Tessera unveils technology

The new camera, called OptiML WLC, is the first digital camera of its kind that is manufactured entirely on the wafer level. Compared to the traditional way of building digital CMOS cameras, which involves optical elements that are created through plastic injection molding and glass molding as well as a relatively complicated process to match the optical unit to the IC, Tessera is using lenses that are produced on a wafer level and are automatically attached to the sensor package.

The result of this simplified wafer technology yields a digital camera that is about half the size of today’s cellphone digital camera. According to Tessera, the OptiML WLC is about 30% cheaper to manufacture than today’s devices.

The company said that the camera has a height of less than 2.5 mm; the device is promised to scale from VGA resolution (640 x 480) to “multi megapixel” and offer features such as autofocus and digital zoom.

Tessera said that it will license the blueprints for the OptiML WLC, but not build the device itself. The company announced last year that more than 10 billion semiconductors using the firm’s packaging technology have been shipped since 1990.

Information from www.tgdaily.com

Apple demonstrates “near final” Vista beater

After a surprising delay of the operating system, Apple has delivered on its promise to show what the company calls a “near final” version of MacOS X 10.5, commonly referred to as “Leopard”.

Apple said that the new operating system will bring more than 300 new features when it ships at the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year. The company is not only hoping that current Apple users will update to the new software: "We think current and prospective customers are going to love Leopard, and that it will help make the Mac even more popular," said chief executive officer Steve Jobs.

Among those new features, the company highlighted an improved dock, which now includes “stacks” that can combine desktop items into groups and allows users to quickly browse content while removing much of the desktop clutter at the same time. There also is an updated Finder application to accelerate the process of browsing and previewing files, a new backup utility (Time Machine), as well as “Spaces,” which creates groups of applications to enable users to quickly switch between different programs. Apple said that iChat and Mail have been updated as well.

Leopard is the first MacOS X to offer “full native” 64-bit support, while maintaining support for 32-bit applications. According to the manufacturer, the operating system also provides easy multi-core optimization and scheduling to take advantage Intel’s dual-core and quad-core processors. And just in case you are wondering, yes, Leopard comes with BootCamp, which enables users to run Windows natively on (Intel-based) Macs, as well.

MacOS X 10.5 is scheduled to launch in October and sell for $130. Additionally, Apple will offer a single-residence, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $200.

Information from www.tgdaily.com

Intel CEO

You may have heard about Intel’s new processor for ultra-mobile devices “Silverthorne”, whose development was officially confirmed at this year’s Spring IDF in Beijing. But there’s a good chance you have not paid much attention to the chip, not just because it is still more than a year out from its debut, but also because it the CPU is aimed at cellphones and two other product categories – one of which hasn’t done particularly well so far and one that isn't available yet.

But Otellini believes that Silverthorne may be one of the most important products in Intel’s history. “The importance of the new Silverthorne chip is only comparable with the 8088 processor or Pentium,” he told the FAZ. The executive said that the company will create a 45 nm Silverthorne “product family” and aim to capture the “top 10 to 20% of the cellphone business.”

Intel previously announced that Silverthorne will debut as part of the “Menlow” platform in 2008. The processor will replace the recently and quietly introduced A100 and A110 UMPC CPUs, which are basically under-clocked (600 and 800 MHz, respectively) versions of the 90 nm Pentium M processor with Dothan core. The 45 nm Silverthorne chip is expected to be as fast as the second-generation of Pentium M processors, while running in a power envelope between 0.6 and 2.0 watts.

The FAZ article does not provide much information why Silverthorne is so important to Otellini, but it is unlikely that that Intel is just aiming at the cellphone market. The new CPU will also make its way into UMPCs, which show signs of becoming a replacement for the tablet PC rather than a mass market product, as well as Mobile Internet Devices. Intel believes that these Mobile Internet Devices, short MIDs, will have four to five times the volume opportunity than a relatively pricey UMPC. With a form factor that fits between the UMPC and a smartphone, a 5” screen, flash-based storage, a light operating system such as Ubuntu Linux (which was shown at IDF) and a $500 price tag, MIDs could be much more attractive for Intel than the UMPC.

Silverthorne is also the first processor that will focus much more on cost-efficiency than previous processors – which not only will allow Intel to increase profit margins, but also enable the firm to target these processors at much cheaper computing devices that will be more affordable for a greater audience around the globe. At IDF, Intel said that the CPU will be Intel’s “most cost-efficient processor since the 286 CPU. Manufactured in 45 nm, Intel can squeeze about 2500 Silverthorne processor on one 300 mm wafer. According to Otellini, the average price of a product that will be integrating a Silverthorne processor will be about $100.


Information from www.tgdaily.com

New tech

With support for DDR3 memory and the next generation of FSB1333 Intel Core 2 processors, Intel's P35 Express chipset is the most forward-looking part in its portfolio. But support for advanced technology isn't going to alter its market: The P35 Express is designed to replace Intel's legendary-overclocking P965 mainstream part.

Driving Intel's latest technology "downward" into the mainstream is support for only a single PCI-Express graphic card at full x16 bus width and official DDR3 memory support extending only to 1066 MHz data rate. As a mainstream part, the P35 Express officially supports a single graphics card and memory speeds up to DDR3-1066. Adding a second graphics card slot or DDR3-1333 RAM compatibility are features Intel left to the discretion of motherboard producers.

The sixteen PCI-Express lanes delivered by the Northbridge are capable of supporting only one device, so there is no option to split them across two slots as previously seen in the high-end Intel 975X and later in the ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200. Like the P965, any second graphics card must instead use some of the six PCI-Express lanes from the Southbridge, so most "CrossFire Compatible" P35 Express motherboards will have the two x16 slots wired with x16 and x4 pathways. Rather than being a true CrossFire solution, any second graphics card is really more useful for adding multiple displays than it is for boosting graphics performance.

Great single-card performance and high overclocking capabilities pushed the P965 Express chipset to the forefront of mid-priced performance, so a major part of P35 Express testing will be to make sure this new product lives up to the reputation of its predecessor.

Buyers looking to upgrade their motherboard for future processor support while keep their old DRAM modules will be more interested in the P35 Express Chipset's DDR2 capabilities, while others will want to see how DDR3 motherboards compare to DDR2 versions. However, DDR3 still has to mature, and today's modules run such high latency that it makes a fair comparison impossible. Today, we focus on DDR3 performance. We will detail DDR2 performance in an upcoming review, and readers who still need to be convinced that DDR2-1066 CAS4 can be quicker than DDR3-1066 CAS7 can look back to this review for a comparison.

Information from www.pcworld.com

Intel launches Bearlake chipset

The new chipset series arrives in a total of six models, four with integrated graphics and two for higher-end mainstream and enthusiast platforms designed to be coupled with discrete graphics cards.

All new chipsets share a common foundation, which includes a 1333 MHz front side bus, support for DDR2 (800 MHz) and DDR3 (only in consumer chipsets for now; 800-1066 MHz in mainstream models, 1333 MHz on the high-end) as well as NAND-flash-based Turbo Memory, and the new ICH9 southbridge. ICH9 continues the legacy removal that began with ICH8, includes 12 USB ports and a reduced power consumption to less than 3.5 watt.
In the entry-level segment, Intel is offering the P35 chipset for low-cost PCs. Positioned in the mainstream, the G33 and G35 versions offer integrated graphics with the firm’s proprietary Clear Video technology as well as support for DirectX 10. The G35 version is capable of playing back HDCP-protected content, including HD DVD and Blu-ray movies.
Business platforms get the Q33 chipset, while vPro systems will include the Q35 model. Both have integrated graphics, but Intel does not support DDR3 memory in these “stable platform” chipsets yet and limits compatible memory to DDR2-800. The Q33 comes with Intel’s basic active management technology (AMT), while the Q35 will get AMT Pro, virtualization features as well as support for Intel’s TPM technology “LaGrande”, now called Trusted Execution Technology (TXT). Intel also unveiled the upcoming X38 version (formerly code-named Bearlake-X) of Bearlake, which will support quad-core CPUs, PCI Express 2.0, DDR3-1333 memory as well as up to two graphics cards (2x16). Intel said that the G33 and P35 chipsets have been shipping since April, while the Intel Q33 and Q35 Express Chipsets are shipping ahead of schedule.



The G35 and X38 are expected to ship within 90 days, the company said. All six new chipsets support the upcoming 45 nm Penryn processor generation. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for the updated E6x50 series of Core 2 Duo processors, which industry sources mentioned will be introduced “soon”.
There will be three new processors, including the E6650 (2.33 GHz), E6750 (2.66 GHz) and E6850 (3 GHz). During a presentation at Computex today, Intel chief marketing officer Sean Maloney also said that Intel and Asustek are working together to offer a family of education focused, low-cost mobile PCs, with one model below $200.
Additionally Maloney disclosed plans for an Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile processor product to be released by Intel in the third quarter of this year. The plan follows the company’s Extreme Edition brand introduced for desktop PCs in 2003 and extends it to laptops.

Information from www.tgdaily.com