How to List your Business in Google Maps using Local Business Center

If you are having a full fledged offline business then you can get it listed using Google Maps under the -Local Business Center. This is a service by google which allows you to put your business details on the google maps for free. You normally get a PIN for this delivered directly by google or else you can request for one at the Local Business Center here

If you dont have a Pin and business listing on google then click here and fill the whole form. Your listing will appear to the right. This is just a first step. After this has been completed, you will be able to upload photos and videos, specify categories, payment options and business hours and much more.

Once you fill in the whole form with all the required details, you will be asked to validate your listing - By Phone, By SMS or By Postcard which can take upto 2-3 weeks time. You can select the Phone option to instantly verify your listing. If you are selecting the phone option you would be given 2 option to offer you a call instantly or after 5 minutes with a ‘Verification PIN’ which you need for validation.

Once you complete the verification call you will find a message of ‘Thank you! We’ve confirmed your PIN and validated your listing.
Your listing should appear on Google Maps within one day. We appreciate your patience. ‘ which means that you have completed this process.

Samsung X360 Notebook PC

Samsung has announced today light weight Samsung X360 Notebook which is powered by Core 2 Duo ULV processor SU9300 which features 13.3-inch WXGA Baclkit LED display, integrated WiFi 802.11b/g wireless LAN connection, Bluetooth+EDR connection, Solid State hard drive, Fingerprint reader and 6-cell battery with 10 hrs life.

Samsung X360 Notebook PC powered by 1.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Processor SU9300 and it features 3-MB L2 Cache, 1066 MHz FSB build using Intel GS45 + ICH9M Express Chipset Mainboard.

The Samsung X360 features 2-GB DDR3 SDRAM 800 Mhz RAM with upto 8 GB maximum RAM in 2 Slot, a 128-GB Solid State Hard Drive and USB based external 8x Super Multi Dual Layer DVD Writer with LightScribe

Solid State Drives (SSD) weigh less, use significantly less power and are less prone to damage as compared to conventional hard disk drives (HDD).

In addition, Solid State Hard Drives (SSD) significantly enhance performance in comparison to conventional hard disk drive. SSD’s boot times are 25-50 percent faster and data access is 300 times faster for reading and 150 % faster for writing.

1.25-inch thick, the new Samsung X360 Notebook PC comes with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium preinstalled, and this notebook is equipped with 13.3-inch (33.7 cm) Widescreen SuperBright WXGA Backlit LED display having 300 nit brightness powered by integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA X4500 Graphics chipset with 256 MB shared video memory capable of maximum resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

Baclkit LED technology used in Samsung X360 laptop enables screens to be thinner, brighter, and more durable and power efficient in comparison to TFT LCD display.

The Samsung X360 Notebook also sports integrated 1.3 Megapixel DigitalMotion webcam which is placed in the bezel above the LCD. In addition, the notebook sports build-in stereo speakers and built-in Digital Array Microphones.

Available in Black color, the Samsung X360 notebook also features integrated WiFi 802.11b/g Wireless LAN mini PCI-E connection and Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR wireless connection.

In addition, Samsung X360 Notebook also offers integrated 10/100/1000 Mbit Ethernet LAN connection, an integrated 56kbps Modem/Fax connection and sports 3 USB v2.0 ports for wired connectivity. The notebook also features HDMI digital out port and 34 mm ExpressCard slot.

Installed software includes :- Samsung Recovery Solution, Samsung Magic Doctor, Samsung Update plus Easy Display Manager, Easy Battery Manager, Easy Network Manager, Easy Speedup Manager, McAfee Virus Scan, Adobe Acrobat Reader etc.

Other features of Samsung X360 notebook PC includes integrated Biometric Fingerprint Reader, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), 83 Keys Silver nano Anti-Bacteria Keyboard, integrated 7-in-1 card reader, which handles MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, MMC, MMC plus and xD., 3x USB v2.0 ports, Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC Hardware with build-in 2 stereo speaker system of 1.5 Watts each and also sports built-in Microphone.

Weighing 1.29 Kgs, the Samsung X360 notebook comes with 6-cell, Li-Ion, 3700 mAh, 7.4 volts Battery which provides upto 10 hrs battery life (without Wi-Fi) and the Notebook is designed to be a eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks, and are fully compliant with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive.

I/O Ports

• 3 USB v2.0 ports
• RJ-45 LAN Port 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet Controller
• RJ-11 Fax/Modem Port
• External MIC Input
• External Audio Out
• VGA Port 15 Pin D-Sub
• 7-in-1 Media Card Slot
• HDMI Digital Out Port
• 34 mm ExpressCard Slot
• Fingerprint Reader
• P-Dock Port

Samsung X360 Notebook PC Features

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor ULV SU9300, 1.2 GHz
• 3-MB L2 Cache, 1066 MHz FSB
• Intel GS45 + ICH9M Express Chipset Mainboard
• 2-GB DDR3 SDRAM, 800 Mhz, Max. upto 8 GB maximum in 2 SODIMM Slots
• 128-GB Solid State Hard drive (SSD)
• USB External Super Multi Dual Layer DVD Writer with LightScribe
• 13.3-inch (33.7 cm) Widescreen SuperBright WXGA Backlit LED display, 300 nits brightness
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA X4500 Graphics chipset with upto 256 MB shared video memory
• 1280 x 800 Pixels screen resolution
• Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g Wireless LAN mini PCI-E connection
• Integrated 10/100 Mbit Ethernet LAN connection
• Integrated 56kbps Modem/Fax connection
• Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
• Integrated 1.3 Megapixel webcam (placed in the bezel above the LCD)
• Fingerprint Reader
• 7-in-1 card reader, which handles MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, MMC, MMC plus and xD memory cards.
• 3x USB v2.0 ports
• 83 Keys Silver Nano Anti-Bacteria Keyboard (93% fullsize)
• Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC Hardware
• Build-in Stereo 2 stereo speaker system 1.5 Watts each
• Built-in Digital Array Microphone
• Windows Vista Home Premium
  
• 6-cell, Li-Ion, 3700 mAh, 7.4 volts Battery, upto 10 hrs battery life
• Dimensions: 311 x 228 x 16.5 / 30.9 mm
• Weight: 1.29 Kgs (with battery pack and SSD)

Ad blocking in Google Chrome

I’ve been using Chrome for days now as my main browser in Windows, and I’m very happy with it. It’s ridiculously fast (around 3x faster according to this test). One thing it lacks, however, is an ad blocker. Luckily, I have been using Privoxy for a while, and it blocks ads regardless of what browser you’re using, as well as do a few other helpful things. This is how you set it up:

1. Download and install Privoxy. Start it and set it to automatically run every time you start your PC.
2. Open your proxy settings. In Vista you can get there by going to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings.
3. Check “Use a proxy server for your LAN” and type “127.0.0.1″ for the address and “8118″ for the port (without the quotes). Check “Bypass proxy server for local addresses.”

Now all your browsing should be going through Privoxy, and it’ll block out unwanted ads.

Windows 7 Beta 1 Build 7000 DVD ISO Image Torrent Download

The Windows 7 initial first beta release will have the build version number of 7000, the DVD ISO image of the 32-bit (x86) Windows 7 6.1.7000.0, 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso, has been leaked to Internet (MDL forumers have started downloading since hours ago).

Some good sign to indicate that the leaked build version 7000 is beta is that at the end of EULA, there is a text stating B.1.


The ISO image is the full version DVD image that allows installation of all editions of Windows 7 similar to Windows Vista, namely Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Business, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Basic.


After installing, Windows 7 has the version of 6.1 (Build 7000). The beta will expire on July 1, 2009.

To download the Windows 7 Beta1 full ISO image, download the following torrent to download the content in any BT client: Windows.7.Beta.1.Build_7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso [MSDN iSO]

Note: This post is to explore the news to all viewers.but not for encouraging Windows 7 piracy.

Windows 7 Beta ISO leaked on torrent trackers

There's already been an ISO file leaked to several torrent trackers.The ISO appears to contain the Windows 7 M1 build (7000) highlighted by Paul Thurrott on SuperSite. So far the new build seems to perform slightly better than 6801, and memory usage has been improved. A number of previously hidden features - like the iconized task bar - are also now active.

Before comments start asking why there's no link to the file, it's because this is something that we're not supposed to have yet. If you want to get your hands on it, check your favorite torrent search site. Also keep in mind that this is a leak, and there's always the possibility that the ISO has been tampered with.

HTC Touch Mobile Phone Review

The HTC Touch Diamond was first released in the market mid 2008. The device is considered to be a PDA-mobile phone combination. PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistants. HTC Touch is a pocket PC. The front part of the HTC Touch Diamond is made up mainly of the VGA display. The color VGA TFT display is 480×640 65-K. Directly below it is the control buttons which are touch-sensitive and depressible. There is also a directional pad which doubles as a scroll wheel. Basically all the space is used up. A new technology,

TouchFLO technology is embedded in HTC Touch that allows users to use their fingertips to launch applications and make phone calls. With the Touch Diamond, the company has taken the touch system of previous phones and combined it a new wave of designing. Dual-band 3G connectivity is a feature on the device that allows your downloads and media stream to be done at a faster rate.

The 3G technology also includes call connection to ensure clear reception. The added visual characteristics of the feature gives the Touch Diamond a unique appearance and function over other touch based phones. The accelerometer sensor on the phone allows you to keep up with everything. Turning the phone is ignorant in the direction in which you do so because of its ability to adjust the image to your advantage. Memory of the HTC touch includes 4 gigs of internal memory allowing you to store a variety of files in the phone including games and music. The RAM has 192 MB of memory and 256MB flash memory. The computer processor on the phone is a super fast 528 MHz thus the applications on your phone will operate smoothly. There are more features that deal with connectivity, these includes a wi-fi connection for connecting to the internet, USB, EDGE and Bluetooth support.

It is possible to view web-based e-mail programs like Yahoo as you would from your home computer. The performance of the battery is average. Video calling and hands-free calling are also possible.

There is a 3.2-Megapixel built in camera on the back of the PDA-phone which has auto focus. It takes good quality photos.

Nokia OVI Mail Beta Is Live Now

If you are one of the 110 million Nokia phone users around the world, now you can set up your Ovi email account directly on your Nokia phone using the recently announced ‘Mail on OVI’ Beta.

Mail on Ovi, the free email account from Nokia, is now ‘live’ and can be set up directly on Nokia phones without requiring a PC to get started. People who use Nokia Series 40 devices can create their own email address directly on their mobile phones. The Ovi email account gives a person all the features and functionalities of a typical PC-based email account. During the Beta period, consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia.

Mobile phone users from India, Malaysia and the Philippines have been able to use the Beta service since November, with extremely encouraging results, and the availablity is now being extended to the rest of the world.

India to Shut Down 25 Million Mobile Phones in January

It is being reported that as many as 25 million mobile phones could be cut off in India from next month - following a security clamp down on unregistered mobile phones following ongoing terrorist attacks in the country. According to the Mobile World subscriber­ tracker, the country ended September with around 315 million mobile phone subscribers.

The department of telecom (DoT) has instructed the mobile network operators to disconnect all handsets which do not have an IMEI number from January 6th 2009.

“What the DoT is trying to do is to block all calls with zeroes as IMEI numbers or from blacklisted numbers. That adds extra load on networks. There are so many combinations of non-genuine IMEI numbers that it is extremely difficult to block them. Network upgradation is required to block all such calls and not all of our multiple equipment vendors are equipped to do it,” a senior official at a telco told the Economic Times newspaper.

There have been much commentary in local media over the past few months - largely blaming grey imports of handsets from China which are not set up with individualised IMEI numbers.

“In the interest of national security, all cellular mobile service providers in unified acess service licences (UASL) are hereby directed to make provisions for EIR so that calls without IMEI or with IMEI consisting of all zeroes are not processed or rejected,” DoT said in a letter to operators in October. The operators were given six months to set up the necessary systems - hence the deadline of 6th Jan 2009.

ASUS Eee PC 1002HA Netbook Launched

ASUS has unveiled its latest Eee PC 1002HA netbook. It sports a stylishly redesigned chassis adorned with a brushed aluminum LCD cover and palm rest.

The light-weight netbook weighs only 1.2kg and measures merely 1-inch thick.

Powered by Intel Atom N270, the Eee PC 1002HA features Bluetooth and 802.11n wireless connectivity that ensures six times faster connection as compared to the preceding 802.11g standard.

Other than that, the latest ASUS netbook features a 10-inch LED-backlit that delivers a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, multi-touch pad and keyboard, 1.3 megapixel with built-in webcam.

It also packs in Intel 945GSE / ICH7-M chipset, 160GB of primary storage and offers 10 GB of online storage through the exclusive ASUS Eee Online Storage.

HP-Unveils 250FB USB Media Drive in India

HP has announced its latest offering for the festive season in India.

HP introduces its new 250 GB Personal Media Drive for Indian consumers.

Compatible with all the Windows PCs and Macs, the drive not only allows users to store all data backup but also stock up their music and movie collection.

Furthermore, the USB-powered drive eliminates security hassle, offering easy-to-use and convenient plug-and-play operation.

The HP 250GB USB Media Drive carries a price tag of Rs 6,500.

AMD Opteron 45nm Boosts Performance and Uses Less Energy

AMD Opteron is now available in 45-nanometer technology. It is the latest move by Advanced Micro Devices to compete with rival Intel. Intel currently has 80 percent of the global market for microprocessors.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc is shipping its next generation of AMD Opteron chips ahead of schedule. The new AMD processor offers faster performance with 35 percent less power consumption.

AMD Opteron is a quad core processor which are used in servers. The company shipped the new processor months ahead of schedule to compete with Rival intel corp. Intel currently has 80 percent of the global market for microprocessors.

The new AMD Opteron is also code-named "Shanghai" which was first unveiled last year. The quad core is the first 45-nanometer chip made by the company. Each core operates independently on the chip. The chip is also smaller in size than the previous generation of processors.

The new processor is energy efficient which can automatically turn off non-working parts which are not in use. Overall, the new chip uses 35 percent less energy.

There are two versions of the AMD Opteron chip available. The second processor is a more enhanced version which will be available in early January. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Dell are among 25 systems vendors who will be shipping servers this quarter with the new Opteron chip installed.

Windows Live Converts Into New Social Networking Hub

Microsoft Windows Live will soon become a social networking hub. The company plans to overhaul its Live software to compete with other social network giants such as MySpace and Facebook. The new version will be available in the coming weeks.

Microsoft Corp is making plans to turn its Windows Live online services into a social networking hub. The new social network will merge other existing Microsoft applications which include Hotmail, Live Messenger, Spaces and photos.

The new migrated social networking platform is Microsoft's latest strategy to compete with other online community sites such as MySpace and News Corp's MySpace. The new Windows Live will feature a main profile page for users to add friends and identify them with photos.

Windows Live will also include more than 50 outside Web services including Yahoo Inc's Flickr photo site. Microsoft hopes to simplify new user accounts by using one login for e-mail and instant messeging.

India plans 3G spectrum sale Jan 15: report

India said Friday it would hold an auction of airwaves to offer so-called third generation or 3G mobile phone services in mid-January, a report said.

"The electronic auction date is January 15," Telecom Secretary Sidhharth Behura told reporters in New Delhi, according to the Press Trust of India.

The reserve price for a licence for 3G spectrum -- or radio bandwidth -- is 20.20 billion rupees (412 million US dollars) for licences covering all of India but Communications Minister Andimuthu Raja said last August he expected to "realise significantly higher amounts" -- between 300 and 400 billion rupees.

India became the latest nation on Thursday to have 3G technology after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched a free 3G trial service of state-run phone company MTNL.

All radio frequencies for providing 3G services are being offered in the auction in which all telecoms companies -- existing operators, licence holders and international players -- can bid.

Even if it appears the sale will bring in less money than initially expected due to the global financial turmoil, Raja has said India will go ahead with the auction as "it is the progress of the country that counts."

The move will give mobile users access to high-end data applications on their phones, including high speed interactive gaming and Internet access, video conferencing, video streaming and other multimedia features.

India has the world's fastest growing mobile market. Indian mobile telephone operators signed up a record 10.42 million mobile users in October, bucking a slowdown in the rest of the economy.

The country had a total of 364 million telephone subscribers at the end of October, including 326 million wireless users.

With the mobile sales boom, scarce spectrum has become a sore issue with Indian mobile operators who are eager to get next-generation frequencies to ease airwave congestion in the country of over 1.1 billion people.

The government expects the telecom subscriber base to nearly double by 2012 to 700 million users as operators penetrate the vast rural areas.

Teledensity, or the number of phone users for every 100 individuals, in rural areas stands at 13 percent and 72 percent in urban areas. The national average is 32 percent.

India allowed private mobile operators in the mid-90s but subscriber growth has only significantly gathered pace since the turn of the century, rising around 25 times between 2002 and 2007.

Fake YouTube pages spread virus

Savvy internet users know that downloading unsolicited computer programs is one of the most dangerous things you can do online. It puts you at great risk for a virus or another time bomb from a hacker.

But even some sophisticated surfers could get taken in by a sneaky new attack in which criminals create fake YouTube pages - dead-on replicas of the real site - to push their malicious software and make it look like it's safe stuff coming from a trusted source.

A program circulating online helps hackers build those fake pages. Users who follow an email pointing them to one of the pages would see an error message that claims the video they want won't play without installing new software first. That error message includes a link the hacker has provided to a malicious program, which delivers a virus.

Even worse: once the computer is infected, it's simple for the hacker to silently redirect the victims to a real YouTube page to see videos they were hoping to see and hide the crime.

"It's spot-on accurate, and that is scary," said Jamz Yaneza, threat research manager for security software company Trend Micro. "If I were watching YouTube videos all day I would probably click on this one."

The tactic itself isn't new: There's a constant push by criminals to build more convincing spoofs of legitimate sites to trick people into downloading harmful software. And the latest attacks don't target any vulnerability in the YouTube site.

But it highlights the fact that criminals are getting better at creating bogus sites and developing so-called "social engineering" methods to fool people.

Fortunately, truly alert internet users can still see the telltale warning signs with the fake YouTube pages. For one, the web browser won't show the real YouTube's internet address. And to even see the malicious page, you have to first follow a link that's sent to you, which is often a tip-off that you should independently verify whether the site is legitimate.

Intel completes 32-nanometer chip development

Intel has completed the development phase of its next-generation manufacturing process that shrinks chip circuitry to 32 nanometers, the chipmaker said Tuesday night.

Intel processors are currently made on a 45nm process. Generally, smaller geometries result in faster and more power-efficient processors.

"The company is on track for production readiness of this future generation (of transistors)...in the fourth quarter of 2009," the chipmaker said in a statement.

Intel said it will provide technical details about the 32nm process technology at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) next week in San Francisco.

Finishing the development phase for 32nm process technology keeps Intel on track with its "tick-tock" strategy. Tick-tock is intended to introduce either a new processor microarchitecture or cutting-edge manufacturing process about every 12 months.

"Producing 32nm chips next year would mark the fourth consecutive year that Intel has met its goal," the company said.

The 32nm paper and presentation "describe a logic technology that incorporates second-generation high-k + metal gate technology, 193nm immersion lithography for critical patterning layers, and enhanced transistor strain techniques," Intel said.

Other Intel IEDM papers will "describe a low power system on chip version of Intel's 45nm process, transistors based on compound semiconductors, substrate engineering to improve performance of 45nm transistors, integrating chemical mechanical polish for the 45nm node and beyond; and, integrating an array of silicon photonics modulators," according to the company's statement.

Intel will also participate in a short course on 22nm CMOS technology.

AMD to own less of chipmaking spinoff

Advanced Micro Devices will reduce its stake in the manufacturing operations it spun off in October, as it adjusts to repercussions of the financial crisis.

This follows a fourth-quarter warning earlier this month when the chipmaker revised its revenue estimate downward.

And like the shares of many companies, AMD's stock price has been in a free fall. Dropping from over $7 back in June to $2.10 on Monday.

Monday's action revolves around Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development and the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC)--which Mubadala backs.

ATIC has equal voting rights with AMD in the newly formed manufacturing concern, the Foundry Company, and--per the October agreement--had owned 55.6 percent of the new entity.

However, as a result of amendments between AMD and ATIC, AMD will own approximately 34.2 percent and ATIC will own approximately 65.8 percent of the Foundry Company's fully converted common stock, AMD said Monday.

"Changing economic times" is the reason for a change in the terms, an AMD representative said.

Other changes include a restructured agreement that now says Mubadala will purchase 58 million shares of AMD's common stock "at a revised purchase price per share equal to the lower of (i) the average closing price per share of AMD's common stock on the NYSE during the 20 trading days immediately prior to and including December 12, 2008 or (ii) the average closing price per share of AMD's common stock on the NYSE during the 20 trading days immediately prior to the closing date of the transaction."

AMD will also issue to Mubadala an additional 5 million warrants to purchase AMD stock, for a total of 35 million warrants.

"All other material economic terms of the transaction agreements remain unchanged. ATIC will still invest $2.1 billion to purchase its stake in the Foundry Company, of which it will invest $1.4 billion directly in the new entity and will pay $700 million to AMD," the chipmaker said in a statement.

Google Chrome Extensions Adblock, Flashblock, Privacy control

Google Chrome which now has a 1% market is getting ready to launch a bunch of excellent extensions which can make sure people would move away from firefox which is widely used mainly for the huge number of available extensions.
Chrome is claimed to be the fastest browser in the world but the only thing most users need is the AdBlock plus extension which is available in firefox, if these different extensions are available in Chrome too, iam sure many would move away from firefox which gets regularly crashed and also uses heavy resources when you have multiple windows and tabs open, on the other hand google chrome reduces the resource usage because it treats tabs as different windows.

Here is a list of upcoming extensions :
• Bookmarking/navigation tools: Delicious Toolbar, StumbleUpon, Web-based history, new tab page clipboard accelerators.• Content enhancements: Skype extension (clickable phone numbers), RealPlayer extension (save video), Autolink (generic microformat data–addresses, phone numbers, etc.)• Content filtering: AdBlock, Flashblock, privacy control, parental control• Download helpers: video helpers, download accelerators, DownThemAll, FlashGot• Features: ForecastFox, FoxyTunes, Web Of Trust, GooglePreview, BugMeNot
Will you shift to Google Chrome Browser if all these above listed extensions are available or would you still continue with Firefox/Internet Explorer?

How to Convert Youtube Videos to Apple iPhone Format

If you remember our last post on different iPhone Video Formats we mentioned that the video files are generally of H.264 format and when you are watching youtube videos they are not of H.264 format, hence you cannot directly transfer youtube videos or movies.

Using Videora you can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, xvid, flv, x264, vob, mpeg, DVD’s, YouTube, etc.) into MPEG-4, H.264 video format which you can play on the Apple iPhone. This process is as simple as converting itunes to Mp3 format.

How to Convert Youtube Videos to Apple iPhone Format

If you remember our last post on different iPhone Video Formats we mentioned that the video files are generally of H.264 format and when you are watching youtube videos they are not of H.264 format, hence you cannot directly transfer youtube videos or movies.

Using Videora you can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, xvid, flv, x264, vob, mpeg, DVD’s, YouTube, etc.) into MPEG-4, H.264 video format which you can play on the Apple iPhone. This process is as simple as converting itunes to Mp3 format.

Intel Core i7 Performance Preview

Welcome to Core i7

Core i7, or Nehalem as we've been calling it for the past year, becomes part of Intel's "Tock" step, which denotes a brand-new micro-architecture built on the current process node. "Tick" will come next year in the form of Westmere, a 32-nm shrink of Nehalem.

The top-of-the-line i7 processor will be the Extreme 965, at 3.20GHz. As is typical of all newly-launched Intel Extreme editions, this one will be sold at a price of $999 in quantities of 1,000. This means that you can expect a price of closer to $1,100 if you wish to own one. Moving downwards, the 2.93GHz model will sell for $562, while the mainstream 920 will be sold at $284.

Like previous Extreme products, the 965 will be a fully-unlocked chip with a Turbo multiplier capable of hitting 40x, the default being 24x. The 940 and 920 are capped at their stock multipliers (22x and 20x, respectively) and can only be overclocked by increasing the Base Clock, or BCLK for short. That tells us right away that these processors are going to be more of a challenge to overclock than anything from the Core 2 line-up, and we'll get into the specifics of why later.

Comprised of 731 million transistors on a surface area of 263mm^2, Intel's latest processor is a little bit of a strange beast, since it's larger in areal density than its predecessor (214mm^2), but uses less transistors. Why that's the case exactly, I'm unsure.

Each of the i7 processors to be launched later this month have identical pin and filter cap layouts on the back, which leads us to believe that each is identical inside, with the obvious multiplier and model code changes. In previous architectures, some of the filter caps would be laid out differently, or some would be missing on the smaller models, but not here. We could assume that smaller models, when eventually released, will look slightly different on the back.

As mentioned above, today's article is a preview, not a review, as there is a lot more testing that needs to be conducted that couldn't yet be focused on due to time. So, we'll be following-up with more specific content over the course of the next few weeks, including a deeper look at gaming performance and overclocking. We'll finish it all off with a proper "review" nearer to the official launch.

Today's article will be focusing primarily on two things. First will be simple performance scaling between the three new processors and three top processors from Intel's Kentsfield line-up, including the QX9770 and Q9450. The second will be a performance look at Core i7's new features, including Turbo and HyperThreading. I can assure you... these are results you won't want to skip over.

Intel Core i7 Power Consumption Performance Analysis

Intel Core i7 Power Consumption



Although the power consumption graphs in isolation seem to show all the processors to be on level pegging, once you take into account the performance you get for your power outlay, the graphs tell a different story. All Intel's processors blow the AMD 9950 Black Edition out of the water and the i7 further demonstrates its efficiency improvements. You may not see that much difference on your electricity bill but there are improvements nonetheless. Also, it's worth remembering these figures are particularly high because a very high power graphics card was also being used in the system.



Value

While we can't be sure of exact retail prices, the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition is likely to cost the best part of a grand so any talk of value with regards this part is somewhat moot. Of course, there will always be people that are wiling to pay through the nose for the latest and greatest. For most of us, though, there's got to be a significant motivation to splash the cash and the 965 Extreme Edition doesn't really provide that. It's very fast but it's not a huge amount faster than what came before it.

Conversely, the Core i7 920 and 940 (not tested here) are far more sensibly priced and are definitely worth considering. Except, of course, that buying one of these new CPUs isn't just a straight swap for your previous one. You've got to factor in a brand new motherboard and, if you're still using DDR2, possibly some new memory and this could easily add another £200 or so.

Taking this into account, the value of upgrading from an existing Intel Core 2 solution is pretty negligible. You're almost guaranteed to get more performance for your money buy upgrading your E6300 to a Q9300, say. Conversely, if your running an AMD system then the performance advantage is a lot more compelling. Even with AMD set to launch improved versions of its Phenom CPUs, which will crucially be compatible with existing platforms, it's hard to see them making up the gap. No doubt some of you will still consider delaying your decision a couple more months to find out though.

Obviously, if your system is really ancient and doesn't support either Intel's previous generation (i.e. none LGA775 socket) or AMDs current generation then it would make sense to jump straight in with Core i7 and be ahead of the curve, even if it does cost a little bit more than the older systems available.

Verdict

With Core i7, Intel has stretched its lead in the CPU performance race without increasing power consumption and that's really all we could ask for. Admittedly the performance advantage isn't quite as significant as we may have expected and, with prices set to be high for the next few months, we wouldn't recommend Core i7 as the next upgrade for everyone. However, if you're in the market for a brand new system there seems little reason to choose anything but a Core i7 platform.

Intel Core i7 3D rendering Analysis

While many people will associate 3D performance with a graphics card, for CAD applications a lot of the grunt work is still performed on CPUs so this is something we've put to the test. We use two industry standard tests, called POV-Ray and Cinebench. Both programs can be freely downloaded and the benchmark is a just a single click so they're a really easy comparison tool if you fancy seeing how your system shapes up.

Cinebench has both a single-threaded and multi-threaded test while POV-Ray is just multi-threaded. Slightly disappointingly, CInebench only returns a score, rather than a time to completion, so the numbers in isolation don't really mean anything. However, when compared they adequately show up any difference in performance.

Intel Core i7 "Nehalem" XE Processor Review

Let’s take a little walk through the recent history of processors since it is a story of amazing success, crushing losses along with both stunning and utterly disappointing performance numbers. Indeed, we have seen a pretty amazing transformation in the overall performance as well as efficiency in the last few years. Back in the days of Intel’s Pentium 4s to AMD’s Athlons, the processor marketplace used to be a confusing minefield of competing products vying for your attention until AMD released their Athlon 64s. In the blink of an eye, the game of cat versus mouse suddenly had Intel scurrying to find an answer to a surging AMD. AMD enjoyed its time in the limelight until Intel found the answer to their problems in the form of the mobile Yonah laptop processor. From this unsuspecting quarter the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors we have all come to know and love were conceived and born. Not only did these new processors run all over the AMD competition but they have been running strong for more than two years now with little competition. Now, following Intel’s Tick / Tock model where a new architecture is released every other year, we have a brand new processor family launching and it is called the Nehalem by many but can also go by its Core i7 name or even by its codename: Bloomfield.

Today marks the day we are finally able to post our review of the next step in Intel’s march to market domination and with it they are hoping to put the competition to shame. What we get is a processor with four physical cores which through the “miracle” of Hyperthreading (don’t worry, this will be explained in its own section a bit later on in this review) operates as if it has eight cores. Words like QuickPath Interconnect, Turbo Mode and Triple Channel Memory will all become familiar lexicons in no time at all since they are all integral technologies that this new 45nm processor family uses.

This may sound perfect for many of you operating those LGA775 systems out there but there is one important thing to remember: unlike the move from the Pentium D to the Core architecture, a completely new socket was used for the i7 processors. Technological advancement comes at a price folks and thankfully, with this step forward the sacrifices one will have to make are relatively minimal. This new LGA 1366 socket will be the centerpiece of a new generation of motherboards boasting enough overclocking potential to put a smile on the face of the most jaded enthusiast while having features galore. We will be running multiple reviews of these new X58-based boards in the coming weeks so stay tuned since some of them are real show stoppers.

While today may mark the day we can begin talking about these new processors and their accompanying motherboards, it will still be a few weeks until you can actually go out and purchase one. In other words...be patient. That being said, even though they may not have any real amount of competition on the market today, the prices being asked for the processors themselves will not be exorbitant. According to the chaps over at Intel, the launch prices will be about $284 for the i7-920, $562 for the i7-940 and finally nearly $1000 for the i7-965. This isn’t outrageous but since you have to factor the price of a new motherboard and memory into the equation, things start getting a bit hairy for the bank account. That being said, boys will be boys and many of us will spend whatever it takes to get the latest and greatest.

AMD plots earlier Phenom II support for DDR3 memory

Advanced Micro Devices could bring DDR3 memory support to Phenom II desktops earlier than it had projected, the company said on Monday.

The company aims to add DDR3 support to Phenom II by the middle of 2009, but could push that up depending on factors including pricing of the memory, said John Taylor, an AMD spokesman.

To support DDR3 memory, the company will introduce the AM3 socket, Taylor said. Motherboards with the AM3 socket will support AMD's upcoming Phenom II CPU.

AM3's launch could be as early as "a few" months after the release of the Phenom II processor, which is scheduled for launch in January.

AMD plans to transition to DDR3 memory support for servers with the Maranello platform in 2010. The Maranello platform includes the six-core Sao Paulo and 12-core Magny-Cours chips.

DDR3 is a new form of memory that offers larger bandwidth for quicker data transfers in PCs than DDR2 memory. As processors get faster, DDR3 provides faster communication between the CPU and the memory that could boost system performance, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. DDR3 memory will boost performance of the already-speedy Phenom II-based machines, he said. However, DDR3 memory is expensive as it's relatively new, he noted.

AMD has overclocked the Phenom II processor to run at up to 4GHz on air-cooled systems, and up to 5GHz on liquid-nitrogen cooling, Taylor said. The first Phenom II chips will be quad-core processors and will include 8M bytes of cache, according to the company's chip road map. AMD declined to provide pricing information for Phenom II.

Intel's Core i7 processor for gaming systems, launched last week, already supports DDR3 memory.

Intel, Micron to Mass Produce 34nm Memory Chips

Intel and Micron are teaming up to take on Samsung and Toshiba in the battle for NAND flash memory, used for multimedia storage on consumer products such as iPods and digital cameras. But when falling consumer confidence is taking its toll on the flash memory market, is this the right time for Intel and Micron to invest?

A joint venture between Intel and memory maker Micron Technology has begun production on a 34nm NAND flash memory disk. The venture, called IM Flash Technologies, should heighten competition with Toshiba and Samsung Electronics, the world's largest NAND flash memory chip maker.

NAND flash memory is commonly used for multimedia storage on portable media players. The 34nm, 32 Gb chips are manufactured on 300 mm wafers. Measuring less than the size of a thumbnail, the chip enables high-density solid-state storage in small form factor applications, including digital cameras, iPods and digital camcorders. “The tiny 34nm, 32 Gb chip enables our customers to easily increase their NAND storage capacity for a number of consumer and computing products,” Micron Memory Group’s vice president Brian Shirley said in a statement.

“The creation of this new company supports Intel’s intent to maintain its industry-leading position in nonvolatile memory and enables us to rapidly enter a fast-growing portion of the flash market segment,” Intel’s president and CEO Paul Otellini said in a statement. Despite Otellini’s statement, a recent report by market research firm iSuppli found the NAND flash market is feeling the effects of a weakened global economy, and will cause revenue declines in 2008. A slim rise in revenue over 2007’s $13.9 billion intake is expected, though the report was released before the worsening of the financial crisis this fall. Worldwide, iSuppli projects NAND flash revenue will decline 14 percent in 2008 and fall another 15 percent in 2009.

Intel and Micron also announced that they have each entered into separate long-term agreements to supply Apple with a significant portion of each of their share of IM Flash Technologies’ NAND flash memory output. As part of these agreements, Apple would prepay $250 million each to Intel and Micron. “We are extremely pleased to have Apple broaden its relationship with us,” Otellini said.

The companies also released information on the venture’s management team, which will be led by Intel’s Dave Baglee, who previously served as manager of Intel’s Fab 11 in New Mexico, and Micron’s Rod Morgan, who most recently served as manager of Micron’s fabrication facility in Manassas, Va.

Both companies said they also plan to begin sampling lower density multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) products using the 34nm process technology in early 2009.

Intel to eliminate toxic lead from its microprocessor chips

(NaturalNews) Intel Corp. has announced plans to stop using lead as a soldering agent in its microprocessors. Lead is a chemical element with widespread industrial use. It is particularly useful as a semiconductor, due to its specific electrical and mechanical properties. The element, however, is a highly potent toxin known to cause blood and nervous system disorders, including mental dysfunction, especially in children.

Intel began phasing out the use of lead in its products in 2002, with the introduction of a tin-silver-copper soldering alloy. This alloy had replaced lead as a soldering agent in nearly all Intel chip sets and processors by 2004, with the exception of 0.02 grams of lead that continued to be used inside each chip.

This lead will now be eliminated in favor of the tin-silver-copper alloy, beginning with the Penryn line of processors. The company plans to have its microprocessors be lead-free by the end of the year, and to phase out lead in its 65-nanometer-process chips in 2008.

The use of toxic metals in electronics manufacture has become a serious health problem worldwide. High rates of obsolescence have contributed to a global "electronic waste" problem, in which vast quantities of electronics have been ending up as garbage, particularly in Third World countries that are paid to dispose of First World waste.

Unregulated disposal of this waste, whether by landfilling, burning or even disassembly for parts, exposes local workers, residents and ecosystems to a heavy toxic payload. Lead in particular is known for its ability to contaminate soil and groundwater.

According to Solving the E-waste Problem, a United-Nations-led alliance between three U.N. agencies, 16 businesses and several government agencies and universities, electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing types of trash in the world, with levels rapidly approaching 40 million metric tons per year.

Intel fleshes out the MID platform with five low-power CPUs

Intel has high hopes for its new Silverthorne/Diamondville-based Atom processors. Intel formally introduced Atom and Centrino Atom in early March and indicated that the processors/platform would be used in a wide variety of devices.

Intel expects for its new Atom architecture to target $40B in new markets. "It’s not just the 1 billion people that have access to the Internet now. It’s the next 2 billion people. It’s not just about selling more PCs, but bringing new devices and new price points to bring those people onto the Internet," said Intel CEO Paul Otellini in March. "We are not talking about repurposing old silicon, but designing new silicon for each of these different areas."

Intel is now taking its first steps to deliver Atom processors to the masses. The first round of Atom processors are the Silverthorne-based units which feature a 13mm x 14mm package size.

The five new 45nm, high-k Atom processor range in speed from 800MHz to 1.86GHz and all feature 512KB of L2 cache. The Z500 and Z510 clock in at 800MHz and 1.1GHz respectively and feature a FSB operating at 400MHz. The Z520, Z530, and Z540 represent speed grades of 1.33GHz, 1.6GHz, and 1.86GHz respectively using a 533MHz FSB. The 533MHz SKUs will feature Hyper-Threading -- a technology that many are familiar with thanks to the unloved Pentium 4 processors.

The family of Atom processors features a thermal design power (TDP) range of 0.65 to 2.4 W; average power range of 160 to 200 mW; and idle power range of 80 to 100 mW.

Prices for the chips range from $45 for the Z500 to $160 for the Z540 in quantities of 1,000.

The Atom Z5xx processors are aimed at what Intel calls the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market. These devices fit into your pocket and are expected to have excellent battery life. Other targeted platforms for these Atom processors include GPS devices, portable video players, and converged tablets.

Backing up Intel's Atom Z5xx processors is Intel's new System Controller Hub (SCH) which was previously known as Poulsbo. The SCH incorporates HD audio, PCIe, USB, and SDIO support. The SCH will also have extended capabilities for WiFi, WiMAX, EV-DO and HSDPA.

Also included on the SCH is a third-party graphics solution which is quite a departure for Intel. In this case, Intel licensed Imagination Technologies’ POWERVR SGX graphics and POWERVR VXD multi-standard HD video technologies. The graphics core is capable of supporting hardware accelerated 720p and 1080i HD resolutions.

"The introduction of Intel’s Centrino Atom processor technology incorporating our POWERVR graphics and video technologies signifies the beginning of a new class of Mobile Internet Device,” said Tony King-Smith, Imagination Technologies’ VP of Marketing. “Imagination looks forward to its continued collaboration with leading industry players to provide products and technologies that help enable ever more dynamic visual user experiences."

"Today is a historic day for Intel and the high-tech industry as we deliver our first-ever Intel Atom processor and surround it with a great package of technology," said Intel Senior VP Anand Chandrasekher. "Mix in the incredible innovation coming from our fellow device makers and software vendors, and we will change the way consumers will come to know and access the World Wide Web. These forthcoming MIDs, and some incredible longer-term plans our customers are sharing with us, will show how small devices can deliver a big Internet experience."

The next big release for Intel's Atom processors will come in the form of the Diamondville-based processors. These processors will go in devices which Intel calls "netbooks". However, we know them more commonly as devices like the Eee PC 900 and ECS G10IL.

The Diamondville-based N270 will run at 1.6GHz using a 533MHz FSB. This is the chip that will find a home in the previously mentioned nettops. According to Intel's latest roadmaps, the chip will be priced at $44 in quantities of 1,000.

Intel is going full-bore with its new Atom processor lineup and it should be interesting to see how the Silverthorne and Diamondville-based machines fare in the marketplace. Diamondville-based nettops are pretty much a sure bet as far as sales are concerned, but many are still not sold on the whole MID concept which would cater to Silverthorne.

Intel Bets Big on Mobile Computing

In a bid to leverage the growing demand for notebook PCs, Intel has launched its Intel Centrino 2 processor technology products for laptops that include five new Intel Core2 duo processors.

Intel also introduced what it claims to be the world's highest performing dual-core mobile processor, the Intel Core2 Extreme processor running at 3.06 GHz, according to a press release.

In addition, 250 new laptop models with features such as powerful processors, enhanced graphics and battery life will soon be launched, the release said.

Intel also plans to unveil eight new processors within 90 days that will include first-ever mobile quad-core products and second generation products for ultra thin and light notebooks. In total, the company will bring 14 diverse processors into the marketplace as laptop sales continue to outpace desktop PCs.

The Intel Centrino 2 processor technology and Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology improve upon every facet of a laptop's main features, including performance and battery life via new processors and chipsets, faster draft 802.11n wireless (with WiMAX arriving later this year), and new business-class manageability capabilities.

"When we first introduced Intel Centrino back in 2003, there were very few Wi-Fi hotspots, YouTube videos and social media didn't really exist, 'thin and light' only referred to weight goals and desktop PCs outsold notebooks by a very wide margin," said R Ravichandran, director of sales, Intel South Asia.

"Today, notebooks are fast gaining share and we are seeing new and previously unheard off usage model. We are paving the way to HD entertainment, rich online gaming, faster broadband wireless speeds and an easier and more secure way for businesses to manage, update and repair their notebook fleets."

The five new dual core processors come with a faster 1066MHz front side bus and up to 6MB of L2 cache, and three versions reduce laptop processor wattage about 30 percent, down to just 25 watts, according to the release. Also featured is Deep Power Down Technology that turns off processing components such as core clocks and cache memory when the laptop is idle for greater energy savings.

Intel also unveiled its new Mobile Intel 45 Express Chipset and wireless Intel WiFi Link 5000 series that is shipping to customers now, with laptops arriving in July and August. According to Intel, it delivers five times the speed and twice the range of older 802.11a/g technology, while the Intel WiFi Link 5000 series provides 802.11 draft-N support that delivers the fastest data rates possible today -- up to 450 Mbps.

Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology offers manageability and security options. This is increasingly important as companies replace desktops with notebooks and need to remotely diagnose, update and repair systems over a wireless network, according to the release.

Improved manageability with AMT 4.0 has also been added that provides wireless manageability during system sleep states, ongoing remote configuration capabilities, support for next-generation management standards (WS-MAN and DASH 1.0) and the ability for an employee to initiate communications to IT from outside a company's firewall.

The company will begin shipping its first ever combined WiMax/Wi-Fi module later this year in the US. The module will be part of the Intel WiMax/WiFi Link 5050 Series that is an optional feature for future Intel Centrino 2-based laptops.

Intel Holds WiMAX Vital in Internet Expansion

Intel has high hopes for its new Silverthorne/Diamondville-based Atom processors. Intel formally introduced Atom and Centrino Atom in early March and indicated that the processors/platform would be used in a wide variety of devices.

Intel expects for its new Atom architecture to target $40B in new markets. "It’s not just the 1 billion people that have access to the Internet now. It’s the next 2 billion people. It’s not just about selling more PCs, but bringing new devices and new price points to bring those people onto the Internet," said Intel CEO Paul Otellini in March. "We are not talking about repurposing old silicon, but designing new silicon for each of these different areas."

Intel is now taking its first steps to deliver Atom processors to the masses. The first round of Atom processors are the Silverthorne-based units which feature a 13mm x 14mm package size.

The five new 45nm, high-k Atom processor range in speed from 800MHz to 1.86GHz and all feature 512KB of L2 cache. The Z500 and Z510 clock in at 800MHz and 1.1GHz respectively and feature a FSB operating at 400MHz. The Z520, Z530, and Z540 represent speed grades of 1.33GHz, 1.6GHz, and 1.86GHz respectively using a 533MHz FSB. The 533MHz SKUs will feature Hyper-Threading -- a technology that many are familiar with thanks to the unloved Pentium 4 processors.

The family of Atom processors features a thermal design power (TDP) range of 0.65 to 2.4 W; average power range of 160 to 200 mW; and idle power range of 80 to 100 mW.

Prices for the chips range from $45 for the Z500 to $160 for the Z540 in quantities of 1,000.

The Atom Z5xx processors are aimed at what Intel calls the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market. These devices fit into your pocket and are expected to have excellent battery life. Other targeted platforms for these Atom processors include GPS devices, portable video players, and converged tablets.

Backing up Intel's Atom Z5xx processors is Intel's new System Controller Hub (SCH) which was previously known as Poulsbo. The SCH incorporates HD audio, PCIe, USB, and SDIO support. The SCH will also have extended capabilities for WiFi, WiMAX, EV-DO and HSDPA.

Also included on the SCH is a third-party graphics solution which is quite a departure for Intel. In this case, Intel licensed Imagination Technologies’ POWERVR SGX graphics and POWERVR VXD multi-standard HD video technologies. The graphics core is capable of supporting hardware accelerated 720p and 1080i HD resolutions.

"The introduction of Intel’s Centrino Atom processor technology incorporating our POWERVR graphics and video technologies signifies the beginning of a new class of Mobile Internet Device,” said Tony King-Smith, Imagination Technologies’ VP of Marketing. “Imagination looks forward to its continued collaboration with leading industry players to provide products and technologies that help enable ever more dynamic visual user experiences."

"Today is a historic day for Intel and the high-tech industry as we deliver our first-ever Intel Atom processor and surround it with a great package of technology," said Intel Senior VP Anand Chandrasekher. "Mix in the incredible innovation coming from our fellow device makers and software vendors, and we will change the way consumers will come to know and access the World Wide Web. These forthcoming MIDs, and some incredible longer-term plans our customers are sharing with us, will show how small devices can deliver a big Internet experience."

The next big release for Intel's Atom processors will come in the form of the Diamondville-based processors. These processors will go in devices which Intel calls "netbooks". However, we know them more commonly as devices like the Eee PC 900 and ECS G10IL.

The Diamondville-based N270 will run at 1.6GHz using a 533MHz FSB. This is the chip that will find a home in the previously mentioned nettops. According to Intel's latest roadmaps, the chip will be priced at $44 in quantities of 1,000.

Intel is going full-bore with its new Atom processor lineup and it should be interesting to see how the Silverthorne and Diamondville-based machines fare in the marketplace. Diamondville-based nettops are pretty much a sure bet as far as sales are concerned, but many are still not sold on the whole MID concept which would cater to Silverthorne.

Intel Core 2 Duo Knocks Down AMD Athlon 64

Intel has regained the performance crown from AMD, after its launch of Core 2 Duo line of processors which are based on Intel’s new Core micro architecture. The processors are expected to ship by 27th July 2006. The performance Core 2 Duo is found to be superior than the AMD’s current line of processors.

Intel’s Core 2 Extreme X6800 didn’t lose a single benchmark in our comparison; not a single one. In many cases, the $183 Core 2 Duo E6300 actually outperformed Intel’s previous champ: the Pentium Extreme Edition 965. In one day, Intel has made its entire Pentium D lineup of processors obsolete. Intel’s Core 2 processors offer the sort of next-generation micro-architecture performance leap that we honestly haven’t seen from Intel since the introduction of the P6.

Compared to AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 the situation gets a lot more competitive, but AMD still doesn’t stand a chance. The Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6700 and E6600 were pretty consistently in the top 3 or 4 spots in each benchmark, with the E6600 offering better performance than AMD’s FX-62 flagship in the vast majority of benchmarks. Another way of looking at it is that Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6600 is effectively a $316 FX-62, which doesn’t sound bad at all.

We’re still waiting to get our hands on the E6400 as it may end up being the best bang for your buck, but even the slower E6300 is quite competitive with AMD’s X2 4200+ and X2 3800+. If AMD drops the price on those two parts even more than we’re expecting, then it may be able to hold on to the lower end of the performance mainstream market as the E6300 is not nearly as fast as the E6600.

For industry experts, Core 2 Duo beating the Athlon 64 processor family is no surprise: On the one hand, Core 2 Duo is a brand-new state-of-the-art processor, whereas the Athlon 64 X2 has been around for a while. On the other hand, Intel must come out with a superior product to finally beat AMD after two years of Athlon 64 headwinds.

Core 2 is an eighth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor to be produced by Intel based on an all-new CPU design called the Intel Core Microarchitecture, which will replace the NetBurst architecture that has powered Intel processors since 2000. Core 2 also will mark the retirement of Intel’s Pentium brand name that has been used from 1993 and the reunion of Intel’s notebook and desktop product lines since Pentium M was released apart from Pentium 4 in 2003.

Unlike NetBurst-based processors, such as the Pentium 4 and Pentium D, Core 2 will not stress designs based on extremely high clock speeds but rather improvements on other CPU features, including cache size and number of cores. Intel claims that the power consumption of these processors is to be extremely low compared to the Pentiums before.

Intel Core 2 processors will feature EM64T, Virtualization Technology, and Execute Disable Bit. The release will also introduce LaGrande Technology, SSE4, Enhanced SpeedStep Technology, and Active Management Technology (iAMT2).

Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 Notebook With 17-inch Display

Lenovo has announced the launch of new Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 Notebook PC which is powered by 1.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 and it features, 17-inch WXGA TFT display, 6-in-1 media card reader, integrated 1.3 megapixel camera, integrated Bluetooth with EDR connection, Built-in TV Tuner, DVD Writer or Blu-ray DVD reader, two hard drives with RAID controller, face recognition, and integrated Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g LAN connection

Powered by 1.66 GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450, the thin-and-light weight Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC weighs about 2.71 kgs with battery pack and it features, 2-MB L2 Cache, 667 Mhz FSB, Intel Mobile 945GM Express chipset mainboard, 2-GB DDDR2 PC2-5300 667 MHz SDRAM (max 4GB), 2 x 160-GB Serial-ATA 5400 rpm hot swapable hard disks with RAID function, and Slot-in 24x DVD Super Multi Dual Layer (8.5 GB) DVD writer or Blu-ray DVD reader.

The second hard drive in Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook offers hot swap feature allowing removing and adding second HDD without having to switch off the system.

Twin Hard Drive Setup: Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 is the Lenovo’s first notebook to feature a new RAID function as hard disk controler. Twin hard drives setup with RAID function simultaneously allows using both the hard disk drives to achieve increased levels of input and output performance and enhanced data reliability. The RAID function also allows maintaining mirror copies of the data on each drives to ensure complete data security in case of one hard disk crash.

The body of Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC is made up of a light shade of metallic silver color material and has the Lenovo tag emblazoned across the top.

Silver colored Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook is equipped with a massive 17-inch (43.1 cm) WXGA TFT Display with VibrantView technology, powered by ATI Radeon Mobility HD 2600 Graphics Chipset with 512-MB of dedicated memory, features DirectX 10 Shader Model 3.0 Graphics Processing Unit, offering 1440 x 900 pixels maximum screen resolution in 16 million colors.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook offers integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN Connection, integrated 56kbps v.92 Modem/Fax card, integrated Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG - 802.11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Connection and Bluetooth Version 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless connection which offers upto three times the bandwidth of conventional Bluetooth protocols.

Embedded in the frame of Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC is a 1.3 Megapixel digital camera, just above the LCD panel, which functions both as the biometric face scanner for face recognition and a standard webcam. In addition, the laptop also features integrated TV tuner with remote.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC also features built-in microphone, built-in 6-in-1 digital card reader supporting SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, and MS Pro Duo memory cards, 4 USB v2.0 ports, and IEEE 1394 Interface for high speed communication between two devices like trandferring images without any quality degradation from a stand alone camera or camcorder to a PC.

Biometric Face Recognition : The unique face recognition feature available in Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC is a specialize software (from Veriface software) which takes a digital snapshot of the user’s face to create a unique password by digital mapping of key features of the user’s face.

The face recognition technology recognizes multiple users and logs on to the Windows operating system and other applications without requiring users to remember and type a single password. In the event of an unauthorized attempt, the notebook photographs the user and stores the image in a log for verification.

Lenovo-one-touch-recoveryOne Touch Recovery : The Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook also offers Lenovo’s One-Touch-System-Recovery feature and it comes with various software preinstalled such as Shuttle Centre, Power 2 GO, Veriface, Easy Capture 2.5, IGRS Anywhere and Norton antivirus software.

Shuttle Center : The Shuttle Center system in this Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebooks - resembling the Windows Media Center interface - is an audio and video entertainment platform which allows easy navigation between menus without a mouse. It allows easy access to music and video files, with discrete playback controls makes it as easy to listen to your tunes as well as peek at your movies.

Other features of Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook includes integrated microphone, integrated 1.3 Megapixel Webcam with VeriFace face recognition software which allows user’s face recognization at system log-in and helps eliminate the need to remember passwords.

In addition, the Lenovo Y710 notebook offers Realtek High Definition Audio with Dolby home theatre surround sound system with a 2.5W sub-woofer and four 2W speakers offering Dolby Home Theater quality sound.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebooks comes with Windows Vista Home Premium operating system preinstalled and are equipped with Lenovo’s high touch full-sized keyboard. The notebook also sports Lenovo’s unique ‘One Key Recovery’ system that allows users easily recover data in the event of a crash.

I/O Ports

• 4 USB v2.0 ports
• Infrared port
• Audio/S-video in
• External Microphone/Line-In
• Headphone/Line out
• IEEE 1394 Fire wire port
• RJ-11 (modem)
• RJ-45 (Ethernet)
• VGA, 15 pin External CRT port
• TV/S-Video out port
• PCMCIA Type II Slot
• ExpressCard/54 Slot
• 6-in-1 Memory Card Slot

Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 notebook comes with 6-cell Li-Ion Battery providing up to 4 hours backup and are equipped with pre-loaded Energy Cut 2.1 software for effective power management.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 Notebook PC Features

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450, 1.66 GHz
• 2-MB L2 Cache, 667 Mhz FSB
• Intel 945GM Chipset Mainboard
• 2-GB DDR2 667 MHz PC2-5300 SDRAM, Max. 4-GB in 2 Slots
• 2 x 160 GB 5400 rpm SATA hard drives, hot swap feature, RAID Function, Data Mirroring
• 24X Super Multi Dual Layer (8.5 GB) DVD Writer / Blu-ray DVD Reader
• 17-inch (43.1 cm) WXGA TFT Display with VibrantView technology, 1440 x 900 pixels maximum resolution
• ATI Radeon Mobility HD 2600 Graphics Chipset with 512-MB of dedicated memory, features DirectX 10 Shader Model 3.0 Graphics Processing Unit
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Connection
• Bluetooth Version 2.0 + EDR
• 10/100 Ethernet Network Connection
• 56 kbps v.92 Modem/Fax Connection
• 6-in-1 digital media reader supporting SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, and MS Pro Duo
• 4 USB v2.0 ports
• ExpressCard/54 Slot
• HDMI Port
• IEEE 1394 FireWire for digital video camera or other peripherals
• Built-in Biometric Face Recognition Technology
• Integrated Microphone
• Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Webcam
• Integrated TV Tuner with remote
• Realtek High Definition Audio, Dolby Home Theater with a 2.5W sub-woofer and four 2 W speakers
• One key data recorvery
• Intel High Definition Audio
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
• 6-cell Li-Ion Battery, up to 4 hours backup, pre-loaded Energy Cut 2.1 software for effective power management
• Dimensions (DxWxH): 275 x 264 x 38 mm
• Weight: 2.71Kgs with battery pack

Researchers close to unveiling 'invisible' man

The realm of science fiction and fantasy has moved a step closer to reality after scientists engineered a material that can bend visible light around objects - a breakthrough that can humans and objects invisible.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, whose work is funded by the American military, have engineered materials that can control light's direction of travel.

The world's two leading scientific journals, Science and Nature, are expected to report the results this week.

Underlying the work is the idea that bending visible light around an object will hide it.

"In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock," TimesOnline quoted Xiang Zhang, the leader of the researchers, as saying.

An observer looking at the cloaked object would then see light from behind it - making it seem to disappear.

Substances capable of achieving such feats are known as "meta-materials" and have the power to "grab" electromagnetic radiation and deflect it smoothly.

The tiny scale at which such researchers must operate is astonishing in itself. Zhang's researchers had to construct a material whose elements were engineered to within about 0.00000066 of a metre.

Nasscom projects USD 9-12 bn software products revenue by 2015

Indian software product segment is set for a phenomenal growth over the next seven years to post usd .5-12 billion aggregate annual revenue by fiscal 2015 from USD 1.4 billion in fiscal 2008, according to an industry body.

"The product segment in India has the potential to grow 10 times its current size and post $9.5-12 billion over the next decade," Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), said here Monday.

Releasing the findings of the 'Nasscom software product study: Outlook for Indian software product businesses', Mittal said the next decade would be crucial for disruptive growth of the product segment, as evident from market trends, which are aided by a maturing ecosystem.

"The Indian software product business is nearing an inflection point in its evolution and now is the time to bring about disruption. Enterprise application software holds huge opportunities with business intelligence, enterprise resource management (ERM) with storage and security being the priorities," Mittal told reporters at the trade forum's second annual product conclave.

The main factor that will propel the segment is India's emergence as a global hub for product research and developement activity and the presence of about 600 multinationals in the product space through their Indian subsidiaries.

"The Indian software product business has grown at an average of 44 percent over the last three years," Mittal said.

The study found that of the 371 software product start-ups in the country, two-thirds of them were set up during the last three years, including 100 firms last year.

"Top 10 firms continue to dominate, accounting for 84 percent of the segment revenue. About 200 midsize firms and start-ups are generating revenues and contributing to the growth," Mittal noted.

Nasscom chairman and Zensar managing director Ganesh Natarajan said the Indian product industry had come of age with world class IP in key domains and end-to-end design and development services to global ISVs (independent software vendors) by captive and third-party units across the country.

"With the new models such as SoA (service-oriented architecture) and SaaS (software as a service) maturing, opportunities beckon Indian product developers to pitch for the global market with access to multi-level funding," Natarajan said

Another sign of an explosive growth in the product segment is the presence of 38 incubation centres across the country for technology start-ups with funding and mentorship.

Of the total venture capital investment of $543 million in 2007, $156 million were invested in software products segment from a mere $76 million in 2005.