Technology News: Chips

IBM Researchers Go Way Beyond AI With Cat-Like Cognitive Computing
November 19, 2009

IBM's revelation at SC09 created quite a stir and immediately brought forth visions of Cylons and Hal 9000. The cognitive computing team at IBM Research has moved significantly forward in creating a large-scale cortical simulation and a new algorithm that synthesizes neurological data -- two major milestones on the path to a cognitive computing chip.

Intel, AMD End Legal Hostilities
November 12, 2009

Rival chip companies Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have forged an agreement to settle their legal conflicts. AMD has agreed to drop its litigation against Intel. In exchange, Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion and promise to follow certain business rules as the two continue to compete head to head. The deal includes a five-year cross-license renewal.

Intel Boasts Breakthrough in Durable Multilayer Memory
October 29, 2009

Intel and Numonyx on Wednesday announced what they categorized as a "key breakthrough" in research on phase change memory. Their researchers demonstrated a 64Mb test chip that lets manufacturers stack multiple layers of PCM arrays within one die. This could lead to the creation of smaller memory devices with more capacity and lower power consumption for RAM and storage.

Tilera Crams 100 Cores Into Next-Gen Processors
October 26, 2009

Multicore processor specialist Tilera has announced a new family of processors which includes what the company says is the first-ever 100-core processor. The TILE-Gx family will have four processors, with 16, 36, 64 and 100 cores. It is aimed at cloud computing, enterprise networking, multimedia and wireless infrastructure.

Wall Street Cheers Intel's Q3 Results, Q4 Forecast
October 14, 2009

Intel has been asserting for months that the personal computer business is rebounding from its deepest slump in nearly a decade. Its stock surged Wednesday on signs that things are picking up faster than expected, despite a few lingering trouble spots. Intel reported after the market closed Tuesday that its profit and sales both dipped 8 percent from July through September as spending by corporations remained weak.

Nvidia Imagines Computing's Next Age
October 05, 2009

Last week, I was at the first GPU developer's conference put on by Nvidia, along with around 1,500 people trying to change the future of computing. What was both troubling and amazing was the number of times people were telling me stories about things people had said were impossible that they were now doing as a matter of course all because of this change.

Nvidia Puts On Graphic Power Display With Fermi
October 01, 2009

Graphics processor vendor Nvidia on Wednesday announced its next-generation CUDA graphics processor unit architecture, code-named "Fermi." The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy's largest science and energy laboratory, has announced it will build a new supercomputer based on Fermi. The new architecture has also garnered support from Cray, IBM, HP, Dell and other companies.

Intel Shows Glimpse of Light Peak Device Connector
September 28, 2009

By Autumn of 2010, Apple may be ready to introduce a line of Macs using Light Peak, an optical interconnect technology just unveiled by Intel. Intel showed off Light Peak at its developer forum in San Francisco last week. Apple reportedly approached Intel with the idea of creating a technology that could handle massive amounts of data and offer one connector to replace all the different connectors used with computers.

Intel Wants to Put the Internet Inside Your TV
September 25, 2009

The dream of taking Internet TV to an actual TV seems a no-brainer to consumers: a screen's a screen, and a monitor's just another screen, after all. However, there's more to the technology than meets the eye or fits the couch potato's view. Even so, Intel made a huge step toward plugging the Internet TV play on Thursday when it unveiled its 45nm System-on-Chip for Internet TV.

Intel Gravitates to Graphics With Larrabee
September 23, 2009

Intel on Tuesday demonstrated the first chip based on its Larrabee architecture for graphics-centric coprocessors. It held the demonstration at the Intel Developer Forum, which is being held in San Francisco through Thursday. The chip giant also told attendees of its future plans and launched the Intel Atom Developer Program.

ARM Targets Intel's Linux Zone
September 18, 2009

In the latest phase of its battle with Intel for the notebook and netbook markets, ARM has unveiled two new 2GHz capable Cortex-A9 dual core processor implementation. These give silicon manufacturers a way to develop high-performance, low-power Cortex-A9 processor-based devices, ARM said. However, it looks like this battle will only take place in the Linux corner of the market.

Starting Over: What Obama's Healthcare Team Could Learn From AMD's 'Vision'
September 14, 2009

You couldn't help but feel for the U.S. president last week as he tried to sell an unpopular health plan. Sometimes you have to realize the foundation of something is just so bad that no amount of patching or selling will fix it, and while it looks like you are close to done, you'd actually get done more quickly if you started over properly.

Wall Street Has High Hopes for TI's Mid-Quarter Update
September 09, 2009

Analysts expect good news from chip maker Texas Instruments Wednesday, when the company is scheduled to give a mid-quarter financial update. An upbeat report from TI, which makes chips for everything from cellphones to automobiles, would be another good sign for an industry that was hard hit by the recession earlier this year.

Intel's Stronger Outlook Fuels Tech-Sector Cheer
August 28, 2009

Intel has boosted its sales forecast for Q3, providing an injection of confidence to the tech sector, where it's viewed as an industry bellwether. Intel now expects revenue for the third quarter to be $9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, compared with the previous range of $8.5 billion, plus or minus $400 million. Wall Street had been expecting revenue to clock in at $8.6 billion.

DNA-Like Design Could Lead to Smaller, Faster Microchips
August 17, 2009

DNA may contain the building blocks of life, but IBM believes it can also provide the foundation for cheaper construction of the next generation of superfast, energy-efficient microprocessors. Scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., have announced they have developed a way to use synthetic DNA as a "skeleton" for the creation of microscopic circuits.

Intel Buddies Up With Nokia in Mobile Device Deal
June 23, 2009

In what's being hailed as a milestone moment, Intel and Nokia announced they will work together on developing new mobile chipset technologies, as well as new devices to use them. What, exactly, those devices might be or when they might find their way into consumers' hands remains unknown.