Processors - Infoworld

FAQ: Windows on ARM explained

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:47:19 +0000

In an 8,600-word epistle yesterday, Microsoft's top Windows executive pulled aside the curtain on the first version of the company's iconic OS that targets tablets.

Dubbed "Windows on ARM," or WOA for short, the new edition is a cousin, perhaps one or two or even three times removed, of the still-under-construction Windows 8 for traditional PCs.

ARM-based Windows 8 tablets to get Office after all

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:03:23 +0000

Microsoft has released technical design details about the new version of Windows for laptops and other computers that use ARM chips. Called WOA (for Windows on ARM), the Windows 8 variation is still under development. This means that there won't be a universal version of Windows 8 for Intel x86-based and ARM-based devices.

AMD's move could pave the way for ARM in future chips

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:13:09 +0000

Advanced Micro Devices has loosened its commitment to the x86 architecture, announcing a new design strategy that could pave the way for using ARM technology in future AMD chips.

AMD said last week it will allow the integration of third-party intellectual property in future processors, as part of a new plan to design purpose-built chips for customers. If a customer needs another architecture besides x86, AMD will combine its own intellectual property with that of a third party, AMD CTO Mark Papermaster said in an interview.

AMD puts the brakes on adding more cores to server chips

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:41:51 +0000

AMD has put the brakes on adding more cores to its server chips, stopping at 16, the company said Thursday during a financial analyst day.

AMD's new server chips code-named Abu Dhabi and due out in 2013 will have 16 cores, the same number as the existing Opteron 6200 chips code-named Interlagos that shipped last year. Servers are being redesigned to match specialty workloads and adding more cores to the Abu Dhabi chip wasn't the way to boost performance, said Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of Global Business Units at AMD, during a speech.

AMD fundamentally shifts chip design methodology

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:03:09 +0000

AMD will take a fundamentally different approach to designing chips as it tries to move away from playing second fiddle to Intel.

The company will blur the lines between CPUs and graphics processors in future chip design cycles, with both units sharing a memory pool and running common software applications, said AMD CTO Mark Papermaster Thursday during a financial analyst conference speech that was webcast.

ARM's first 64-bit processors target servers, smartphones

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:18:05 +0000

ARM will announce its first 64-bit processors later this year for servers and high-end smartphones, and is also taking steps to build up software support for the processor designs, said CEO Warren East earlier this week.

The first 64-bit processors will be licensed to device makers and based on the ARMv8 architecture, which was announced in October. The 64-bit processors will be in volume production by 2014, after which it will reach devices, East said.

Semiconductor market to slow this year, iSuppli says

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:22:12 +0000

Semiconductor industry revenue will grow at a slow pace this year due to struggling economies worldwide, lower spending and sluggish demand for products, research firm IHS iSuppli said in a study released on Tuesday.

Revenue for the semiconductor industry this year is expected to be $323 billion, growing by just 3.3 percent compared to last year's revenue, IHS iSuppli said.

SeaMicro puts 256 Xeon cores in server

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:27:28 +0000

SeaMicro on Tuesday announced a microserver that incorporates 256 Xeon processor cores to enable faster delivery of data for Internet-based activities such as social media or search.

The SM10000-XE server is a 10U rack server with 64 quad-core Intel E3-1260L processors that run at a clock speed of 2.4GHz. The server is designed to provide faster response to Internet queries by speeding dynamic Web applications and tasks such as extraction of information from databases.

Oracle handed setback in HP Itanium case

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:21:59 +0000

A court in California rejected Oracle's bid to use a fraud claim to undo an agreement to support the Itanium processor, that it is said to have made with Hewlett-Packard.

"The alleged fraud did not prevent Oracle from participating in the negotiations or deprive Oracle of the opportunity to negotiate," Judge James P. Kleinberg of the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County said in a 21-page ruling on Monday.

Intel's new Core i5 chip qualifies for protection plan

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:24:56 +0000

Intel has rolled out a handful of new Core i5 desktop processors, including one that raises the clock speed and qualifies for a new protection plan under which CPUs can be replaced.

The quad-core Core i5-2550K runs at a clock speed of 3.4GHz and is based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. The fastest clock speed in the Core i5 desktop processor line was previously provided by the Core i5-2500K chip, which ran at 3.3GHz.

Tilera targets Intel, ARM with 36-core server chip

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Tilera on Monday announced availability of its new 36-core processor, which the company says can trump traditional x86 server chips from Intel in performance-per-watt.

The Tile-GX36 is designed for use in servers that handle large volumes of Internet transactions, the company said. The processor helps reduce power and cooling costs in data centers while swiftly executing social media, search and multimedia streaming transactions.

ARM-based Windows 8 tablets: Signs point to vaporware

InfoWorld Tech Watch — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:41:42 +0000

Apple's blow-away quarter can be sliced and diced a zillion ways -- Mac are sales up 26 percent over last year, with non-Apple PC sales in t

Intel launches new push into mobile

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Intel moved to defend its turf -- and possibly its future -- by inking deals to supply next-generation Atom chips to smartphone makers Motorola and Lenovo Motorola and Lenovo.

The agreements, announced this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, mark Intel's latest effort to enter the burgeoning -- and lucrative -- smartphone market, where most devices currently feature chips designed by ARM Holdings.

Apple is biggest buyer of semiconductors, Gartner says

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:30:23 +0000

Apple became the biggest buyer of semiconductors last year, ahead of Samsung Electronics and Hewlett-Packard, Gartner said on Tuesday.

Apple's increased semiconductor spending is the result of a number of factors. The company sold more smartphones, and its tablet business was also highly successful in 2011, according to Gartner. The success of the MacBook Air also increased Apple's semiconductor demand, it said.

ARM CEO: We will impact servers in 2014

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:21:22 +0000

ARM hopes for a serious impact on the server market starting in 2014 when its 64-bit processor design reaches the market, CEO Warren East said.

Server makers have announced experimental systems with low-power ARM processors, which is a big confidence booster for the company, East said during an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. But it may be a few more years until it has the tools and processor architecture in place to make significant inroads in that market, East said.

TSMC's Q4 profit drops 22.5 percent, prompting lower growth estimate for 2012

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:06:51 +0000

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) saw fourth quarter net profit drop 22.5 percent year on year, continuing the previous quarter's decline as the chip maker's customers cleared out their inventories. TSMC, however, expects business to pick up this year due to anticipated growth in smartphone and tablet markets, it said Wednesday.

Windows 8 on ARM: You can look but you can't touch

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:04:51 +0000

For a touch-based interface, it was awfully hard to get hold of. Microsoft's Windows 8 OS was shown on a handful of prototype ARM-based tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, but almost no one was allowed to try it out.

Nvidia had three Windows 8 tablets in its booth but they were all behind glass. Texas Instruments showed a Windows 8 tablet in a meeting room off the show floor, but a reporter who asked to try it was told that wasn't permitted. Qualcomm, the third vendor of ARM-based chips working with Windows 8, wasn't showing it at all.

AMD hopes to take down Intel's Ultrabooks on price

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:23:49 +0000

Advanced Micro Devices demonstrated its upcoming mobile chips for thin-and-light laptops, which the company said will lead to cheaper but equally speedy alternatives to Intel's expensive Ultrabooks. "Ultrabooks" is Intel's trademarked term for a thin, lightweight, fast-boot laptop similar to Apple's MacBook Air.

Quad-core smartphones coming very soon, Nvidia says

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:17:20 +0000

Smartphones using quad-core processors may not have made a splash at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but the devices will be coming in a few months, Nvidia said at the show.

Fujitsu was the only big company to preview a smartphone with a quad-core Tegra 3 quad-core processor from Nvidia.

Intel fights for its future with smartphone deals

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:14:22 +0000

With Intel finally breaking into the burgeoning smartphone market, analysts say the company is moving to defend its turf -- and possibly even its future stability -- against an encroaching competitor.