Intel has unveiled a new generation of tiny sensors that continuously analyze air quality in an effort to further understand and combat air pollution. The corporation also announced on Friday that it is developing devices that can tap energy from sunlight, body heat and television signals.

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While the air quality sensors have yet to hit the consumer market, street sweepers in San Francisco have already been outfitted with the chip-sized sensors that continuously monitor and relay air pollution information. The sensors are linked to GPS enabled Nokia N95 cellphones and allow scientists to access air quality readings worldwide in real time.

According to Intel’s Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner, the energy tapping devices (which are in the research stage) can salvage and store small amounts of energy from sources in the surrounding environment such as sunlight, body heat, television signals and cell phone towers. The devices are designed to continuously ’scavenge’ energy until they have a enough power to perform a given task such as run a built-in data transmitter with limited range.

Rattner says a commercial application for such a product could be a medical implant that monitors a patient’s health and then transmits data to a doctor’s cell phone placed near the implant.

I am most excited about the air quality sensors. Imagine the data that could be gathered if every phone in the country had such a device. Changes in air pollution could be monitored in real time and environmental disasters could be predicted and prevented!

The prospect of ‘free energy’ devices is quite interesting as well, although I would like to see if such a system could work on a large scale.

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The Betatesting Group, National PARAM Supercomputing Facility (NPSF), C-DAC is initiating the SECOND Technology Training (Tech. Trng. Prog.) Programme for C-DAC members and close collaborators. The Group seeks to enhance the knowledge quotient of member through training on technically advanced concepts and techniques. The Group in collaboration with other members of C-DAC, and external experts will provide inputs on technology trends, deliver technical lectures that will focus on macro view of the current technology trends, skill set requirements and Hands-on. The key objective of the Tech. Trng. Prog. is to help develop outstanding C-DAC IT professionals who are in touch with the latest technology areas, and are equipped with excellent problem skills by collaborating with the various institutions in India. To achieve objectives, the focus on one of the core areas like ProMCore 2008 - Programming on Multi Core Processors (Performance Enhancement through Software Multi-threading) has been identified. The ProMCore 2008 technical programme covers an overview of Multi-Core Architectures, and Programming on Multi-Core Processors. Examples using different programming paradigms (Pthreads/OpenMP/MPI/Java) with rich set of Tools, Tuning and Performance of Multi-threaded programs, Performance of Benchmarks using Math Kernel Libraries on Quad Core systems are covered.

ProMCore 2008 Tech. Trng. Prog. Is jointly organized by C-DAC, Pune and Centre for Modelling, Simulation and Design (CMSD), University of Hyderabad (UOH).

Intel software Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd actively participated and Intel Multi Core Programming Environment is used for Hands-on Session. Technical consultant Engineers from Intel demonstrated Intel software Tool Kit.

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Up until January, 2006 if you were to ask any computer enthusiast their opinion of an Intel motherboard you would here something like this: Intel makes a highly reliable and extremely durable motherboard that will be there long after others have died. The true enthusiast would go on to say that the only reason they didn't own an Intel motherboard was that the features included in the BIOS were minimalist at best and they could not be overclocked. This all changed for the better with the release of the Intel's D975XBX "Badaxe" motherboard in January, 2006. For the first time in Intel's history they had recognized the enthusiast community by releasing a motherboard that was not only reliable but had a highly feature laden BIOS that allowed this board to run with the big dogs.

While the DX975BX board was Intel's first enthusiast level motherboard, it was certainly not to be their last. In late October, 2006 Intel released the big brother of the "Badaxe" the D975XBX2 deemed the "Badaxe II" which took their enthusiast level feature set a few steps further. This trend towards officially recognizing the enthusiast community was finally set in stone when the term "overclock" actually began to appear in some of Intel's official publications. Heretofore if you you were smart enough to overclock a motherboard built by Intel you could kiss your warranty goodbye as you had officially violated an edict firmly established by Intel's support team. So much for the history lesson, let's fast forward to November, 2008 and the release of Intel's i7 series of processor and their X58 chipset that supported it.

The i7 series of processors accompanied by an enthusiast grade motherboard utilizing the X58 chipset were one of the most highly anticipated product releases since the Core 2 Duo. At the time of the launch Intel introduced their DX58SO motherboard affectionately nicknamed the "Smackover". The DX58SO motherboard is without a doubt the most feature laden endeavor that Intel has undertaken to date. It is not only slanted towards the the serious overclocker but it provides a bevy of BIOS related features that could easily take take Intel's latest product to the next level of performance.

We at Benchmark Reviews have had a review sample of the Intel DX58SO for just over a month now that we have used as our reference board for all of our reviews covering the i7 family of processors as this product series had the highest interest amongst our readers. Even though we have used volumes of test data acquired from the DX58SO and repeatedly talked about the features this motherboard had to offer, we have been remiss in officially reviewing this product. Today we intend to make amends and officially give the the Intel DX58SO "Smackover" X58 Motherboard its due time in the spotlight.

About the Company

Intel Corporation is the world's largest semiconductor company founded by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, and widely associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove, Intel combines advanced chip design capability with a leading-edge manufacturing capability. Originally known primarily to engineers and technologists, Intel's successful "Intel Inside" advertising campaign of the 1990s made it and its Pentium processor household names.

Intel pushes the boundaries of innovation so our work can make people's lives more exciting, fulfilling, and manageable. And our work never stops. We never stop looking for the next leap ahead-in technology, education, culture, manufacturing, and social responsibility. And we never stop striving to deliver solutions with greater benefits for everyone. Intel is making PCs more accessible and affordable through innovative PC purchase programs. Through public and private collaboration, Intel has worked closely with government and industry leaders to develop more than 200 programs in 60 countries. With the onslaught of wireless broadband communication technologies like WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and 3G and wireline ADSL and cable, Intel in collaboration with local governments is connecting more people in more places than ever before-no matter how remote.

Intel is committed to improving education on a global scale. With an ongoing focus on students and teachers, we're making an impact with technology solutions that support the development of 21st Century skills, including digital literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking. As citizens use the Internet, the need to create localized content is the key. Intel-sponsored programs provide localized content and services to connect technologies to villages, suburbs, and cities around the world to deliver access to community information, education, and healthcare.

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Apple yesterday announced significant updates to their Mac Pro and Xserve lines featuring Intel’s “Harpertown” processor–but what’s in a name?

Intel’s quad-core Xeon 5400-series “Harpertown” processors run at up to 3.2GHz and are based on the new 45-nm Intel Core microarchitecture. The new chips are known for high performance and energy efficiency.

Apple’s previous Mac Pros were equipped with either a) two dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 “Woodcrest” processors running at 2.0, 2.66, or 3.0GHz, or b) two quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 “Clovertown” processors running 3.0GHz in an “8-core” configuration. More on the whole Xeon family is here.

The biggest benefit over the previous generation Xeons are Harpertown’s 64-bit 1.6GHz dual independent frontside buses (up from 1.33GHz). These buses deliver processor bandwidth up to 25.6GB per second (up from 21.3GB/s). Then there’s 12MB per processor of L2 cache with 6MB shared between pairs of processor cores (up from 8MB per with 4MB shared).

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Atom is currently available in two forms: 'Silverthorne' and 'Diamondville'. One's for handheld internet tablets - what Intel calls Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) - and the second for netbooks and, in a dual-core form, for desktops. Nice and clear cut product differentiation, but you can buy netbooks based on Silverthorne chips, which are sold as Intel's Atom Z series.

And it doesn't look like that situation is going to change any time soon. Intel recently revealed a little more about 'Pine Trail', the next release of its netbook-centric Atom CPU and chipset combo series, and it bears a remarkable resemblance to 'Moorestown', the follow up to the Atom platform for MIDs.

Pine Trail comprises the 'Pineview' processor and a chipset, 'Tiger Point', connected over a DMI (Direct Media Interface) link. Pineview inserts a GPU and a memory controller into the CPU package - Intel isn't saying whether they're on the die or simply stashed in the same ceramic - allowing Tiger Point to focus solely on I/O operations.

Incidentally, Pineview's CPU core is called 'Bonnell', which is the overarching codename for the core design employed by 'Silverthorne' and 'Diamondville' - and by Moorestown's 'Lincroft' CPU core and the one in Moorestown's system-on-a-chip successor.

Intel stresses that this is three chips becoming two, with the middle part of the old CPU-northbridge-southbridge tryptic being cut out of the picture. That, it says, means lower costs to machine makers, lower power consumption and improved performance, though the latter's not entirely a result of the integration.

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Intel slashes processor prices as it flushes 65nm from the manufacturing system. Credit: Intel.

Intel Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of computer processors, is this week turning the pricing screw on closest industry rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in an effort to further solidify its position of dominance while clearing the way for better technology.

That solidification arrives via a rush of hefty price cuts -- up to 50 percent -- applied to a variety of Intel’s existing microchips. According to Intel, around a dozen processors are covered by the price cuts, with the majority of those built on the company’s older 65 nanometer (nm) technology.

Intel’s 65nm manufacturing process has since been superseded by its more advanced 45nm technology, and the sudden round of price cuts is likely to represent somewhat of a stock clearance as it continues to shift the spotlight from one to the other, reports Computerworld.

“We’re transitioning from 65nm to 45nm,” commented Intel spokesman Patrick Ward via an official announcement posted to the California-based company’s Web site. “We’re in the process of refreshing our line. If you see a 65nm [processor], it’s older technology and we’re moving on from it.”

In terms of the most notable processors directly affected by Intel’s price cuts, the new listing reveals that 1,000-chip orders of the Q6700 Core 2 Quad have plummeted from $530 USD to $266 USD per chip, while the Xeon X3230 has also dropped form $530 USD to $266 USD.

Other 1,000-chip orders benefiting from the price cuts include the Core 2 Duo E26850, which falls from $266 USD to $183 USD per chip, while the Xeon 3085 falls from $266 USD to $188 USD per chip.

Analyst reaction to Intel’s pricing adjustment suggests that the leading chipmaker, while obviously shifting from a 65nm to 45nm focus, is looking to expand its pricing-to-performance strengths when measured against the range of processors offered by AMD, which traditionally delivers cheaper chip alternatives to Intel’s line.

When it comes to the advancement of 45nm technology, AMD is looking to ship its initial microprocessor entrants in 2008’s closing quarter, which will subsequently leave the company trailing Intel by around a year.

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In Q1 2003, notebooks took a major leap forward not only in the area of performance, but also other important areas such as battery life, size, weight and wireless connectivity. The propulsion that enabled all this was none other than Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology. Propagating their vision of how notebooks should be, Intel unleashed its Centrino model to the world in a timely fashion with huge promises of better performance, battery life and portability for notebooks bearing their Centrino badge as opposed to existing notebooks then. If you are not already familiar, the first incarnation of the Intel Centrino Mobile Technology consisted of the now famous trio of the Intel Pentium M processor, the Intel 855 platform chipset and the Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection. With the right blend of components, Intel's aggressive marketing, development and infrastructure support for this platform, the chip giant convincingly won over the support of the industry, consumers and skeptics in a relatively short timeframe. In fact, it was so successful that many manufacturers were seen rolling out Centrino notebooks almost exclusively.


The gem of the Intel Centrino Mobile Technology has got to be the Pentium M processor, which attributed much of the initial success of this platform. Sporting a much shorter pipeline architecture as compared to the Pentium 4 processors, Micro-Ops fusion, Advance Branch Prediction and a massive L2 cache, it was the first processor to be designed ground up specifically targeting the mobile market. This was quite a departure from the company's usual practice of modifying its desktop processors for use in notebooks. Although the Pentium 4 processor did play a part in producing notebooks that were very powerful, battery life and size were unfortunately unimpressive and unappealing to notebook users. The Pentium M however, was designed to factor in the usage patterns of notebook users and thus benefited much in terms of advanced power savings and the ability to get work done as efficiently as possible.

As impressive as the first Pentium M (codenamed Banias) was in addressing the fundamental issues of notebooks upon its release, its 130nm manufacturing process meant it had a clock speed ceiling of just 1.7GHz. To keep pace with the demands of consumers, Intel needed to come up with a processor that had a greater clock speed envelope to keep its Centrino momentum going strong. Hence in May 2004, that was realized in the form of a new Pentium M processor codenamed 'Dothan'.

Exploiting the new 90nm manufacturing process, the 'Dothan' Pentium M line of processors are not only capable of delivering clock speeds well beyond the 1.7GHz boundary of its predecessor, but were also endowed with a larger 2MB L2 cache (up from 1MB on the Banias). The additional 1MB was a great asset in boosting the overall performance in many applications. While the processing side of the Centrino has undergone a major facelift, the other subsystems of the notebook were dated as opposed to the desktop machines that were then adopting newer technologies (such as PCI Express and DDR2) and running on a much faster front side bus.


The Sonoma Arrives

To address this generation gap between the notebooks and that of the latest desktop platforms, Intel today officially launched a new Centrino platform that was codenamed 'Sonoma'. This spanking platform is a complete overhaul of the existing Centrino model and is centered on the new mobile 915 chipset (which is a mobile variant of the 'Grantsdale' 915P Express desktop chipset). The new platform will come with a few major enhancements, which includes PCI Express interconnect technology, DDR2 memory, Intel High Definition Audio (also codenamed Azalia) and SATA.

So in a relatively short timeframe of less than two years, we have witnessed the launch of the first generation Centrino, followed by a 'brain' surgery in the form of a processor update and now at long last, the much talked about platform overhaul is finally here. In this article, we'll show you exactly what to expect out of the new Centrino, how it compares with its predecessor, the benefits of investing in this updated platform and whether you should consider ditching your old Centrino notebook. Read on as we unravel the Sonoma platform and showcase one of the first notebooks to land in our lab.

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