to operate. The less power the chip needs to operate the longer the battery inside the device can run.

The design can be scaled up for other uses all the way to 4,096 cores, which would need 64W to operate. However, it will be pushed for gadgets like smartphones and others to start. Another key feature of the Adapteva 64-core processor in the smartphone is that it is very small at 8mm square. That small size will make it easy to package inside the thin and portable gadgets popular today. Other than game consoles and smartphones, the chip also has potential uses for speech and facial recognition.

[via Gigaom]

“We now target phenomenal successes inside Intel in the delivery of differentiated multimedia experiences in Atom-processor based SoCs”, says Silicon Hive company chief Atul Sinha. Sinha says that the company will be folded into the processor chip giant to help improve the media performance of Atom system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors.

No details yet on how much the deal is worth or when it will get full approval. Intel’s current Atom chips are still not as efficient in media performance when compared to Qualcomm’s Adreno graphics or NVIDIA’s Tegra 2. The purchase of Silicon Hive will hopefully speed up their development in this area.

[via Electronista]

The new baseband processor is the BCM21654 HSPA processor and it has an ARM Cortex A9 processor inside with support for high-end 3D graphics. The baseband is aimed at lower cost mass market Android smartphones. Other features of the processor include 40nm construction and support for Android 2.3.

The processor also supports 3G HSPA modem at 7.2Mbps and Class 32 EDGE support for flexibility. The chip will support dual SIM cards and 30fps video playback with H.264 format and more. The processor has 12MP camera support and supports 16M colors as well.

Via Android Community

This video is released in tangent with IBM100, a site that celebrates the past 100 years and how IBM has affected the world. This site includes Icons of Progress, an exploration of 100 IBM innovations that helped shape the past century, this section added to throughout the coming year. They’ve got “A Celebration of Service” which is an invitation to work with IBM to volunteer for causes around the world. There’s Memorobilia, a store collecting items “designed exclusively for IBMers, families, and friends.” Then of course they’ve got the film that you’re about to watch. Enjoy!

In the conference call surrounding this report, Qualcomm EVP Steve Mollenkopf told investors who were invited to listen in that they’ve currently got “more than 150 Snapdragon devices in development, including more than 20 tablets.” And what of the reported deal Qualcomm recently signed off on with Apple for both iPhone 5s and iPads? Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm only had one comment having anything to do with Apple: “We’re happy to see the Verizon iPhone announcement since it’s been the subject of intense speculation, but we have no other comments on that topic.” Does this mean they’ll be waiting to reveal the truth or falseness of the situation until Verizon and ATT work with Apple to release the 5th generation phone? Who knows?

Take a look at the full press release below:

Qualcomm Announces Record First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results Revenues $3.3 Billion, EPS $0.71 Non-GAAP EPS $0.82
— Record First Quarter Results, Raising Fiscal 2011 Guidance —

SAN DIEGO — January 26, 2011 — Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, today announced record results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended December 26, 2010.

“We are very pleased to report record revenues, earnings per share and MSM chipset shipments this quarter driven by increased demand for smartphones and data-centric devices across an expanding number of regions and price points,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. “In addition, we have resolved one of our previously disclosed licensee disputes, which will be reflected beginning with the second fiscal quarter results. We continue to execute on our strategic objectives as our partners leverage our technologies and solutions to offer leading wireless products and services to consumers around the globe. We believe we are uniquely positioned to benefit from these industry trends and are substantially raising our revenue and earnings guidance for the fiscal year.”

First Quarter Results (GAAP)
• Revenues: $3.35 billion, up 25 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) and 13 percent sequentially.
• Operating income: $1.11 billion, up 26 percent y-o-y and 33 percent sequentially. • Net income: $1.17 billion, up 39 percent y-o-y and 35 percent sequentially. • Diluted earnings per share: $0.71, up 42 percent y-o-y and 34 percent sequentially. • Effective tax rate: 12 percent for the quarter.
• Operating cash flow: $48 million, down 96 percent y-o-y due to a $1.5 billion income tax payment.*Qualcomm Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results Page 2 of 19
• Return of capital to stockholders: $309 million, or $0.19 per share, of cash dividends paid.

Non-GAAP First Quarter Results
Non-GAAP results exclude the Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment, certain share- based compensation, certain tax items that are not related to the current year and acquired in- process research and development (R&D) expense.

• Revenues: $3.35 billion, up 25 percent y-o-y and 13 percent sequentially.
• Operating income: $1.42 billion, up 25 percent both y-o-y and sequentially.
• Net income: $1.35 billion, up 29 percent y-o-y and 22 percent sequentially.
• Diluted earnings per share: $0.82, up 32 percent y-o-y and 21 percent sequentially.

The current quarter excludes $0.05 loss per share attributable to the QSI segment, $0.07 loss per share attributable to certain share-based compensation and $0.02 earnings per share attributable to certain tax items (the sum of Non-GAAP earnings per share and items excluded do not equal GAAP earnings per share due to rounding).
• Effective tax rate: 19 percent for the quarter. • Free cash flow: $127 million, down 90 percent y-o-y due to a $1.5 billion income tax
payment* (defined as net cash from operating activities less capital expenditures).
*The $1.5 billion income tax payment primarily related to the 2008 license and settlement agreements with Nokia.

Detailed reconciliations between results reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and Non-GAAP results are included at the end of this news release.

First Quarter Key Business Metrics
• CDMA-based Mobile Station ModemTM (MSMTM) shipments: approximately 118 million units, up 28 percent y-o-y and 6 percent sequentially.
• September quarter total reported device sales: approximately $34.0 billion, up 39 percent y-o-y and 20 percent sequentially.
o September quarter estimated CDMA-based device shipments: approximately 165 to 169 million units at an estimated average selling price of approximately $201 to $207 per unit.

Cash and Marketable Securities
Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled approximately $19.1 billion at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared to $18.4 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 and $18.9 billion a year ago. On January 5, 2011, we announced an agreement to acquire Atheros Communications, Inc. for $45 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of $3.1 billion on that date. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar 2011, subject to customary closing conditions including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Atheros’ stockholders. On January 14, 2011, we announced a cash dividend of $0.19 per share payable on March 25, 2011 to stockholders of record as of February 25, 2011.

Non-GAAP selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses increased 26 percent y-o-y primarily due to an increase in employee-related costs and patent-related costs and other professional fees. QSI SG&A expenses decreased 44 percent y-o-y primarily due to a decrease in selling and marketing costs related to FLO TV.

Effective Income Tax Rate
Our fiscal 2011 effective income tax rates are estimated to be approximately 17 percent for GAAP and approximately 21 percent for Non-GAAP. The first quarter GAAP effective tax rate of 12 percent was lower than the estimated annual effective tax rate primarily due to a $32 million tax benefit recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 related to fiscal 2010 as a result of the retroactive reenactment of the federal R&D tax credit in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. This tax benefit was excluded from our Non-GAAP results.

Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives
The QSI segment manages our strategic investment activities, including FLO TV, and makes strategic investments in early-stage and other companies and in wireless spectrum, such as the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum won in the auction in India. GAAP results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 included a $0.05 loss per share for the QSI segment. The first quarter of fiscal 2011 QSI results included $134 million in operating expenses primarily related to FLO TV.

On December 20, 2010, we announced that we agreed to sell substantially all of our 700 MHz spectrum for $1.925 billion to AT&T, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement follows our previously announced plan to restructure and evaluate strategic options related to our FLO TV business and network.

Under the restructuring plan, we now expect that the FLO TV business and network will be shut down in March 2011 and are in the process of shutting down the MediaFLO Technologies division. Restructuring activities under this plan were initiated in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 and are expected to be substantially complete by the end of fiscal 2012. In the first quarter of fiscal 2011, restructuring and restructuring-related charges related to this plan included in QSI results were $64 million. We estimate that we will incur future restructuring and restructuring-related charges associated with this plan in the range of $300 million to $375 million, of which substantially all are expected to be recorded in fiscal 2011 in the QSI segment.

In December 2010, the loan that was obtained in connection with the India BWA spectrum purchase was refinanced. The new loans are payable in full in Indian rupees in December 2012. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the aggregate carrying value of the loans was $1.09 billion.

Business Outlook
The following statements are forward looking and actual results may differ materially. The “Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the end of this news release provides a description of certain risks that we face, and our annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provide a more complete description of risks.
Our outlook does not include provisions for future asset impairments or the consequences of injunctions, damages or fines related to any pending legal matters unless awarded or imposed by a court, governmental entity or other regulatory body. Further, due to their nature, certain income and expense items, such as realized investment gains or losses, or gains and losses on certain derivative instruments, cannot be accurately forecast. Accordingly, we only include such items in our business outlook to the extent they are reasonably certain; however, actual results may vary materially from the business outlook.

Our second quarter and fiscal 2011 outlook reflects the impact related to the resolution of one of our previously disclosed licensee disputes. Favorable resolution of the Panasonic dispute will be further upside if completed this fiscal year.

In addition to our ongoing operating costs, our business outlook for the second fiscal quarter and fiscal 2011 include restructuring and restructuring-related charges related to FLO TV and the MediaFLO technology division that are currently expected to be incurred.

We have not included any estimates related to the Atheros business in our fiscal 2011 outlook. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar 2011. Excluding amortization of acquired intangibles, we expect the acquisition to be modestly accretive to earnings per share in fiscal year 2012, the first full year of combined operations.

The following table summarizes GAAP and Non-GAAP guidance based on the current business outlook. The Non-GAAP business outlook presented below is consistent with the presentation of Non-GAAP results included elsewhere herein.

The above report is truncated somewhat due to the immense size of its entirety – see the full PDF of the report [here] – Qualcomm Official, where you can also access the investor call.

This acquisition will cost around 50 billion yen ($597.2 million USD) and will double Sony’s image sensor output capacity. This will make Sony’s output equivalent to about 40,000 silicon wafers a month. Nikkei mentions that with this move, Sony both boosts their output and lowers their production costs, putting them right up in the speedy lanes with Samsung and US groups in teh CMOS sensor market.

[Via Reuters]

This chip was designed by biomedical, electrical, and mechanical engineers in Australia and will be inserted into the body with a biocompatible device (so your body doesn’t reject it.) The device will be sewn into a 1.22mm-wide polymer yarn fixed with electronic wires. Each of these wires are sewn directly unto the human spine without causing a bit of damage. The device is hooked then to a separate device which contains a wirelessly chargeable battery and a processor so that the initial device can be monitored and its output adjusted as necessary.

This device is being developed by NICTA CTO implant technologies and is about the size of a matchbox. In addition to helping with chronic back pain, this device, NICTA says, could help with leg pain, pain from nerve damage, migraines, Parkinson’s disease tremors, and epileptic seizures!

[Via Nexus404]

Each chip can be custom tailored for communications gear, vision systems, VoIP devices, high-performance programmable logic controller, embedded computers, industrial machines, and portable medical equipment. Kontron already has some E600C-based prototype boards ready to go, and the whole show will be on the road Q2 of 2011. The range (E665CT, E645CT, E665C and E645C) will arrive inside 2 months, while E625CT and E625C will be shipping Q1 of 2011. Bulk prices will be anywhere from $61 to $106. Exciting! Watch the video here:

[Via Electronista]

When it comes to netbooks, despite their ability to keep a battery going for awhile, processors don’t excel all that much in the multitasking department. Which is one of the reasons Intel’s excited to launch the N550 processor, as it’s billed as a more responsive experience over all. We’re certainly hoping so. It’s clocked at 1.5GHz and it supports DDR3 memory. It also comes with 1MB of cache, and it has a similar battery life to that of the Intel Atom N450. So, while it may not be the most impressive on the block, for a dual-core processor it’s definitely noteworthy.

As we mentioned above, it doesn’t look like there are any netbooks shipping right now, despite the press release below saying you can get your hands on one right now, as they are “in store.” And, as far as we know, ASUS is the only one actually planning to release a netbook with the chip tucked away inside Curious, but we’re sure that in due time something will change, and we’ll see plenty of the new processor around. Full press release is below for your reading pleasure.

Press Release

New Dual-Core Intel® Atom™ Processor-Based Netbooks Hit Shelves Today
Sales from Acer, ASUS, Fujitsu, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, MSI, Toshiba and others start today and through end of the year.
Intel has shipped more than 70 million Intel® Atom™ netbook chips since its 2008 launch.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 23, 2010 – Intel Corporation announced today that a dozen of new netbooks based on its new mobile dual-core Intel® Atom™ processors are available in stores today. The netbooks – available now and through the end of the year from manufacturers including Acer, ASUS, Fujitsu, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba – enable new levels of support for applications like games, as well as Adobe Flash* technology for access to a number of Web pages including online hotel booking systems and multimedia sites such as YouTube* and Hulu*.

“Acer strives to continually improve on our customers’ total mobile experience, whether it is increased responsiveness or extended Internet interactivity through longer battery life,” said David Lee, associate vice president of Acer’s Mobile Computing Business Unit. “We are pleased to select dual-core Intel Atom processors for Acer netbooks, helping to empower netbook users achieve even more – both at work and at leisure.”

With the dual-core Intel® Atom™ processor N550, consumers can enjoy Internet access on the go with a more responsive experience in the same compact form factor, DDR3 memory support and similar great battery life as the single-core Intel® Atom™ processor N450.

“In their short history, the netbook category has experienced impressive growth,” said Erik Reid, director of marketing for mobile platforms at Intel. “Having shipped about 70 million Intel Atom chips for netbooks since our launch of the category in 2008, there is obviously a great market for these devices around the world.”

New netbooks based on dual-core Intel Atom chips arrive in stores today and are available at a variety of consumer-friendly price points. For more information, visit www.intel.com/products/processor/atom.

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

Intel, Atom and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

The BCM2763 actually packages together the functionality of eight chips, including GPU
and graphics memory, image signal processing (ISP) and ISP memory, video processing and video memory, HDMI and USB 2.0.  It also includes 128MB of LPDDR2 graphics memory, and actually uses 20 to 50-percent less power than Broadcom’s last-gen Videocore III chipset.  It’s also capable of supporting image stabilization, face and smile detection and panorama modes in devices with cameras.

The BCM2763 is currently sampling to manufacturers, though you shouldn’t expect to see it show up in devices any time soon; Broadcom don’t expect shipping products to include it until 2011.  No word on when the Persona platform will appear in shipping devices.

Press Release:

Broadcom Announces 1080p Multimedia Processor with Breakthrough Mobile Power-Performance

New Broadcom® BCM2763 VideoCore® IV Processor Features 1080p Video, 20 Megapixel Photos and 1 Gigapixel Graphics in an Ultra-Low Power 40 Nanometer Design

IRVINE, Calif., Dec 15, 2009 — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced its next generation multimedia processor that delivers industry leading performance and lower power in the top multimedia categories for mobile devices. Using 40 nanometer (40nm) CMOS process technology, the new Broadcom® BCM2763 VideoCore® IV multimedia processor provides even higher integration, smaller footprint size and lower power consumption than 65nm designs.

With the higher integration and significant power savings from 40nm CMOS process technology, the BCM2763 multimedia processor features the most advanced mobile high definition (HD) camcorder and video playback, up to 20 megapixel digital camera and photo image processing, and 1 gigapixel 2D/3D graphics rendering for a world-class gaming experience. HD video, 3D games and high resolution 20 megapixel pictures can be displayed at top quality on full-sized HD televisions and monitors using an on-chip industry standard HDMI interface. Additionally, the BCM2763′s highly integrated architecture reduces bill-of-materials (BOM) cost to help drive sophisticated multimedia features into more affordable handsets.

Highlights/Key Facts:

– The breadth and quality of Internet multimedia content is rapidly
improving, with sites such as YouTube now supporting full HD 1080p video
sharing. Consumers are also increasingly using cell phones as their
primary digital camera and camcorder, which is driving demand for higher
resolution and more sophisticated image processing which is currently
only available on advanced standalone camcorders and cameras.
Additionally, newer graphics-oriented user interfaces and mobile games
now require enhanced graphics capabilities.
– The new Broadcom BCM2763 VideoCore IV multimedia processor enables
best-in-class performance in the following areas:
– Full HD 1080p camcorder capabilities in a cell phone with
significantly improved quality over current generation handsets
(which generally have VGA or lower resolution camcorders).
– Up to 20 megapixel digital camera with advanced features such as
multiple shots per second, image stabilization, face and smile
detection and panorama mode.
– The ability to render mobile games natively at up to 1080p
resolution, which in combination with an on-board HDMI output,
allows a console-quality gaming experience on large screen HDTVs.
– In addition to providing these capabilities on new handsets, the BCM2763
has improved power savings using a 40nm process without draining the
battery or significantly reducing talk time. Additional ultra-low power
consumption features include:
– 20% to 50% power reduction in comparison to the prior generation
Videocore III multimedia processor.
– 4 to 6 hours of 1080p video recording and 8 to 10 hours of mobile
playback, with up to 16 hours of full HD playback over HDMI given
sufficient handset storage.
– Only 490 mW of chip power is required for 1080p camcorder H.264 High
Profile encoding and only 160 mW for 1080p playback.
– Only 160 mW of power is required for mobile game graphics
processing, supporting up to 1 gigapixel per second fill rates and
improves graphics performance by a factor of 4x to 6x in comparison
to the prior generation Videocore III multimedia processor.
– The BCM2763 processor integrates the key functionality and components
needed to drive advanced multimedia capabilities in new handsets. As a
result of this high integration, the BCM2763 enables a lower overall BOM
cost, enabling manufacturers to pass these lower costs on and introduce
advanced features to lower tier phones than previously possible.
– The BCM2763 integrates the functions of eight chips including GPU
and graphics memory, image signal processing (ISP) and ISP memory,
video processing and video memory, HDMI and USB 2.0. 128MB of LPDDR2
graphics memory is stacked in a single package.
– The 40nm process enables reduced power, improved performance and
reduced handset board space.
– Benefiting from an existing VideoCore software code base and legacy
architecture, manufacturers of phones and other consumer electronics
devices can easily add these new VideoCore IV multimedia features to
their products, allowing faster time-to-market.
– The BCM2763 is currently sampling to early access customers (pricing
available upon request). Handsets utilizing this new 40nm VideoCore IV
multimedia processor technology are expected to reach the market in
2011.

Supporting Quotes:

Mark Casey, Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom’s Mobile Multimedia line of business.

“VideoCore IV is setting new benchmarks for performance, power consumption and affordability and is poised to drive advanced multimedia capabilities into new tiers of handsets. Supported by our comprehensive line of complementary cellular and connectivity solutions, our multimedia processor technology is the right choice for next generation mobile designs.”

Press Release:

Broadcom Announces Next Generation Persona™ IP Communications Platform

New Platform Enables ‘Always On, Always Connected’ Multimedia Consumer Devices for the Growing Connected Home Ecosystem

IRVINE, Calif., Dec 15, 2009 — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced its next generation Persona™ Internet protocol (IP) communications platform for multimedia connected consumer devices. The Persona platform, consisting of the Broadcom® BCM11211 communications processor and the Broadcom BCM11181 multimedia processor, enables full-featured multimedia applications and advanced capabilities such as 3D graphics and a superior audio experience. By combining lifestyle benefits, such as home energy/automation control and monitoring, reliable high resolution video conferencing, and seamless digital video recorder (DVR) and set-top box (STB) integration into an always-on, always-connected platform, Broadcom is poised to supply products in the emerging connected home device (fourth screen) segment.

Highlights/Key Facts:

– According to ABI Research(1), as the digital home evolves and services
expand, the fourth screen market will slowly take shape. The features
available to the three screens (TV, PC, and mobile) are quickly melding
and ultimately will lead to a relatively homogenous ecosystem. As the
number of households with home networks grows, access to Internet
content and services will continue to expand.
– Broadcom is addressing the growing consumer demand for a connected home
network by enabling ‘always on, always connected’ IP communications
devices. This single portable device will act as an information,
communication and entertainment portal of the connected home,
proliferating into the much anticipated ‘fourth screen’.
– The key differentiator between next generation IP communications
connected devices and today’s products are the inclusion of lifestyle
benefits that allow for the sharing of information, communication and
entertainment. Broadcom enables the consumer to administer, control and
stream DVR and STB content directly to this device, providing a new
means for interacting with a DVR/STB, and allowing the device’s mobility
to be utilized anywhere within the home. With this approach,
information may be readily available, with access to online content as
well as high resolution and high quality video phone capabilities that
stay connected. Other examples of lifestyle benefits include:
– Information capabilities – (i.e. full web browser, widgets, digital
picture frame, STB menu browsing, home monitoring).
– Communication/Connectivity capabilities – (i.e. VoIP, Wi-Fi®, video
conferencing, Bluetooth®, GPS, location based services).
– Entertainment capabilities – (i.e. next generation remote control,
content portability, gaming).
– The new Persona consumer IP communications multimedia platform includes
the BCM11211 communications processor and the BCM11181 multimedia
processor featuring Broadcom’s proven core voice and applications
processing technology.
– The BCM11211 high performance RISC and DSP processor cores enable
advanced end user productivity applications such as rich GUI/web
browsers and multimedia content. Its advanced peripheral support
hosts SDIO for memory cards, dual USB ports to enable external media
devices, as well as PC connectivity. The BCM11211 seamlessly
connects to Broadcom’s industry-leading Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS
connectivity products, allowing OEMs to efficiently add
best-in-class wireless technologies and expanded functionality for
next generation wireless products.
– Designed for advanced mobile multimedia products, the BCM11181
multimedia processor is power-efficient and optimized for images,
video capture and playback, and 3D graphics.
– The Persona platform runs the Broadcom MediaxChange™ Linux®-based
software, which is the latest voice, video and multimedia version of the
field proven Broadcom PhonexChange™ software. Broadcom PhonexChange
is a flexible software platform used across all Broadcom IP phone
communication solutions, allowing customers to leverage a common
software code base across product portfolios, which in turn, minimizes
engineering development resources and time-to-market. It also includes
built-in support for Broadcom’s Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi solutions.
Broadcom MediaxChange optionally supports the Qt Applications
development framework or Google Android mobile operating system.
– The software suite includes Broadcom’s high fidelity SmartAudio® voice
enhancement technology. SmartAudio is based on Broadcom’s innovative
audio clarity technology that significantly improves audio quality over
IP networks. It includes the company’s high quality acoustic echo
cancellation, advanced jitter buffer, high definition voice speech
technologies and packet loss concealment (PLC) technology which
compensates for lost data packets while ensuring the delivery of clear
digital voice communications.

Supporting Quotes:

Martyn Humphries, Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom’s VoIP line of business

“Broadcom is dedicated to connecting everything and the introduction of our next generation Persona IP communications multimedia platform is a testament of that. The ability to enable always on, always connected devices for the home opens up the realm of possibility for the distribution and consumption of content, whether it be informative, communicative or for entertainment purposes. These next generation devices are going to change the way that consumers look at whole-home connectivity.”

Pine Trail brings the memory controller and graphics controller onto the main processor chipset, which the company claim will reduce power requirements as well as increase speed.  MSI are tipped to be planning an early launch, rushing a Windows 7 based Pine Trail Wind-series netbook to market in December 2009.

The CrestaTV chipset uses a combination of hardware and software for its tuning, as well as linking the GPS to the TV so that it intelligently searches for the most likely local channels first.  No word on when we might expect to see it in production notebooks, nor how much it might add to the cost, but manufacturers have access to the reference boards now.

Press Release:

CrestaTech’s New “HDTV Anywhere” Chip Now Ready for Sampling to PC OEMs

Innovative architecture turns laptop PCs into globetrotting TVs

SAN FRANCISCO & SANTA CLARA, Calif. –(Business Wire)– Sep 22, 2009 Get ready to get global with HDTV on a PC. Reference designs and samples for CrestaTech’s new programmable broadband technology are now available, enabling PC manufacturers to pop in one universal chip and support all analog TV and digital TV standards worldwide.

Demonstrated publicly for the first time at this week’s Intel Developer Forum 2009, the CrestaTV™ Universal Broadband Receiver technology combines a programmable RF IC and software that will allow PCs to receive live analog or digital TV broadcast, radio and GPS signals in any city, any region and any country around the world. CrestaTV unleashes unprecedented support for the widest variety of broadband frequencies ever.

As a result, for the first time, PC manufacturers can ship the same TV tuner module to Barcelona as they ship to Manhattan or St. Petersburg, ultimately streamlining the design and deployment process and reducing costs of the overall system.

And PC users can watch the TV they want wherever they travel, picking up local broadcasts or sportscasts by using embedded GPS capabilities to automatically create local channel guides in their area.

“No other chip overcomes the regional and technical limitations of on-the-go TV for PCs like the CrestaTV solution,” said George Haber, CrestaTech president and CEO. “By supporting any TV broadcast standard anywhere, we’re helping turn laptop PCs into truly mobile media centers, where consumers can experience the ubiquity of the Internet with broadcast television at the same time.”

On display at booth 215, the CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver supports formats including DVBT, ATSC, Cable QAM, NTSC and PAL, along with FM radio and GPS capabilities.

CrestaTV is comprised of the CTC-200/201 programmable RF and Interface IC and multi-threaded signal processing software. The fully integrated solution eliminates all external filters. Supported frequencies include 45Mhz to 1GHz – and L1 band. OEMs can implement CrestaTV on PCI express cards for desktops and PCI mini-express cards or USB TV modules for laptops.

CrestaTech also offers a suite of companion software applications, CrestaWare, which provide fast channel scanning, enhanced reception, TV and radio tower geo-location and more. It also has an open platform for the development of social media and user-generated content programs.

Samples and evaluation boards are available for designers to quickly prototype and test global TV reception. Contact CrestaTech to arrange a demonstration or with any product requests.

The great thing about this process is that it allows the company to mass produce very dense chips without upping their power consumption. This keeps costs down as well. The idea here is to offer up 4GB RAM for notebooks and 16GB RAM for servers.

These new chips contain twice as much bandwidth as the old 1 gigabit chips. We don’t know at this time how much the RAM will cost or when it will be made available, but you can count on these chips being available pre-installed in computer offerings first.

Chien’s figures predict that worldwide netbook shipments will peak in Q3 this year, at 8.347m units, before dropping slightly in Q4 to 8,194m units.  However that’s up from Q2 2009, at 7,296m units.  Major PC vendors are yet to announce systems running the new 45nm Pine Trail chipset, potentially to allow them to clear existing stock and squeeze out profitability of the cheaper N270/N280 processors before moving to the N450.

Pine Trail integrates the graphics core into the processor, together with the memory controller, and introduces a new Tiger Point chipset with I/O including SATA, USB 2.0, PCI Express and Intel HD Audio.  It also promises reduced power requirements, which will either mean longer runtimes with the same performance as existing Atom systems, or more performance with no loss in runtimes.

The chipset is the M780G, while the graphics side of things is handled by the ATI Radeon HD 3200 IGP.  That pairing brings with it HDMI, DisplayPort and eSATA connectivity, plus HD video hardware decoding and DirectX 10 for gaming.

There’s also support for hybrid graphics setups, where the Congo system is augmented with a selectable higher-spec GPU for more hardware-intensive applications.  That’s an approach which has served NVIDIA well in the case of the GeForce 9400M/9600M offering available across many of Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro models.  AMD expects Congo to arrive later in 2009, with system prices ranging from around $499 upward.

As for the SU2700, that’s a Pentium ULV chip running at 1.3GHz, and will fall into Intel’s CULV range for thin and light ultraportables.  It might just end up paired with the GS40 chipset, which Intel refer to as ”a value chipset”; based on the GS45, it includes the GMA 4500M graphics accelerator with up to 384MB of memory and a 400MHz GPU, integrated Blu-ray HD playback and native hardware HD video stream decoding, and HDMI outputs.

Intel also announced its new My WiFi technology, which allows any recent Intel-based WiFi notebook or netbook to connect to both a WLAN and up to eight WiFi PAN devices simultaneously.  This allows for point-to-point WiFi printing, displaying and synchronizing, without breaking the main wireless network connection.  My WiFi will be supported in Intel’s new WiFi Link 5000 Series, the company’s second-gen draft-n cards for Centrino 2 platforms.  More details here [pdf link] 

This Pineview processor and GPU combination is then paired with the new Tiger Point I/O chipset, which replaces the existing ICH7/ICH7M chipset.  Tiger Point will support SATA, USB 2.0, PCI Express and Intel HD Audio.

The improvements over Atom can be viewed in two ways: firstly, Pine Trail can run faster, both in terms of processor performance and graphics performance, for the same or reduced price.  Secondly, the lower power requirements – said to be around 7W TDP – mean that battery life is improved and, albeit with a performance impact, fanless setups can now be entertained.  Pine Trail is expected to reach the market in Q4 2009.