The new chips include the N450 for netbooks and the D410 and D510 for nettops (or, as Intel kept calling them, "entry-level desktops"). The big news is that they've integrated the graphics and memory controller into the processor, which results in a much smaller footprint (and in turn, could mean smaller devices). They've also made the usual improvements in efficiency and size—the N450 is 60% smaller and 20% more efficient than its predecessor, while the D410 and D510 are 70% smaller and 50% more efficient.

But there hasn't been much change in the base power of the chips; the N450 is clocked at 1.66GHz, single-core, with a 512kb cache and supports only DDR2 memory. Besides that, the 2GB memory ceiling is still in effect—and the Nvidia Ion configuration will give you better graphics performance. Intel will announce final pricing and availability information at CES. [Intel]

Remember all the excitement about Penryn a couple years ago, which took the Core 2 and made it more efficient with a new manufacturing process? It's the same deal here, as the tick of Intel's tick-tock cycle. "Tock" is a whole new microarchitecture, while "tick" is a die shrink of that, which makes it more power efficient. Nehalem is the tock—it was 45 nanometers—and Westmere is the tick, shrunk to 32nm.

Arrandale is what this set of mobile Core i5 chips, based on Westmere, is called. (Here's our primer on Intel codenames.) One thing in particular about Arrandale is that it has a graphics core built right onto the main chip package, which Intel says is good to go for Blu-ray.

Anyways, what all this means is that there's about to be a whole bunch of new laptops with faster, better Intel chips inside that won't munch your battery as hard. [Cnet]

The stunt really looks like it should result in some major neck injuries, safety gear or not. So, these men and women of Intel are either far braver and crazier than I, or there's definitely some clever editing going on. [Intel via All Things D]

Detailed images of the builds are scarce, but I managed to scrounge up some media on a few of the more interesting projects. Check out the contest page for details on all of the winners. [Intel]

Earlier this year, Intel was forced to pay a $1.45 billion fine by the EU, and last month they had to pay AMD a $1.25 billion settlement for anti-competitive practices. This new suit is for basically the same things.

The E.U.'s charges included paying computer makers to use Intel chips instead of AMD ones, and even threatening some companies if they went ahead and used AMD CPUs. The FTC notes that the public has been denied access to "potentially superior" chips as a result of the same bad practices. And it highlights what seems to be a particularly nasty one: Intel apparently designed compiler code so that it "deliberately stunted" the performance of the code when run on non-Intel CPUs, and then told the public the code simply worked better on Intel-made chips.

Ugly stuff. The first hearing is scheduled for September 8, 2010, so this is going to be a long and drawn out process. [FTC via FastCompany]

Of course you don't go for an Atom for muscle, and the Pineview processors do beat the Ion in power consumption and cost (the new guys are both under $100). But we expect performance to go up as well, and the Ion mopped the floor with the D410 and D510 in most real-world applications. The Pineview procs did win in raw processing power, however. These are early tests, so take them with a grain of salt, but we'd really have preferred to see some numbers that at least beat existing configurations like Ion. [CarTFT (German PDF) and SemiAccurate via Engadget

And you have to figure that's pretty far behind, since the Larrabee launch timeframe was 2009/2010. The only way you'll be able to touch Larrabee now is as a development platform for graphics engines or high-performance computing, in order to develop for future Intel products.

Intel says they're going to announce new plans for discrete cards some time in 2010—mayyybe CES, where we talked to former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett about Larrabee last year? But, more likely at the Intel Developer Forum later in the year. [Intel]

Given that the pictures don't blur the ID numbers, Intel should have no problem tracking the chip—bad news for whoever let it slip onto eBay. [Tom's Hardware]

The business model will follow that of the iPhone app store, with developers getting 70% of the revenue and 30% going to operational and partner costs. Potential applications will also go through a similar vetting process to Apple's, although hopefully a bit more transparency.

Intel hasn't yet said how many developers are actually working on netbook-specific applications, and they were vague in a CNET interview about what exactly we might see, other than promises of social networking-type capabilities. And of course, there's an easy way to keep 100% of your netbook software sales, and that's by just selling it as, you know, software. In any case, there's no clear timeline for the store other than 2010, but Intel seems motivated to get this done quickly. Soon, I hope... I'm curious to see what form this takes. [CNET via Apple Insider]

Dubbed as the "Single-chip Cloud Computer" (SCC), the 1.3-billion transistor processor one ups it's 80-core Polaris predecessor because it can run standard x86 software. So far, it has successfully booted Windows and Linux during demonstrations.

Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner explained what he envisions for the future of these superchips:

"The machine will be able of understanding the world around them much as humans do," Rattner said. "They will see and hear and probably speak and do a number of other things that resemble humanlike capabilities, and will demand as a result very (powerful) computing capability."

Speaking of powerful computing, this development comes only a couple of weeks after physicists demonstrated their first programmable quantum processor. [Intel via CNET]

It's a bit odd that Fudzilla is predicting a January 3rd release since that's a Sunday, but otherwise the general timeline sounds reasonable. They're claiming that the offering will come in "2.4GHz to 2.66GHz with prices ranging from $225 to $332." I just hope they're right, because frankly I don't know if I can convince myself to wait much longer before ordering a MacBook Pro. [Fudzilla via Mac Rumors via TUAW]

Microsoft, Google, Motorola and Intel have all shown interest, with devices needing to be GPS compatible—much like your average smartphone. [eWeek via Engadget]

Is the S for Savings? Who knows, but we do know that this Core i5 offering will lower the chip from 95W to 82W. The Core i3 mentioned above removes Turbo Boost from the line in an attempt to go budget-friendly. Other news? The Core i9 Gulftown chip won't arrive until Q2 2010.

And about that Gulftown chip... The folks at AppleInsider opined this morning that the chip could very well be headed to the next version of the Mac Pro, as was previously rumored to be the case. [Impress PC Watch via Electronista via Engadget, AppleInsider]

The i9 doesn't extract significant advantages from its pumped core count (which brings processing thread count up to 12) in a lot of day to day tasks, so don't expect to see an increase in game performance, Windows startup speed or other single-core optimized tasks. It's when you start rendering video or doing 3D modeling—tasks that are suited to parallelization—that the i9 flexes its muscles.

That's roughly a 50% increase in video encoding performance over a similarly clocked i7—already no slouch by any existing standards.

The i9 processors won't ship until sometime in early to mid 2010, and when they do, expect them to be a bit on the expensive side. But man, 50%. I think I can stand to save up a few more bucks, honestly. [PCLab via Electronista]

According to Fudzilla, the platform will include a new memory controller to accommodate DDR3 RAM which, despite supporting two slots, will remain single-channel. Pineview, the next Atom before Cedarview, hasn't even shipped yet—that's expected to be the beginning of next year—so it's interesting to glimpse this far into the future, where Atom, such as it is, will remain positioned almost exactly where it is now. Oh well! [Fudzilla—Disclaimer: That Atom sitting on the penny up there is an older version (not that the new one will look any different, at all)]

...should we consider $500 a good deal?

Yes and no. The formfactor is thin and quite small—1.3 inches thick and just 3.2 pounds. That's great. It's a bigscreen netbook...which I guess is a small laptop.

I mean, I'm not arguing this is probably the most promising netbook of all time.

But remember when we were getting countless Core 2 Duo computers from Dell/HP/Etc for like this same price? Yeah, they were chunky machines. But what happened to those computers? Where did they go?

I know I'm not hallucinating here.

Yes, the 1201N looks like a very cool little laptop, and I'm pumped to use an Eee that can handle HD video on a beautiful screen and through tempting HDMI-out. I'm not really upset about the Eee itself. I'm upset that the budget, jack-of-all trades laptop has virtually died as we've seen this artificial performance cap put on the budget laptop market whiled netbooks ballooned to $500-$600. Then again, maybe Ions have enough power that none of us will mourn the loss of cheaper, fatter Core 2 Duos. When reviews hit and the dust settles, we'll know for sure.

Until then, read Laptop's impressions: [Laptop via Netbook Choice via Engadget]

Testing done by computer builder Haleron revealed that the N330 couldn't match the, now used, two-chip N270 processor in speed all the while actually being worse on battery life. Guess that, along with its need for an internal cooling system, explains why resellers have been trying to get rid of the N330 as quickly as possible. [Newswireless]

The key feature about Arrandale, versus current Core i5/i7 processors, is that it's manufactured using a 32nm process, meaning it'll be less power hungry. Remember the jump to the Penryn Core 2 chips a couple years ago? Same speeds, better efficiency? Like that. The three coming out in the first half of 2010 are the Core i7-640UM (1.2GHz), Core i7-620UM (1.06GHz) and Core i5-520UM, all for "ultra thin" laptops.

We'll also see some 32nm chips for the desktop, codenamed Clarksdale, announced in January. Mmm, chips. [Digitimes]

Bobcat's a low power chip at Atom, like for netbooks, that can run using less than 1W of power. It'll be manufactured using a 32nm process. It's not hitting until 2011 though, and as Ars' Jon Stokes points out, by then Intel will have been at 32nm with Atom for a while, and already close to going to 22nm.

Bulldozer is AMD's new server architecture, also, slated for 2011 which uses a new design with two "tightly linked cores" as the heart. You can read about it in way more detail over at Ars, though for now, Stokes says it's still hard to tell how competitive they're going to be with Intel's 2011 lineup. Guess we'll see. [Ars, Image via Michele Eve/Flickr]

Here's how Intel describes the settlement:

Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices today announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes.

So, they're not fighting directly anymore, and the mountains of patent and antitrust disputes are resolved: Intel will pay this ridiculously large sum of money to AMD, and agree to not engage in anything even resembling monopolistic behavior, and both companies will live in harmony, cross-licensing technologies and competing, but softly! Great. Well, sort of: Intel's biggest problems right now don't come from other companies, but from governments: complaints from AMD no doubt helped spur investigations by the European Commission and New York Attorney General into Intel's business practices, and as part of the agreement AMD is withdrawing their complaints with both agencies, but the EC issued their $1bn+ fine quite a while ago, and from the looks of it, the AG's office is eager to move forward with their investigation too. In other words, this probably isn't the end of the pain for Intel.

That, kids, is why you don't engage in anticompetetive practices in a two-company industry. [WSJ Law Blog]

Ben Foss, Director of Access Technology at Intel's Digital Health group said the device is also intended to assist those with severe Dyslexia, an impairment he himself grew up with. "We want people to experience the independence of being able to read on their own in a public place or anywhere they want to."

Prototypes of the paper-back sized device were tested with more than 400 visually-impaired users, including some who were completely blind. The reader can adjust the speed of reading, and it's 2GB of storage can hold about 500,000 pages of text; roughly 600 pages of scanned books.

At $1500, it's not cheap. But compared to even more expensive Braille readers, it has a shot as a specialty device. [Intel via VentureBeat]

The video above shows what happens if you try to boot the latest 10.6.2 developer build on a Hackintosh. As you can see, not much. So if you're running OS X on Atom hardware, hold off on any updates until this whole mess gets sorted out. [OS X Daily]

If you're one of the unlucky few, hit the link to grab the update. [Gigabyte via PC World]

Some of us from Silicon Valley were invited to a dinner in Palo Alto. It was 1983. At one point during the meal, Steve stands up and yells: "Nobody over 30 can possibly understand what computing is all about."

I pulled him aside, waved my finger, and lectured him, telling him, "You're incredibly arrogant. You don't know what you don't know." His response was, "Teach me. Tell me what I should know."

Yes, a total twunt, but you have to admire how he turned it around, nonchalantly. Mr. Grove says that they later had lunch together, talking mostly about personal stuff. He thinks that he didn't teach him a single thing. Instead, time has, as he points out the irony of Steve's words during that dinner:

He was wrong when he singled a generation out. How old was Steve when the iPod came out — 46?

Indeed. [Fortune]

We've already seen an Intel motherboard hit the market with USB 3.0, but it's technically manufactured by Asus, and it's running a third-party USB (3.0) controller. So we'll see USB 3.0, especially in the custom PC market, before 2011 (because we already are). But like we said, in terms of the standard arriving in mass anytime soon, things are looking grim. [TGDaily via Engadget]

From the looks of it, this case will mirror the European Commission's case almost exactly:

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices."

The AG even echoes some of the same cases used in the EC's investigation, like the time Intel allegedly paid $130 million to keep IBM from selling AMD-based servers, which IBM execs considered as much a business deal as a way to avoid incurring the "wrath of Intel." I too avoid the wrath of Intel, by using AMD chips. Bam! Also: no. But still, dick move!

Cuomo is working with the same body of evidence that the European Commission was, and probably quite a bit more—the FTC's been breathing down their necks for over a year now—so I'd expect this to get pretty uncomfortable for Intel. And by uncomfortable, of course, I mean very, very expensive. [NYT]

VIA Introduces New VIA Nano 3000 Series Processors

VIA's fastest and most power efficient processors yet deliver richest mobile and all-in-one desktop computing experience

Taipei, Taiwan, 3 November 2009 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today introduced its new VIA Nano 3000 Series processors, bringing enhanced digital media performance and lower power consumption to Windows 7 thin and light notebook and all-in-one desktop PC markets.

Based on the 64-bit superscalar ‘Isaiah' architecture, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors deliver the most compelling thin and light notebook computing experience with their rich HD entertainment capabilities, including support for flawless playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video, as well as low power consumption resulting in longer battery life.

With a host of advanced features including 64-bit support, advanced CPU virtualization technology, SSE4 for enhanced multimedia processing, and the industry-leading encryption and security capabilities integrated in the VIA PadLock™ Security Engine, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors also provide a secure, high-performance solution for emerging cloud-based computing environments.

"With the VIA Nano 3000 Series, we are launching our fastest and most power-efficient processors yet," commented Richard Brown, VP International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Coupled with our market-leading digital media chipsets, they enable the richest experience across a broad range of mobile and all-in-one system designs."

VIA Nano 3000 Series

VIA Nano 3000 Series processors are built on the successful 64-bit, superscalar architecture that powers the VIA Nano 1000 Series and 2000 Series processors, which have been adopted by leading OEMs worldwide for a growing number of market-leading mini-note, small form factor desktop, and energy-efficient server designs.

Available at speeds from 1.0GHz to 2.0GHz, VIA Nano 3000 Series processors deliver up to 20% higher performance using up to 20% less power than current VIA Nano processors and boast a number of new features including support for the SSE4 multimedia instruction set and VIA VT virtualization technology.

Fully compatible with all Microsoft operating systems, including the new Windows 7, as well as all popular Linux distributions, the VIA Nano 3000 Series processors use the NanoBGA2 package, making them pin-to-pin compatible with VIA Nano 1000 Series, VIA Nano 2000 Series, VIA C7, VIA C7-M and VIA Eden processors for easy upgrades of existing designs.

VIA Nano 3000 Series Availability

VIA Nano 3000 Series processor samples are currently available for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and will enter mass production in Q1 2010.

Here's what we know: Not much. The leaked sheet contains no image, no real specs and no launch date. The tablet speculation only arrives once you consider Cowon's MO, paired with Atom. Yeah, definitely a stretch, but an interesting one to consider on this lazy, post-Halloween Sunday afternoon. [DAP Review via Engadget]

The thread is only five pages long, but multiple users are claiming the exact same "0xE8000065" error message when trying to sync their data. The issue appears on P55-based motherboards from Asus, MSI and Gigabyte, and it seems like Windows 7 64-bit is more prone to the problem than its 32-bit brother.

Keep in mind the P55 is a new chipset, and unless you're computer is brand-spankin' new or you're the DIY type, chances are you have a setup that works perfectly fine.

If you do have a new P55-based motherboard, Microsoft is looking into the issue. Hopefully a fix for you unlucky few will come soon enough. [The Register via Engadget]

It's anticipated that PCM will initially be considered too pricey once it does in fact become available to consumers, but what product doesn't start off like that? Once prices level out and potential issues are sorted out though, it's predicted that phase-changing memory will kill off flash. Makes sense, since there's no reason to settle for a less dense product when you could have stacks of memory that's just as non-volatile after all. [Ars Technica]

It has 10 USB 2.0 orifices too. Personally, I'd just wait for a full USB 3.0 board, where every port's USB 3.0. Otherwise, you're just gonna feel cramped and then dumb, when you have to buy another board. If you must have the 3.0 now this slab supports CrossFire and SLI with a pair of PCIe x 16 slots, a pair of Gigabit ethernet ports, and eSATA. Of course, there's no price or date for this thing yet, which makes it a little less exciting, perhaps. As exciting as gimped USB 3.0 motherboards can get, anyway.

[Register]

Without Intel supporting the standard, motherboard manufacturers and gadget makers alike would probably hold off on using USB 3.0, since it would require a relatively expensive third-party controller (as it does now). An Intel rep said he hadn't heard of such a delay, but with Intel focused on its next-gen Nehalem chips (and given the company's neglect of wireless USB), it's not impossible. We'll keep you updated if we get confirmation either way. [EE Times via Tech Report]

Considering the hedge fund manager behind the trades was ranked number 559 on Forbes' World Billionaire list, something tell me these guys could have done without the hassle and made a little less by trading the old-fashioned way: guessing. [The Register and GigaOM]

Clarksfield's somewhat of a given, since iMacs use laptop guts. If we are going to see these new iMacs this year, they've gotta be announced in the next couple weeks to hit the holiday buying period. Smack in the middle of the Windows 7 launch would be mean (and effective). [AppleInisider]