NETBOOKS are to get bigger, cheaper, include in-built 3G, have touch functionality and run on Windows rather than Linux according to Lenovo worldwide competitive analyst, Matt Kohut.
In an interview with TechBlorge, Kohut said netbooks were entering their second phase, shuffling away from first-generation limited functionality and the original Intel reference design built to revolve around the Atom.
"Initially people weren't sure what to do with them," explained Kohut, noting that the average Joe didn't understand the point of the little lappies until too late, buying them with the belief they had more functionality than they did ("oh wow, that's small, maybe I can run photo shop").
"As an industry, we ended up with a lot of returns, because the functionality of what netbooks could do was not well communicated," said Kohut, adding that people were now starting to demand more functions and bigger screen sizes. "There is no reason why a netbook has to be a small system," conceded Kohut, reckoning "we are going to see a lot of different sizes of netbook" in the near future.
"Over the next six months, you are going to see a lot of 3G built into these," added Kohut, who also predicted Windows 7 would push Linux out of the netbook market, partly due to it being a "familiar solution", but mostly due to its ability to accommodate touch functionality.
Kohut argues that staying with Windows "just makes more sense" because" you just take it out of the box and it's ready to go," controversially adding that people "didn't know what to do" with Linux, and that despite it saving them between $50 to $100 per netbook, Linux loaded lappies were returned in droves.
Sensing the Linux lynch mob closing in, Kohut changed the subject to overall pricing, saying portable prices would continue to drop as Intel et all improved their ability to integrate whole systems on chips.
While Kohurt says it is true netbooks are forcing prices of portables down, he doesn't believe the notebook market will take too much of a hit. This, said Kohut, is down to Intel who, in a drastic attempt to prevent further cannibalisation of its Celeron offerings, has tried "very hard to limit what netbooks can do."
Chipzilla, says Kohut, wants to promote netbooks as machines only good for noodling around on the interwibble and reading email, because the firm wants punters asking themselves ""does it make more sense to just buy a notebook with the lower end Celeron processor so that it can do everything you want it to do versus buying a higher end netbook that is going to be limited in some way?"
Certainly explains why Intel is getting its knickers all in a twist over Nvidia's Ion platform for netbooks, doesn't it?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Intel May Face Record Fine, Rebate Ban in EU Antitrust Case
Intel Corp., accused by the European Union of giving computer sellers rebates to not buy a rival’s chips, may be ordered to stop the discounts and pay a more than 1 billion-euro antitrust fine ($1.36 billion).
The European Commission will rule this week on charges that Intel impeded competition and harmed consumers by muscling out Advanced Micro Devices Inc. from the chip market. The penalty could double the record 497 million-euro fine against Microsoft Corp. in 2004 for abusing its monopoly in personal computer operating systems, said Thomas Graf, an antitrust lawyer at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in Brussels.
“There is a good chance that there could be a record fine for an abuse of dominance case, and that it could exceed the fine against Microsoft,” Graf said.
The commission decision may increase pressure on Intel as computer sales decline because of the economic downturn. Intel the world’s biggest computer-chip maker, has kept its market share at about 80 percent by granting rebates that are conditional on computer makers buying all or the majority of their chips from the company, the commission has charged.
Intel has been entangled in a dispute with the EU for more than eight years following a complaint by AMD. Intel, facing a related civil lawsuit filed by AMD in federal court in Delaware and an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for alleged unfair business practices, is likely to start a lengthy appeal at European courts to prevent the EU ban on rebates from taking effect, lawyers said.
‘Pricing Strategy’
“A lot of their business is based on this pricing strategy,” said David Anderson, an antitrust partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP in Brussels. “If you’re defending your strategy, you’re defending something that’s pretty valuable. They’re taking a staunch defense and they are playing the long game.”
Santa Clara, California-based Intel has argued that it’s operating fairly in a competitive industry. Computer makers’ choice of its chips is based on quality and performance, Intel has said. AMD’s contention that Hewlett-Packard Co. was “pressured” to use Intel processors is wring, Intel said in the Delaware case.
Robert Manetta, an Intel spokesman in London, said the company’s business practices are “legal, pro-competitive and good for consumers. Jonathan Todd, a commission spokesman, had no comment.
Fine Calculation
The commission uses 2006 guidelines to calculate fines. Lawyers expect a record amount because penalties are based on 30 percent of the sales of products and are then multiplied by the number of years the violation occurred. The commission can raise levies against large companies as a deterrent. Failure to cooperate with investigators is also considered.
Intel’s European sales were $7.1 billion last year, meaning the potential starting amount is $2.1 billion. That amount would be then multiplied by years of the violation.
“We have new fining guidelines and the identified infringement has a fairly long duration,” Cleary Gottlieb’s Graf said. Intel has substantial sales “in the affected market and there have been reported tensions between Intel and the commission, which may render the commission less lenient.”
EU Challenge
Intel lost a bid to delay the EU investigation last year by filing a lawsuit at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. The tribunal said the company failed to demonstrate enough “urgency” to qualify for interim relief. Intel sued in October, arguing that the EU probe is discriminatory and that regulators breached the company’s rights by denying it access to relevant evidence.
The Brussels-based commission accused Intel in July of giving computer sellers “substantial rebates” not to sell machines using Sunnyvale, California-based AMD’s chips. Those charges followed an initial set of accusations in 2007 that Intel gave rebates and made below-cost sales to manufacturers, including Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard, to coax them not to use AMD’s chips, according to the Court of First Instance ruling.
Intel fell 48 cents, or 3 percent, to $15.29 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading in New York on May 8.
Intel said on April 14 that first-quarter profit fell 55 percent to $647 million, or 11 cents a share, from a year earlier, because of slowing computer demand. The company signaled that sales won’t recover in the current period.
The European Commission will rule this week on charges that Intel impeded competition and harmed consumers by muscling out Advanced Micro Devices Inc. from the chip market. The penalty could double the record 497 million-euro fine against Microsoft Corp. in 2004 for abusing its monopoly in personal computer operating systems, said Thomas Graf, an antitrust lawyer at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in Brussels.
“There is a good chance that there could be a record fine for an abuse of dominance case, and that it could exceed the fine against Microsoft,” Graf said.
The commission decision may increase pressure on Intel as computer sales decline because of the economic downturn. Intel the world’s biggest computer-chip maker, has kept its market share at about 80 percent by granting rebates that are conditional on computer makers buying all or the majority of their chips from the company, the commission has charged.
Intel has been entangled in a dispute with the EU for more than eight years following a complaint by AMD. Intel, facing a related civil lawsuit filed by AMD in federal court in Delaware and an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for alleged unfair business practices, is likely to start a lengthy appeal at European courts to prevent the EU ban on rebates from taking effect, lawyers said.
‘Pricing Strategy’
“A lot of their business is based on this pricing strategy,” said David Anderson, an antitrust partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP in Brussels. “If you’re defending your strategy, you’re defending something that’s pretty valuable. They’re taking a staunch defense and they are playing the long game.”
Santa Clara, California-based Intel has argued that it’s operating fairly in a competitive industry. Computer makers’ choice of its chips is based on quality and performance, Intel has said. AMD’s contention that Hewlett-Packard Co. was “pressured” to use Intel processors is wring, Intel said in the Delaware case.
Robert Manetta, an Intel spokesman in London, said the company’s business practices are “legal, pro-competitive and good for consumers. Jonathan Todd, a commission spokesman, had no comment.
Fine Calculation
The commission uses 2006 guidelines to calculate fines. Lawyers expect a record amount because penalties are based on 30 percent of the sales of products and are then multiplied by the number of years the violation occurred. The commission can raise levies against large companies as a deterrent. Failure to cooperate with investigators is also considered.
Intel’s European sales were $7.1 billion last year, meaning the potential starting amount is $2.1 billion. That amount would be then multiplied by years of the violation.
“We have new fining guidelines and the identified infringement has a fairly long duration,” Cleary Gottlieb’s Graf said. Intel has substantial sales “in the affected market and there have been reported tensions between Intel and the commission, which may render the commission less lenient.”
EU Challenge
Intel lost a bid to delay the EU investigation last year by filing a lawsuit at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. The tribunal said the company failed to demonstrate enough “urgency” to qualify for interim relief. Intel sued in October, arguing that the EU probe is discriminatory and that regulators breached the company’s rights by denying it access to relevant evidence.
The Brussels-based commission accused Intel in July of giving computer sellers “substantial rebates” not to sell machines using Sunnyvale, California-based AMD’s chips. Those charges followed an initial set of accusations in 2007 that Intel gave rebates and made below-cost sales to manufacturers, including Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard, to coax them not to use AMD’s chips, according to the Court of First Instance ruling.
Intel fell 48 cents, or 3 percent, to $15.29 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading in New York on May 8.
Intel said on April 14 that first-quarter profit fell 55 percent to $647 million, or 11 cents a share, from a year earlier, because of slowing computer demand. The company signaled that sales won’t recover in the current period.
Dell Planning Android Based Netbooks
Rumorsville is abounding with the news of Dell readying an ultra-portable laptop, (commonly known as a Netbook) that will run Google's Android OS, instead of Windows XP or Linux.
The current rumors arose from a recent press release by BSquare, a software firm. The release mentioned about a "system to use certain Adobe software on Dell netbooks running Google's Android platform". Interesting! Because, currently there is no Dell notebook running on the
Android platform!
There were further twists to the tale when BSquare announced that it was an error on their part to publish the press release. Further, Dell spokesperson Andrew Bowins too confirmed the release was erroneous without going into the details of what exactly the erroneous part was. He neither confirmed nor denied if we would be seeing Android based netbooks in the near future.
Originally developed for smartphones, Android is fast becoming the OS of choice for low cost notebooks. Being open source, it offers a cheaper alternative to users who no longer need to be dependent on Microsoft's software or Intel's processors for their computing needs. Additionally, Android will do well with cheaper ARM-based processors. Netbooks, as most people might be aware are low cost, smaller versions of notebooks. Back in April, there were reports about Dell's arch-rival HP too being interested in Android.
The current rumors arose from a recent press release by BSquare, a software firm. The release mentioned about a "system to use certain Adobe software on Dell netbooks running Google's Android platform". Interesting! Because, currently there is no Dell notebook running on the
Android platform!
There were further twists to the tale when BSquare announced that it was an error on their part to publish the press release. Further, Dell spokesperson Andrew Bowins too confirmed the release was erroneous without going into the details of what exactly the erroneous part was. He neither confirmed nor denied if we would be seeing Android based netbooks in the near future.
Originally developed for smartphones, Android is fast becoming the OS of choice for low cost notebooks. Being open source, it offers a cheaper alternative to users who no longer need to be dependent on Microsoft's software or Intel's processors for their computing needs. Additionally, Android will do well with cheaper ARM-based processors. Netbooks, as most people might be aware are low cost, smaller versions of notebooks. Back in April, there were reports about Dell's arch-rival HP too being interested in Android.
Intel to stop shipping one Core i7 desktop chip later this year
Intel plans to stop selling one of its high-end desktop chips this year, less than one year after it was released, the company confirmed Thursday.
The 2.93GHz Core i7 940 processor is one of three desktop chips based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture that were released in late 2008. Designed for high-end PCs, the chip includes an on-chip memory controller and support for DDR3 memory and Intel's QuickPath Interconnect technology.
The last date for customers to confirm orders for the Core i7 940 will be Sept. 4, Intel said in a notice.
"We have communicated our shipment plans for Core i7 940 to our customers. It is actively shipping and will ship through 2009.," Intel spokesman Nick Jacobs wrote in an e-mail.
The Core i7 940 was caught between two more successful products. The 940 didn't sell as well as the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, which was significantly cheaper, and it couldn't match the performance of the 3.2GHz Core i7 965 Extreme Edition, according to a source at a Taiwanese motherboard maker.
Intel is expected to release more advanced desktop chips based on the Nehalem microarchitecture later this year.
In February, the company announced plans to accelerate its shift to a 32-nanometer manufacturing process and the upcoming Nehalem desktop chips, called Clarkdale, will be produced using this process. The more advanced manufacturing process means Clarkdale should run faster and consume less power than existing Core i7 processors.
The 2.93GHz Core i7 940 processor is one of three desktop chips based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture that were released in late 2008. Designed for high-end PCs, the chip includes an on-chip memory controller and support for DDR3 memory and Intel's QuickPath Interconnect technology.
The last date for customers to confirm orders for the Core i7 940 will be Sept. 4, Intel said in a notice.
"We have communicated our shipment plans for Core i7 940 to our customers. It is actively shipping and will ship through 2009.," Intel spokesman Nick Jacobs wrote in an e-mail.
The Core i7 940 was caught between two more successful products. The 940 didn't sell as well as the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, which was significantly cheaper, and it couldn't match the performance of the 3.2GHz Core i7 965 Extreme Edition, according to a source at a Taiwanese motherboard maker.
Intel is expected to release more advanced desktop chips based on the Nehalem microarchitecture later this year.
In February, the company announced plans to accelerate its shift to a 32-nanometer manufacturing process and the upcoming Nehalem desktop chips, called Clarkdale, will be produced using this process. The more advanced manufacturing process means Clarkdale should run faster and consume less power than existing Core i7 processors.
Wireless Gigabit backed by Intel, Microsoft, others
More than a dozen major technology companies have established the WiGig Alliance to develop a standard for high-speed wireless communication.
Members of the Alliance include Dell, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, and others.
The roster demonstrates the consumer-electronics focus of the group, which claims that their wireless technology "provides the optimal way to connect consumer electronics, handheld devices and personal computers."
Operating in the 60GHz spectrum, products based on the WGA specification are expected to be capable of at least 1 Gbps within a range of about 10 meters.
That makes the technology suitable for streaming multimedia content from one room to another, if not for blanketing an entire residence. The Alliance acknowledges that other technologies will be better at providing whole-home coverage.
But they envision a WiGig "ecosystem" that joins together wireless displays and entertainment docks that will enable devices from multiple manufacturers to connect to each other.
Accordingly, the FAQ for potential Alliance members has answers for manufacturers of handhelds and consumer electronics, as well as of PCs, chips, and networking equipment.
The Alliance plans to make the final WiGig spec available some time toward the end of 2009, with products available possibly as early as next year.
Members of the Alliance include Dell, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, and others.
The roster demonstrates the consumer-electronics focus of the group, which claims that their wireless technology "provides the optimal way to connect consumer electronics, handheld devices and personal computers."
Operating in the 60GHz spectrum, products based on the WGA specification are expected to be capable of at least 1 Gbps within a range of about 10 meters.
That makes the technology suitable for streaming multimedia content from one room to another, if not for blanketing an entire residence. The Alliance acknowledges that other technologies will be better at providing whole-home coverage.
But they envision a WiGig "ecosystem" that joins together wireless displays and entertainment docks that will enable devices from multiple manufacturers to connect to each other.
Accordingly, the FAQ for potential Alliance members has answers for manufacturers of handhelds and consumer electronics, as well as of PCs, chips, and networking equipment.
The Alliance plans to make the final WiGig spec available some time toward the end of 2009, with products available possibly as early as next year.
XP mode a no-go on some AMD chips too
AMD says all of its CPUs with the exception of its very low-end Sempron and Turion K8 Rev E processors will include AMD-V, the firm's hardware-based virtualisation technology needed to support XP mode.
"With the exceptions of Sempron-branded processors and Turion K8 Rev E processors, all notebook processors shipped by AMD include AMD-V and therefore support Windows 7 XP mode," AMD noted, adding that in the desktop space only Sempron-branded processors and pre-Rev F Athlon branded processors would not support XP mode.
All Opteron processors, claimed AMD, would include AMD-V and thereby would support XP mode.
Whereas Intel would have consumers believe this is all quite irrelevant because installing a high end OS like Win 7 Enterprise, Professional or Ultimate on a lower end processor is unlikely, the key difference is Chipzilla's non mode-ular offerings are priced around the $600 to $899 portable range, whilst AMD's Sempron line lappies cost about $329.
So AMD's non-compatible chips really are low end, whilst Intel's non-compatible offerings are sold in more mid-range kit.
AMD also reckons Windows 7 will be able to take advantage of its RVI (Rapid Virtualisation Indexing), for better virtual management when hypervisors, guest OSs and other apps are brought into the mix.
Both Intel's VT virtualization tech and AMD's AMD-V are actually just BIOS settings which AMD says system makers tend to switch off in their machines before shipping.
Also, said AMD, to be fair, the whole issue is not just a hardware one, as chipmakers share their designs with software makers well in advance, who are supposed to make sure their programmes are compatible.
This makes the recent XP mode issue a relatively rare beast, as there are usually few, if any, compatibility problems between chips and software, said AMD.
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