Apple

Apple is poised to once again revolutionize the entertainment industry — this time with an “iTablet” portable device that lets users download and read digital books, watch movies and play games while also sparking new consumer interest in music albums packed with material such as video clips and liner notes, according to a new report.

The touch-screen Internet-connected gadget, which the Cupertino could launch before the holidays, aims to do what Microsoft failed to accomplish and would instantly compete with Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Reader and a soon-to-launch device from Barnes & Noble, the Financial Times reported Monday. The iPod touch-like device is expected to have a 10-inch screen.

Analysts and bloggers have talked at length about an Apple tablet device, with many pointing to an early 2010 launch. (continuare…)

Quanta Computer will begin ODM production of a new 11.6-inch netbook in August and a new 10.1-inch model at the end of 2009 for Hewlett-Packard (HP), while Inventec will begin producing a revision of HP’s 10.1-inch netbook at the end of September, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
Quanta has also landed HP’s new 15.6- and 17.3-inch notebook orders and will start shipments in August.
Compal Electronics will also start shipping HP’s 13.3- and 14-inch enterprise notebooks in August.
Wistron will maintain its notebook shipments to HP from the first half of 2009.

Pegatron Technology reportedly began ODM production on a notebook for Toshiba starting in June of 2009, at a volume of about 50,000 units, according to industry sources.

In addition to orders from Asustek Computer and Toshiba, Pegatron also manufactures notebooks for ASRock and several local brands in China, as well as desktops for Hewlett-Packard (HP).
However, Toshiba may transfer its current notebook orders away from Pegatron in 2010, the sources pointed out.

When someone asks who the giants of the semiconductor industry are, the names of Intel’s founders, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, float to the top of my mind. And of course, there is the colorful and controversial William Shockly, who founded Shockly Semiconductor Labs, the first major semiconductor lab in Silicon Valley. And then there is Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments, who along with Robert Noyce is credited with inventing the integrated circuit.

But there is another giant in this area that most of the folks in the U.S. haven’t heard of, but who in some ways has had an even bigger impact on the current tech market.

That person is Dr. Robin Saxby; or to be more specific, Sir Robin Saxby, the founder of Advanced RISC Machines LTD (ARM) of Cambridge, England, and creator of the almost ubiquitous ARM processor. I say almost ubiquitous because the ARM processor in some form or another is at the core of almost every cell or smartphone sold today, as well as being used in billions of embedded devices around the world. (continuare…)

Apple Inc and four record labels are working on a plan to increase digital sales of albums, while the computer maker is also separately developing a tablet-sized device, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Apple is working with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group on the project, “Cocktail,” with the sides hoping for a launch in September, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The project with the record companies aims to offer interactive features with music downloads, the paper said.

Apple also hopes to offer the tablet-sized computer in time for Christmas shopping, the FT reported.

The computer will connect to the Internet like Apple’s iPod Touch and its screen may be up to 10 inches diagonally, the paper reported.

The paper said book publishers have also been in talks with the computer maker about offering their services on the new device, which could compete with Amazon’s Kindle.

Apple and the music companies were not immediately available for comment.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. took another step toward improving its standing against market leader Intel Corp. with last week’s disclosure that PC makers plan to use its Athlon Neo chips in low-power desktop products soon.

The Neo chip was designed run lower-end products, like ultrathin laptops that promise full functionality at lower prices than more traditional PCs.

Such systems remain the primary target for the processors. But Bob Grim, AMD’s director of client marketing, said that some PC makers are putting the processors in nettops, which are the size of hardcover books, and all-in-one PCs, which incorporate a central processor, a motherboard and a monitor in one box with a mouse and keyboard attached.

Many of those systems today run Intel’s popular Atom processor.

“We’ve known all along that this type of technology would really work well in multiple platforms and multiple types of form factors,” Grim said. The first Neo-based nettop and all-in-one PC products could ship later this year, he added. (continuare…)

Collaboration with Microsoft could allow the software giant’s upcoming Windows 7 OS to take advantage of multithreaded and multicore Intel chips for faster application performance, according to an Intel official.

Microsoft and Intel are working together to give Windows 7 the ability to better identify resources available and break up application processing over multiple chip cores and threads.

A feature called SMT parking allows Windows 7 to take advantage of Intel hyperthreading technology for “better performance on hyperthreaded, multicore Intel processors,” wrote Joakim Lialias, an Intel alliance manager, in a blog entry on Microsoft’s Web site that was posted late Wednesday.

This feature will help users break up tasks like video encoding and image filtering over multiple task-execution threads, said George Alfs, an Intel spokesman. “The more cores you have, the better,” Alfs said. Intel chips based on its new Nehalem architecture are capable of running two threads per core, and ultimately all of Intel’s laptop and desktop chips will be based on Nehalem, Alfs said. (continuare…)

Intel dropped prices of some quad-core desktop processors on Sunday as it gets ready to launch processors based on the new Nehalem chip architecture.

The price cuts come ahead of Intel’s plans to launch new quad-core chips code-named Lynnfield later this year, perhaps as early as September. Lynnfield chips are based on Intel’s latest Nehalem microarchitecture, which cuts down on performance bottlenecks that plague its current chips. Nehalem chips are also able to execute more tasks while drawing less power.An Intel official last week said that Lynnfield chips were on track for production in the second half of 2009, but didn’t provide an exact shipment date. The company released Core i7 chips based on Nehalem for high-end desktops late last year, but those chips go into workstations and specialist systems built for enthusiasts like gamers.

Intel also plans to release quad-core laptop chips for laptops code-named Clarksfield at the same time as Lynnfield’s release. However, the price for mobile chips remained stable over the monthly pricing cycle, according to Intel’s price list. (continuare…)

Inside sources again claim that Apple has a tablet ready to release “in time for the holidays,” and will be partnering with Verizon to provide mobile data services and possible subsidies, though those details have apparently not been worked out. This new rumor seems to confirm rumors from earlier this year that Verizon would be carrying an Apple “media pad,” as well as reports earlier this month that Chinese suppliers had already received orders for parts to produce the device in time for a possible October launch.

According to sources for The Street, Apple has been working on the tablet for about two years. Working prototypes have supposedly existed for almost a year, which would lend credence to a fall launch window. Verizon is expected to subsidize at least some of the rumored $800 price, though because the device will be data-only, subsidies may be much less than those for the iPhone—which also involves lucrative monthly voice and texting plans. (continuare…)

Touch panel makers believe that netbooks will make a head start in adopting touch panels to utilize the Windows 7 operating system (OS), compared to regular notebooks and LCD monitors, according to industry sources.

The touch panel makers are basing their prediction on their involvement in notebook makers’ product developments, the sources said. The models being developed, sampled and validated show that touch panels will first take off in the netbook segment before moving to larger-size notebooks and monitors, the sources added. (continuare…)

Asustek Computer has reduce retail prices of its 7-inch and 8.9-inch Eee PCs in an attempt to clear inventory.
Prices for 7-inch models in the Taiwan market have been lowered from NT$6,999 to NT$4,999 (US$153) while prices for the 8.9-inch 900A in the China market have been cut to 1,499 yuan (US$219), according to sources in the retail channel.