It's official. Intel CEO Paul Otellini launched a volley of 32-nanometer cannonballs at AMD today with the official release of the company's latest dual- and quad-core Clarkdale (desktop) and dual-core Arrandale (laptop) CPUs.
The launch--spanning 27 different chips and seven individual chipsets--marks the first time Intel has opted to stash a graphics processing unit alongside the CPU on consumer platforms. What does that mean? Smaller motherboard form factors, lower power consumption, and better cooling for the integrated chips. Expect to be able to get your hands these new CPUs as early as late January.
The benefits the move brings to the living rooms of aspiring PC purchasers include advanced optimizations for HD playback and new supported features--picture-and-picture Blu-ray capabilities and dual-monitor support via HDMI or DisplayPort connections, to name a few.
Unique to the Arrandale lineup is the ability to switch between integrated and discrete graphics on-the-fly. Although both Clarkdale and Arrandale processors feature lower power consumption than previous Intel CPUs, combination of speedy discrete graphics and a low power overhead improves laptop gaming performance while still keeping the best interests of the battery in mind.
Intel has stuck with the Turbo functionality from its Lynnfield family of CPUs to deliver automatic overclocking for supported Clarkdale and Arrandale processors. That said, the Core i7 line of processors for both desktop and mobile still deliver Intel's best performance in terms of raw speeds.
However, the more inexpensive Clarkdale and Arrandale CPUs should definitely do their part to help usher out the company's Core 2 processor family. And in some ways, Clarkdale and Arrandale chips even do a fair job of competing against the prices and performances of a few of their more multi-core, Core i7 cousins.
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Closer Look at the Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus, and WebOS 1.4
This morning Palm announced a slew of product updates, including two new handsets, updates to the webOS platform, and a carrier relationship with Verizon. This afternoon I got some hands-on time with the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus and tested the new video capture app.
Appearance-wise, the Pre Plus is nearly identical to the original Pre except Palm nixed the Pre's single hardware button. I asked what motivated that decision and Palm said that it was mostly a matter of aesthetics: Getting rid of the button eliminated one more moving part and resulted in a sleeker profile. Like the Pixi (both versions), the Pre Plus has a capacitive touch area below the screen with a light-up bar. To close an app, you simply tap this area (rather than press the button, as you would on the original Pre).
The Pixi Plus is completely identical to the original in specs and design, except the Pixi Plus includes Wi-Fi connectivity. The new back covers aren't nearly as inspired as the California Artists Series that debuted with the original Pixi, but they are compatible with the Touchstone inductive charger. The covers will come in pink, blue, green, orange and black. Pricing has not been announced.
The coolest updates lie in the software, especially the new Mobile Hotspot application. Basically, you can turn your Pre Plus into a Wi-Fi access point for five other devices such as your netbook or portable media player. You'll get hit with data charges indefinitely, but it is a welcome feature nonetheless.
The video capture app is simple: You shoot video with the existing camera app with the press of a button. You can then trim your clip by dragging a handle through a series of thumbnail-size stills. It is actually quite similar to the iPhone 3GS' app. The app also lets you upload directly to Facebook and YouTube.
Video quality was decent, though not quite on par with the iPhone's. We'll of course put it to more vigorous tests when it becomes available.
Perhaps the best update is the upcoming Adobe Flash 10.1 player for the Pre's browser. Pixi users unfortunately won't get this update right away due to hardware issues with Adobe. We have known this update was coming to webOS (as well as Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile) for a while, but it is a huge advantage that the Pre will have over iPhone 3GS.
Appearance-wise, the Pre Plus is nearly identical to the original Pre except Palm nixed the Pre's single hardware button. I asked what motivated that decision and Palm said that it was mostly a matter of aesthetics: Getting rid of the button eliminated one more moving part and resulted in a sleeker profile. Like the Pixi (both versions), the Pre Plus has a capacitive touch area below the screen with a light-up bar. To close an app, you simply tap this area (rather than press the button, as you would on the original Pre).
The Pixi Plus is completely identical to the original in specs and design, except the Pixi Plus includes Wi-Fi connectivity. The new back covers aren't nearly as inspired as the California Artists Series that debuted with the original Pixi, but they are compatible with the Touchstone inductive charger. The covers will come in pink, blue, green, orange and black. Pricing has not been announced.
The coolest updates lie in the software, especially the new Mobile Hotspot application. Basically, you can turn your Pre Plus into a Wi-Fi access point for five other devices such as your netbook or portable media player. You'll get hit with data charges indefinitely, but it is a welcome feature nonetheless.
The video capture app is simple: You shoot video with the existing camera app with the press of a button. You can then trim your clip by dragging a handle through a series of thumbnail-size stills. It is actually quite similar to the iPhone 3GS' app. The app also lets you upload directly to Facebook and YouTube.
Video quality was decent, though not quite on par with the iPhone's. We'll of course put it to more vigorous tests when it becomes available.
Perhaps the best update is the upcoming Adobe Flash 10.1 player for the Pre's browser. Pixi users unfortunately won't get this update right away due to hardware issues with Adobe. We have known this update was coming to webOS (as well as Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile) for a while, but it is a huge advantage that the Pre will have over iPhone 3GS.
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