Top Intel researchers are gathering today to show off the latest technology research projects they most believe will impact our future — from our homes and autos to the way we surf the wireless Internet.
Here is Intel CTO Justin Rattner sharing his excitement the day prior the event.
I shared on the Insider Scoop some photos and video shot during set up for Research@Intel day.
If you’re a Tech@Intel reader, you can hope over to the Research@Intel blog and watch live video streamed from the event, starting at 10:00 a.m. PT. Just follow this link.
Over the last year or so, Intel has been quietly working behind the scenes taking a hard look at our brand structure and exploring ways to make it more rational and easier to understand. The fact of the matter is, we have a complex structure with too many platform brands, product names, and product brands, and we've made things confusing for consumers and IT buyers in the process. All that is about to change. Or at least, we begin a process of change that will evolve over time. Here's what to expect:
1) First and foremost we've created a structure that leads with Intel. It seems simple, but we've lost some of this connection and we need to remind people who we are and what we make possible. This is the backdrop for our latest ad campaign, Sponsors of Tommorrow. As Silicon Valley historian and author Michael Malone recently wrote, "...what happens upstream in the world of chips sets the pace for everything that happens downstream in computers, smart phones, videogames, servers and, ultimately, in social networks, Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc." 2) Secondly, we are focusing our strategy around a primary 'hero' client brand which is Intel® Core™. Today the Intel Core brand has a mind boggling array of derivatives (such as Core™2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, etc). Over time those will go away and in its place will be a simplified family of Core processors spanning multiple levels: Intel® Core™ i3 processor, Intel® Core™ i5 processor, and Intel® Core™ i7 processors. Core i3 and Core i5 are new modifiers and join the previously announced Intel Core i7 to round out the family structure. It is important to note that these are not brands but modifiers to the Intel Core brand that signal different features and benefits. For example, upcoming processors such as Lynnfield (desktop) will carry the Intel Core brand, but will be available as either Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 depending upon the feature set and capability. Clarksfield (mobile) will have the Intel Core i7 name.
So the key here is there will be a range of features and capabilities within the IntelCore family-our flagship brand representing the highest performance and the latest technology - but simplified into entry-level (Intel Core i3), mid-level (Intel Core i5), and high-level (Intel Core i7). We will still have Celeron for entry-level computing at affordable price points,Pentium for basic computing, and of course theIntel® Atom™ processorfor all these new devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones. For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer. 3) Lastly, we are changing and transitioning some of the platform brands. Intel vPro technology continues to stand for best in class security and manageability and will henceforth be paired with Intel Core in either Core i5 or Core i7 iterations. Again this wont happen overnight, but beginning next year Intel business client systems will carry either the Intel Core i7 vPro processor or theIntel Core i5 vPro processor name.With thisfocus on Intel Core, the Centrino processor technology brand will be retired for PCs beginning next year. However, Centrino has tremendous equity as a wireless technology, so we will transition the name to our Wi-Fi and WiMAX products beginning in 2010.
This will be an evolutionary process taking place over time, and we acknowledge that multiple brands will be in the market next year inclduing older ones, as we make the transition. But overall this is a good thing, designed to make it easier and more rational over the long run. Interested in hearing any feedback or comments from readers here.For more information, including a brief interview on all this with Intel vice president an directorCorporate Marketing Deborah Conrad -- see here.
The city of Pirai, Brazil has announced the purchase of Intel-powered classmate PCs for students enrolled in all 21 of its’ public schools, making it the first city in the world to adopt 1:1 computing for the entire school system. 1:1 computing means each student has full-time access to a computer, the Internet, software and online research materials anytime and anywhere wireless access is available. The Pirai 1:1 computing project will include city-wide network connectivity offered through the Digital Pirai Project.
Education officials were on hand with Intel executives at a briefing Tuesday to discuss how the Positivo Informática-manufactured classmate PCs are an investment for Pirai’s students, as well as how the PCs will spur social and economic transformation within the city. The Intel® Learning Series enables local distributors and technology companies to provide a fully supported education solution that allows for smooth deployment and integration of technology into classrooms, as seen with the deployment of half a million units in Portugal, a program known as the Magellan initiative.
Although the computers will not be delivered until August, some of the students got a sneak peek of the PCs that they will be using at the start of the new school year. Check out the pictures, here!
Intel® My WiFi Technology creates a Wi-Fi hotspot around your laptop that lets you print, share, sync and show wirelessly at home or on the go. This not your normal ad-hoc Wi-Fi. With your Intel® My WiFi Personal Area Network(PAN), you can connect Wi-Fi enabled devices (printers, digital cameras, personal media players, and speakers) directly to the laptop without cables or a wireless access point. And as you wirelessly move your digital content between your laptop and devices, your laptop can simultaneously be connected to the Internet via your home or any Wi-Fi network.
If you have any of these laptops, the Intel® My WiFi Technology software is already pre-loaded on your system or available for downloading from the laptop manufacturer web site. Don’t have one of these laptops? You can still create an Intel® My WiFi Technology hotspot if your laptop includes an Intel® WiFi Link 1000, Intel® WiFi Link 5100 or Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 adapters - no additional hardware needed. Intel® My WiFi Technology is included Intel PROSet/Wireless Software v12.4 or higher for Microsoft Windows Vista* (Intel® My WiFi will be available for Microsoft Windows 7*).
The Intel® My WiFi Technology Getting Started Guide explains everything you need to find out if your laptop/adapter supports Intel® My WiFi Technology, including how to download and install the software from the Intel Download Center, then set up the Intel® My WiFi Utility.
The WiMAX Global Forum (WMF) landed in the city of Amsterdam this past week. With last year’s deployment of the first mobile WiMAX network in Europe, Amsterdam became a true WiMAX pioneer.
At this year’s WMF, Amsterdam witnessed another “WiMAX first.” A few hours before the doors to the Forum opened, Dennis Sverdlov, CEO of Yota, a Russian WiMAX wireless Internet service provider, stood outside the main entrance wearing a headset and talking to a laptop. At the other end of the line was Intel’s Sean Maloney who, at that time, was delivering his keynote at Computex.
During their brief conversation, the two talked about the global momentum for 4G WiMAX and Yota’s further deployment strategies. To the average attendee this looked like an interesting, live, transcontinental conversation between two WiMAX adepts. What made this conversation more interesting is the last yards on both ends went via a WiMAX connection. But what makes this a “world’s first” is that Yota’s laptop contained an embedded 3.5GHz WiMAX adapter making this the world’s first public demonstration of future Intel 3.5GHz embedded silicon.
Computex in Taipei got many of us got smarter and more excited about the mobile computing possibilities being designed around Moorestown, the next generation set of technologies built around the tiny, mighty Intel Atom processor.
In “What Moorestown Means for Consumers,” Steve “Chippy” Paine (travel sponsored by Intel) described it like this: “The new platform, demonstrated yesterday on a number of working devices, appears to be technically very capable and extends through a number of product sectors. It brings new levels of processing power and leads in making the Internet in your pocket more ‘real’ than with any other platform I’ve researched.”
But seeing is believing and that’s what happened at Computex. Here is the Inventec in a photo by Chippy and video by JKKMobile.
As a Portland, Oregon resident and Intel employee, I've been lucky enough to experience wireless 4G WiMAX Internet broadband, as well as speak with others who are amazed by its speed, availability, and their overall experience. What I find most inspiring, however, is to hear how WiMAX is truly making a difference in peoples' lives.
My latest find is Centro Cultural and the "Digital Connectors" in Washington County, Oregon. Digital Connectors are youth trained to promote technology in their community using Washington County Beehive. The online guide was created to empower the local Latino community with tools supporting computer literacy and job training.
Through its Adelante con Tecnología (Moving Forward With Technology) program, Centro Cultural and Intel have been working to help bridge the digital divide among Latinos in this community, and the program has been quite successful. In fact, in a two-month timeframe (Dec. 2008 through Jan. 2009), 22 Adelanta con Tecnología volunteers reached 49 families, more than 100 individuals, during that time.
So, there have been quite a few stories recently about support for Windows 7’s new ‘Windows XP Mode’.
‘Windows XP Mode’ is a feature that will be available with some versions of Windows 7. The short version is this: it will let you run a copy of Windows XP SP3 on your Windows 7 PC or notebook within a virtual partition using hardware virtualisation. ‘Windows XP Mode’ will however have some cool bells and whistles including great integration into Windows 7 (copy and paste will work etc…). This is another very cool use of our VT technology.
Intel introduced its Virtualization Technology in 2005 and has shipped over 100 Million chips with the feature. Windows XP Mode is targeted for business customers. It is available on the mid to higher end versions of Windows 7 and is supported in hardware by many Intel processors. Intel vPro technology PCs are required to have an Intel VT capable CPU and Intel VT capable BIOS. They are the best platforms for testing and deploying Microsoft Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode.
However, there have been a lot of articles berating the fact that consumers with Intel processors without VT will ‘lose out’ on the Windows XP Mode, or that it ‘won’t work’.
Cnet for example mentions that there are at least 30 versions of consumer laptops using the VT’less T6400 version of the Core 2 Duo processor.
Windows 7 Starter Edition (for emerging market and netbook users)
Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging market customers only)
Windows 7 Home Premium (the main “Media Center” equivalent)
Windows 7 Professional (the business SKU for home users and non-enterprise licensees)
Windows 7 Enterprise (for volume licensees)
Windows 7 Ultimate (for consumers who want/need business features)
And finally according to TheRegister.co.uk: The Windows XP Mode will only come with Windows 7 Professional and up.
So not having VT on these consumer laptops is not going to be an issue - because the consumer versions of Windows 7 (Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium) do not include Windows XP Mode.
PressPass: What types of applications are suited for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC stand-alone?
Woodgate: Windows XP Mode is best suited for older business and productivity applications such as accounting, inventory and similar applications. Windows XP Mode is not aimed at consumers because many consumer applications require extensive use of hardware interfaces such as 3-D graphics, audio, and TV tuners that do not work well under virtualization today.
Below is a public reposting of an Intel internal blog written by Tom Waldrop - Intel’s Director of Issues and Policy Communications:
Imagine, in one room, a group of scientists and engineers largely responsible for the advances in semiconductor-related technology that enabled the development and delivery of modern electronics — including computers, networking, cell phones, PDAs, DVDs, and more or less everything digital.
Saturday night at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, not far from Intel Santa Clara headquarters, was a showcase of semiconductor history rare even for Silicon Valley.
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