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The Future of Visual Computing
Hands-on from Nvision 2008: Immersive 3-D gaming, Mobile Phones that capture and play HD video, Virtual one-on-one with NBA star Dwayne Wade, and a World Record for a LAN party ... Hands-on from Nvision 2008: Immersive 3-D gaming, Mobile Phones that capture and play HD video, Virtual one-on-one with NBA star Dway... more
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Why is Intel trying to create Transformers?
If you've been comforting yourself with the thought that Megatron can't take over the world and turn us into slaves to his robotic whims because he doesn't exist, you may want to have a word or two with the CTO of Intel, Justin Rattner. Why? Because he spent his keynote address at last week's Intel Developer Forum telling a terrified audience that Intel is already at work creating intelligent robots that can change their shape.
Talking last Thursday, Rattner unveiled his plan to use Intel's vast technological empire to create real-life Decepticons:
He explained that Intel researchers are working to figure out how to harness millions of miniature robots, called catoms, so they could function as shape-shifting swarms.
"What if those machines had a small amount of intelligence, and they could assemble themselves into various shapes and were capable of movement or locomotion?" he said. "If you had enough of them, you could create arbitrary shapes and have the assembly of machines that could take on any form and move in arbitrary ways."
The basic idea is that the catoms, which one day should be about the size of a grain of sand, could be manipulated with electromagnetic forces to cling together in various 3D forms. Rattner said that Intel has been expanding on research work done by Seth Goldstein, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
"We're actually doing it for real," Rattner said. He added that Intel started "at the macro scale," with catoms that were "inches across." The robots had microprocessors associated with them and could attract or repel one another via electromagnetism or the use of electrostatic charges, according to Rattner. "It's programmable matter," he said.
Sure, it's programmable now, but just wait - All it takes is one of those things to get exposed to the All-Spark, and then... well, you know what's about to happen. If you've been comforting yourself with the thought that Megatron can't take over the world and turn us into slaves to his r... more -
Intel CTO demos building blocks of shapeshifting robots
Intel sent sane journalists screaming for the exits this morning when it unveiled a nightmarish future vision where robots are more intelligent than humans, computers can change shape, electronic devices are recharged remotely, and humans are probably going to be ruled by an x86-based server farm.
Wrapping up the Intel Developer Forum with a session on R&D, CTO Justin Rattner declared that the singularity – the point at which machines become more intelligent than humans – is now as little as 50 years away.
For some reason, the MSc and PhD-heavy attendees did not see this as a horrifying prospect and run for the hills, but instead sat there dumbly while the vendor recounted the ways it is underpinning the necessary research to ensure machines can outwit humans.
The presentation started sensibly enough, with an update on new materials to take microprocessors beyond CMOS and 32nm, and subsequently further jack up computer power. These inevitably include carbon nanotubes and other carbon-based materials and emerging materials program manager Mike Garner raised the prospect of new materials which use spin, magnetics and optics to encode data, instead of charge, and which are able to offer more than one state.
The vendor also wheeled out its usual update on silicon photonics, with a researcher demonstrating a laser based system where data was being modulated at 2.2Gbps. He said by tuning lasers at different wavelengths and integrating them together a 1Tbps link could be possible.
Another IDF favourite, software configurable radios was also highlighted, with a call for wireless networks to be rethought from the ground up, so that devices could sniff out the most effective spectrum, rather than being restricted to a single chunk by the FCC and other regulators.
Then it started getting weird, before getting just plain scary. Intel sent sane journalists screaming for the exits this morning when it unveiled a nightmarish future vision where robots are more in... more -
The Future: Shape-shifting robots, wireless power
"The intelligence gap between man and machine will largely close by the year 2050, according to Intel Corp.'s chief technology officer, who yesterday reiterated that point during a keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum.
At the IDF event in San Francisco, Intel CTO Justin Rattner said that the chip maker's research labs are working on human-machine interfaces and looking to foster big changes in robotics and the way computers interact with humans. He specifically pointed to work that Intel is doing on wireless power and on developing tiny robots that can be programmed to take on the shape of anything from a cell phone to a shoe or even a human.
"The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago," Rattner said. "There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason in the not-so-distant future."
Just last month, Rattner, who also is a senior fellow at Intel, made similar comments in an interview with Computerworld, saying that perhaps as early as 2012, the lines between human and machine intelligence will begin to blur. The intelligence gap should become awfully narrow within the next 40 years, he added, predicting that by 2050, computing will be less about launching applications and more about using systems that are inextricably woven into our daily activities.
In that same vein, Rattner talked about programmable matter during his IDF speech. He explained that Intel researchers are working to figure out how to harness millions of miniature robots, called catoms, so they could function as shape-shifting swarms.
"What if those machines had a small amount of intelligence, and they could assemble themselves into various shapes and were capable of movement or locomotion?" he said. "If you had enough of them, you could create arbitrary shapes and have the assembly of machines that could take on any form and move in arbitrary ways." "The intelligence gap between man and machine will largely close by the year 2050, according to Intel Corp.'s chief technolo... more -
Intel Looking Into Wireless Charging of Devices
"Intel has made progress in a technology that could lead to the wireless recharging of gadgets and the end of the power-cord spaghetti behind electronic devices.
It says it has increased the efficiency of a technique for wirelessly powering consumer gadgets and computers, a development that could allow a person to simply place a device on a desktop or countertop to power it. It could bring the consumer electronics industry a step closer to a world without wires.
On Thursday, the chip maker plans to demonstrate the use of a magnetic field to broadcast up to 60 watts of power two to three feet. It says it can do that losing only 25 percent of the power in transmission."
Pretty sweet. "Intel has made progress in a technology that could lead to the wireless recharging of gadgets and the end of the power-cord spag... more -
Intel cuts electric cords with wireless power system
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Intel on Thursday showed off a wireless electric power system that analysts say could revolutionize modern life by freeing devices from transformers and wall outlets.
Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner demonstrated a Wireless Energy Resonant Link as he spoke at the California firm's annual developers forum in San Francisco.
Electricity was sent wirelessly to a lamp on stage, lighting a 60 watt bulb that uses more power than a typical laptop computer.
Most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units
"The trick with wireless power is not can you do it; it's can you do it safely and efficiently," Intel researcher Josh Smith said in an online video explaining the breakthrough.
"It turns out the human body is not affected by magnetic fields; it is affected by elective fields. So what we are doing is transmitting energy using the magnetic field not the electric field."
Examples of potential applications include airports, offices or other buildings that could be rigged to supply power to laptops, mobile telephones or other devices toted into them.
The technology could also be built into plugged in computer components, such as monitors, to enable them to broadcast power to devices left on desks or carried into rooms, according to Smith.
"Initially it eliminates chargers and eventually it eliminates batteries all together," analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of Intel's wireless power system.
"That is potentially a world changing event. This is the closest we've had to something being commercially available in this class." SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Intel on Thursday showed off a wireless electric power system that analysts say could revolutionize modern life ... more -
Yahoo and Intel (re)Introduce Interactive TV
Is Yahoo! rising from the dead as the new player in ... Interactive TV???
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The future - powered by Intel imaginations
The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network on Thursday launched the World Mural Project, which hosts an online mural encouraging children around the world to digitally illustrate their predictions of "what computers will empower us to do" in 40 years. Over 500 children in 21 countries and 14 U.S. states participated in the project.
Their contributions are endearing, if not hilarious: Wearable computers; health care improving our brain power; teleportation; and the best one -- flying cars that cure cancer (what?) The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network on Thursday launched the World Mural Project, which hosts an online mural encouraging children ar... more -
EU vs. Intel in anti-trust charges
They went after Microsoft and won, and now they're after Intel, the US microchip giant.
The EU is filing charges claiming Intel pays distributors to use/sell their product, stash/hide a competitor's product, and offers discounts to PC makers.
The EU cost Microsoft almost $1.5 billion the last time it filed a charge. Intel says no-fair. Competitor AMD is just being a bad sport. Intel makes and controls 80% of the worldwide computer chip market.
We'll see. They went after Microsoft and won, and now they're after Intel, the US microchip giant. ... more -
EU hits Intel with fresh charges
European regulators have filed fresh charges against the world's biggest computer chip maker Intel over alleged abuse of its dominant market position.
The European Commission accused the firm of paying a leading European retailer not to stock products containing chips made by rival AMD.
It is also accused of giving incentives to PC makers to switch to Intel chips.
Intel, which has eight weeks to respond to the allegations, said it was disappointed with the EC's claims.
The Commission has also accused Intel of paying the PC maker to delay the planned launch of a product containing AMD chips. European regulators have filed fresh charges against the world's biggest computer chip maker Intel over alleged abuse of its domi... more -
Intel to Launch Quad-Core Notebook Chips in August
Intel is set to release a quad-core CPU for laptops next month, and it will be branded with the company's Core 2 Extreme moniker. There aren't many details of the product line: speaking to the IDG news service Intel's Sujan Kamran refused to get specific.
One chip, though has snuck out from under the veil of secrecy (in the form of a pre-order option on machines from Australian PC maker Pioneer Computers). It's the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300, and it will cost a whopping $1,390. Could this be the chip that Apple is waiting for before it launches a new MacBook Pro? It seems likely, given Apple's taste for big, easy to understand marketing. Intel is set to release a quad-core CPU for laptops next month, and it will be branded with the company's Core 2 Extreme moniker.... more -
New Intel 'WiMax' chip to enable city-wide wireless
The new Intel 'Centrino 2' (inventive) processer will feature the next-generation of wireless chips, designed for use in laptops and other portable computing devices.
The chips, along with the standard 'Wi-Fi', will also pioneer new 'WiMax' technology, which promises faster data transmission, and over distances which could connect entire cities. The new Intel 'Centrino 2' (inventive) processer will feature the next-generation of wireless chips, designed for use in lap... more -
AMD faces tough battle against Intel
San Francisco, Mar 26 : Advanced Micro Devices Inc is risking falling afoul of Moore’s Law and slipping further behind Intel Corp.
For decades, the semiconductor industry has lived by the 1965 observation of Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the computing power of semiconductors doubles roughly every two years. Intel has kept up, but now some say AMD can no longer keep pace as it has fallen behind a manufacturing generation and its chips aren’t as speedy as Intel’s.
“If you’re not keeping up with the rhythm of Moore’s Law, and I don’t think AMD is, you’re going to continue to lose money and market share,” said Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates.
AMD lags Intel, the No. 1 chipmaker, in chipmaking technology and could be about nine months behind Intel when it introduces chips with elements as small as 45 nanometers in the second half of 2008, analysts said.
Smaller features of chips allow Intel, AMD and other chipmakers to get more computing performance out of a single chip at the same or lower power consumption levels.
AMD’s revenue share of the microprocessor market fell 17 percent to USD 4.3 billion last year while Intel gained 8 percent to USD 25.9 billion, market research firm iSuppli said. Intel ended 2007 with 79 percent revenue share of the microprocessor market and AMD closed out the year with 13.2 percent.
“They started falling behind at 65 nanometers, and they’re trying to make the transition to 45 nanometer,” Mosesmann said. “If they can’t get 65 nanometer to work, what says they can get 45 nanometer to work?” San Francisco, Mar 26 : Advanced Micro Devices Inc is risking falling afoul of Moore’s Law and slipping further behind Intel Corp. ... more -
Dreamworks to use Intel technology for 3-D movies
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc plans to use chips from Intel Corp for the creation of 3-D movies, the companies said on Tuesday.
DreamWorks will use Intel's visual computing products for 3-D animated feature films starting with its "Monsters vs. Aliens" movie, set for domestic release on March 27, 2009, it said.
Intel, whose biggest rival is Advanced Micro Devices Inc, said it also plans to develop next-generation 3-D viewing technology for home theaters, personal computers, video games, online environments and mobile devices. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc plans to use chips from Intel Corp for the creation of 3-D movies, the companies said on Tuesday. ... more -
Intel non installa Windows Vista sui Pc aziendali - Zeus News
Intel non installa Windows Vista sui Pc aziendali
Secondo Otellini, l'aggiornamento dei Pc dei dipendenti con Windows Vista non apporterebbe benefici sufficienti. Meglio aspettare Windows 7.
[ZEUS News - www.zeusnews.it - 27-06-2008]
Saltare Vista e aspettare Windows 7, come dicevamo qualche tempo fa, non è per niente una brutta idea: anche Intel sembra essere dello stesso parere.
Già quando l'ultima versione di Windows venne rilasciata, Paul Otellini, amministratore delegato di Intel, spiegò che avrebbe atteso l'uscita del Service Pack 1 prima di dare un eventuale via libera alla transizione per l'intera compagnia: "Non conosco nessuna organizzazione che faccia un aggiornamento prima del Service Pack 1".
Ora il New York Times rivela che l'idea di migrare a Windows Vista gli 80.000 computer dei dipendenti è stata definitivamente abbandonata, secondo una fonte definita interna all'azienda: "Non è una questione di insoddisfazione verso Microsoft, ma lo staff IT di Intel non trova necessario adottare Vista".
Per la precisione, occorre dire che alcuni dipartimenti stanno già usando Vista a scopo di test ma l'intera azienda non lo farà, come ha spiegato un portavoce di Intel. La compagnia ha analizzato costi e benefici di un upgrade - ha detto ancora la fonte del New York Times - e ha concluso che i vantaggi non sono sufficienti a giustificarlo.
Comunque si veda la cosa, questo sembra essere un brutto colpo per Microsoft che tradizionalmente è sempre stata vicina alla società di Santa Clara (da cui il soprannome Wintel usato per indicare le due aziende insieme e l'accoppiata Windows/processori Intel). Ora bisognerà vedere quali forze di marketing Redmond deciderà di mettere in campo per far tornare Otellini (che incontra Steve Ballmer regolarmente) sulla propria decisione. Intel non installa Windows Vista sui Pc aziendali ... more -
Amsterdam gets Europe's first mobile Wimax network
A commercial network launched in Amsterdam on Tuesday is the first in Europe to use a mobile version of the Wimax standard to allow users to surf the Web at high speeds while on the move, operator Worldmax said.
he broadband wireless network is aimed at competing with telecoms operators KPN, Vodafone, and T-Mobile .
It is similar to using a mobile phone network and differs from networks using earlier Wimax technology which required users to be stationary.
Worldmax, whose investors include Intel and Greenfield Capital, would not reveal financial or subscriber targets. A commercial network launched in Amsterdam on Tuesday is the first in Europe to use a mobile version of the Wimax standard to allow us... more -
Intel enters solar panel market
Intel Corp. disclosed that an internal team has been working on technology for use in solar panels, and now is spinning off that effort to form a new company.
The chip maker said the company, SpectraWatt Inc., will make photovoltaic cells, the primary component in solar panels that use sunlight to generate electricity. It will receive $50 million in initial funding from a consortium including Intel's venture capital arm, Goldman Sach's Cogentrix Energy subsidiary, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, and Solon AG, a German solar-panel maker.
Intel's move is the latest in a scramble among Silicon Valley companies to jump on the clean-energy bandwagon. Applied Materials Inc., for example, is branching beyond machines for making chips to sell equipment for use in making photovoltaic cells. Chip maker Cypress Semiconductor Corp., by contrast, spun off a maker of solar cells called SunPower Corp. that now boasts a market capitalization of about $7 billion.
Engineers inside Intel's new business initiatives group in Oregon have been working on the effort for several years, led by Andrew Wilson, who will become SpectraWatt's chief executive. The startup isn't disclosing much about its technology, but Mr. Wilson said its goal is to reduce the cost and improve the power-generating efficiency of solar cells that are made from silicon, the material used to make silicon chips. Intel Corp. disclosed that an internal team has been working on technology for use in solar panels, and now is spinning off that effor... more -
Intel, the chip giant founds carers' network
Carers (people who look after mentaly or physically disabled relatives, often parents) are one of the most overlooked groups in society.
Through the sheer random luck of life, they find themselves in almost impossible positions carng for very sick family members.
Often Jobs have to be given up and all free time is devoted to the loved one. It can be an extremely isolated world, especially caring for someone with little or no communicative abilities.
Intel has set up a new portal and forum to help bring carers together, which of course will let people use it at times that are convenient to them.
It will bring together family carers, healthcare professionals, social workers and others.
6 million people in the Uk are carers, they are unpaid. Carers (people who look after mentaly or physically disabled relatives, often parents) are one of the most overlooked groups in societ... more -
Most people Wearing Groucho Marx Glasses in One Place
The city of Hillsboro has officially claimed the new Guinness World Record for most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses in one place.
At the city's Celebrate Hillsboro Presented by Intel Oregon event last summer, co-sponsored by United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and Intel Corp., 3,459 people gathered in the Hillsboro Civic Center plaza wearing the glasses, shattering the previous record of 1,750 set by Midwest City High School in Oklahoma.
In 2006, the city broke the record for most people wearing balloon hats -- 1,874 -- at Celebrate Hillsboro.
At the event this August, Hillsboro hopes to garneranother record, with the most people playing kazoos at once.Tell us why this is interesting
More Guinness World Records 2008
http://www.worldamazingrecords.com The city of Hillsboro has officially claimed the new Guinness World Record for most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses in one place. ... more -
Intel Undermined $100 Laptop Intentionally
Intel repeatedly attempted to derail the One Laptop for Every Child Project, according to Professor Nicholas Negroponte, head of the charity in charge, by offering to sell Intel brand laptops (Intel logo included) to developing countries after they had already signed contracts through the non-profit charity. Negroponte told BBC News at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, that "[Intel] would go in even after we had signed contracts and try to persuade government officials to scrap their contract and sign a contract with them instead. That's not a partnership."
When asked about the "partnership", Intel's CEO Paul Otellini said, "I don't want to get into specifics but we met every obligation we were committed to."
Intel made the decision to drop out of the partnership, which was intended to provide laptops to children in developing nations. The OLPC's $100 laptops run on open source software and AMD processors. Intel's version, the "Classmate PC", is more expensive and operates on Microsoft's closed-source Windows. Intel repeatedly attempted to derail the One Laptop for Every Child Project, according to Professor Nicholas Negroponte, head of the c... more
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