TECHNOVATION NEWS

Intel has revealed new details about the firm’s next-generation CPU microarchitecture, code-named Nehalem. It is on track for delivery in the second half of 2008. In fact, hereported that each chip will be comprised of approximately 731 million transistors.

In its “largest configuration,” Nehalem will pack eight CPU cores onto a single die. Each of those cores will present the system with two logical processors and be able to execute two threads via simultaneous multithreading (SMT)—a la HyperThreading. So a single Nehalem chip will be able to execute 16 threads at once. In terms of numbers, this means a power gradient of 10-25 percent for single-threaded applications, and between 20 and 100 percent for multi-threaded applications. Nehalem will integrate a high-performance memory controller and a new chip-to-chip interconnect known as QuickPath—both provisions similar to AMD’s Opteron processors.

Here are some new initial disclosures around Nehalem microarchitecture:

* Dynamically scalable for leadership performance on demand with energy efficiency
o Dynamically managed cores, threads, cache, interfaces and power
o Leverages leading 4 instruction issue Intel® Core microarchitecture technology
o Simultaneous multi-threading (similar to Intel Hyper-Threading Technology) returns to enhance performance and energy efficiency
o Innovative new Intel® SSE4 and ATA instruction set architecture additions
o Superior multi-level shared cache leverages Intel® Smart Cache technology
o Leadership system and memory bandwidth
o Performance enhanced dynamic power management
* Design scalable for optimal price/performance/energy efficiency in each market segment
o New system architecture for next-generation Intel processors and platforms
o Scalable performance: 1 to 16+ threads, 1 to 8+ cores, scalable cache sizes
o Scalable and configurable system interconnects and integrated memory controllers
o High performance integrated graphics engine for client

Unlike Penryn, which is a shrink/derivative of Core 2 Duo (Merom), Nehalem is architected from the ground up for 45nm. This is a major new design, and there is some truly tantalizing details about it. Nehalem has its roots in the four-issue Core 2 Duo architecture, but the direction that it will take Intel is apparent that is that Nehalem is not only designed to take Intel up to eight cores on a single die, but those cores are meant to be mixed and matched with varied amounts of cache and different features in order to produce processors that are tailored to specific market segments.

The blockbuster revelation is that some Nehalem designs will sport an on-die memory controller and integrated graphics processor. Is there would be a GPU integrated onto the actual die along with the general-purpose CPU cores? The answer is that the GPU would be “in the socket” with the CPU or in other term Intel will almost certainly be using its packaging skills to put a GPU in the same package as a Nehalem CPU. Furthermore, this is going to help out with mobile products, small-form-factor devices, and anywhere else that power and cooling are more critical than raw performance. It is expected that such CPU/GPU devices will cut down on the number of on-die cores that you can put on the CPU die (for power dissipation reasons). A Nehalem CPU/GPU combination is expected to consist of a dual-core Nehalem CPU that sports an on-die memory controller, with a GPU sandwiched in the same package with it. This will be a killer mobile part in terms of performance per watt.

As far as the on-die memory controller, this has been a long time coming for Intel. Intel is saying that not every Nehalem part will necessarily have an integrated memory controller—they’ll tweak the number of cores and the on-die components to fit certain performance-per-watt targets for certain segments. The other big revelation is that Nehalem will bring back simultaneous multithreading to Intel’s processor line. Since the Pentium Pro (in 1995) Nehalem has the most significant new architectural changes. It is highly scalable with different components for different tasks. According to Intel it will have 1 through 8+ cores and integrated memory controllers for DDR3 SDRAM with 1 to 4 memory channels. Nehalem will also utilize the new point-to-point processor interconnect, that is the Intel QuickPath Interconnect, replacing the legacy front side bus. This processor will be launched in both native quad core and octo core.”native” here means the configuration with all the cores situated on single silicon die. Quad core is known to have 731 million transistors and unknown amount of L2 cache. As for Nehalem processors with additional features such as GPUs, there will be two separate dies that is one with the cores and another one will have the additional features.

Popularity: 68% [?]

Originally from Wikipedia

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engine via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks”, the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As a marketing strategy for increasing a site’s relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site’s coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, ensuring that content is easily indexed by search engine robots, and making the site more appealing to users. Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove them from their indexes.

The initialism “SEO” can also refer to “search engine optimizers”, a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

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Popularity: 52% [?]

The new GeForce 8800 GT is an entirely new GPU core. The NVIDIA G92 GPU core that is under the hood of the new GeForce 8800 GT is essentially a die-shrink and cut back of the NVIDIA’s G8 architecture, with a few enhancements and optimizations. With this migration to TSMC’s 65nm process technology, the new GeForce 8800 GT is targeted at offering solid mid-range performance, lower power consumption and heat, along with a competitive price. The GPU is made on a 65nm process, based on the G80 of the 8800 GTS/GTX/Ultra. The graphic card is set to replace the 8800 GTS 320 MB which will be phased out soon (the 640 MB version will stay for now). A 65nm process allowed NVIDIA to manufacture the chip cheaper, with less heat output and to add additional features. NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT sits in the middle of the 8800-series with a single slot configuration that uses 100 Watts less power than the top of the range model, but with a lower clock speed and six less “stream processors.” It’s a fair bit higher spec than the GTX and GTS models, with the same “stream processor” clock speed as the Ultra at 1500MHz, and a memory frequency of 900MHz. It also supports PCIe 2.0 and the PureVideo HD engine which offloads H.264 encoding onto the GPU. This should increase performance in modern games which use a lot of shaders. So gamers, what are you waiting for.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Designed by Austrian designer, Peter Aloisson, this phones is made of platinum and have 50 pieces of diamonds on each side, an Ancort logo as well as an 18k gold navigation pad. This doesn’t include 28 small pieces of diamonds on its navigations pad.

Functionwise, it offers a smartphone specification, using windows mobile operating system, Motorola MX21 266MHz CPU, and RAM & Flash ROM 64MB each. It also has 26k color screens. This type of handphone is produced 10 units only for its first edition and its market price is USD 1.3 million. For the time being this is the most expensive and luxurious in the market.

Popularity: 95% [?]

To understand the Centro, you have to understand who it’s for. There’s nothing here for existing Treo owners, and there’s little to entice other smartphone users to switch. Rather, the Centro exists to put more power into the hands of folks who are considering devices such as the T-Mobile Sidekick ID or LG’s enV—inexpensive sub-smartphones with e-mail, text messaging, and media options.

It’s no accident that the Centro looks a little like the BlackBerry Pearl. It’s another instance of a smartphone manufacturer attempting to woo the younger crowd. The Centro is bigger and heavier than the Pearl, but at 4.2 by 2.1 by 0.7 inches and 4.2 ounces, it’s smaller in every dimension than the Treo 755p. Palm saves space by shrinking the 320-by-320-pixel screen down to 2.2 inches (diagonal) and giving the device the world’s most compact QWERTY keyboard.

Yes, the keys on this thing are really small. They’re clear, grippy, rubbery nubs, which helps somewhat. But there’s no avoiding the cramped feeling of this keyboard, especially when you’re trying to dial a phone number. If you want a better QWERTY keyboard, you’ll need a bigger, wider device, it’s that simple.

The Centro performs well as a cell phone. In our tests, reception was pretty good though not excellent. The earpiece and speakerphone volume are both acceptable, but transmissions through the mouthpiece sounded compressed, and background noise made it difficult for callers to hear us clearly. Transmissions through the speakerphone were surprisingly clear. You can also use a 2.5mm wired headset or a Bluetooth headset. On our tests, the Centro’s battery life was okay but not great, delivering a talk time of just over 4 hours.

One minor gripe: I wish there was a quick way to make calls from the home screen, as on BlackBerrys, where all you have to do is press the “phone” key to get to the dialing screen, where you can then use the touch screen or QWERTY keys to dial. The Centro has no built-in voice dialing and no way to trigger voice dialing from a Bluetooth headset. But the handset does come with a demo copy of Nuance’s interesting $6 MobileVoiceControl (MVC) application. MVC lets you dial, check weather and stock quotes, and even add calendar entries and write short e-mail messages by voice. Sadly, the software uploads your voice to a server somewhere in the clouds and then downloads the results, so it’s slower than handset-based voice solutions.

The Centro runs the four-year-old Palm OS 5, with a 312-MHz processor and plenty of memory . There’s 65MB free on board, and the device offers support for MicroSD cards up to 4GB. My Kingston 4GB card worked fine. Like most Palm OS devices, the Centro feels really fast. Applications respond quickly to taps, and the screen redraws instantly, especially when compared with much slower Windows Mobile gadgets. Also, like other Palm handsets, the Centro comes with easy-to-use contact and calendar applications and the option to sync via USB or Bluetooth with the free Palm Desktop or Microsoft Outlook, on PCs or Macs.

Sprint has done a good job of flooding the Centro with messaging options, too. There’s a built-in instant-messaging client for AIM, MSN, and Yahoo!, which runs in the background (though it shows only your “AIM Mobile” buddies). Palm’s basic VersaMail mail application handles POP/IMAP, but Sprint also includes its Seven-powered mobile e-mail app, which logs into AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live, Gmail, or POP/IMAP accounts. It’s slick, smooth, efficient, and fun to use, though it doesn’t display the formatting from HTML e-mail messages. Also, for $10 a month, the client is supposed to hook into Microsoft Exchange accounts using the Outlook Web Access back door, which seems as if it’s a great feature but wouldn’t work for me. The Centro’s browser is the extremely tired, old, and basic-looking Palm Blazer, which displays Web pages but slaughters their formatting.

Also included is the most recent version of DocumentsToGo, the finest Microsoft Office document reading program anywhere. It isn’t perfect, though. The app handled complex Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents well but couldn’t display Excel charts or graphics. Even so, it functions as a full word processor, which is a great tool to have on a phone.

The Centro comes with a fine music player in PocketTunes Deluxe, which supports MP3, AAC, and even purchased, protected, or subscription WMA songs. The device supports wired stereo headphones using its built-in 2.5mm jack, but only one of the four wired headsets I tested with the device worked properly—tunes would play through only one ear on the other three. Also, the Centro doesn’t support wireless Bluetooth stereo music headsets, limiting your music playback options.

The built-in 1-megapixel camera is nothing to get too charged up about. It’s fine, with a tendency to blow out bright areas, but the pictures are sharp enough. The video camera mode takes large videos at 352 by 288, but I found them to be very jerky at 10 frames per second.

For playing video, Palm’s Media app does a good job of transcoding video from your desktop to play on the device. The Centro also comes with Sprint TV, Sprint’s streaming media system with dozens of channels showing everything from music videos to full episodes of Lost and Numbers. The content is great, but delivery on the Centro is a big problem. I found CBS and ABC TV shows to be unwatchable, riddled by blockiness and scrambled images.

In theory, the Centro will work as a PC laptop modem on Sprint’s EV-DO Rev 0 network. That should get you download speeds of about 400–700 kilobits per second. But Sprint has already moved to the faster Rev A system, and I couldn’t get the dialup function to work with my device.

In general, I’m concerned that the Centro’s ease of use is compromised by its bugginess. I ran into several problems with my evaluation unit: In addition to the headphone support issue, I had to install On Demand and mobile e-mail twice each to get them to work. Plus, the HotSync button on my USB cable didn’t work, and Palm’s Quick Install application showed an inaccurate amount of free space on my 4GB memory card. And there were some additional issues. Palm’s Treo 650, 680, and 700p all needed software updates after launch to fix bugs, and I’m sure the Centro will be the same.

The Centro may be built around 2005 technology, but at $99, that’s enough for folks who just want to check e-mail and surf light Web sites. Ultimately, the decision to make the Centro your first smartphone will come down to whether or not you can live with the bugs and the tiny keyboard, or if you want to pay more for a wider device like the Motorola Q, or something more feature-filled like a BlackBerry Pearl.

Popularity: 92% [?]