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Tag: Intel

  • Create Your Own Infographic From Your Facebook, Twitter & YouTube Activity

    Intel seems to be really getting into infographics. They just put one out about what’s happening on the Internet every minute, and they’re also offering a tool where users can grant access to their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts, and auto-generate infographics based on that data.

    The tool is called “What About Me?”

    What About Me

    The data all seems pretty random, and unfortunately, not a great representation of my social networking. One of the Facebook friends it pulled I don’t even recognize. Some of it isn’t even accurate. According to the generated infographic, my most popular post on Facebook received 2 likes. I’m fairly certain I’ve trumped that a time or two.

    This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Intel tap into Facebook data to deliver users personalized snapshots of their social media lives. They did it in video form with the Museum of Me last year:

    Facebook itself even followed suit and created a similar app when it switched users over to the timeline.

    (hat tip to AllFacebook).

  • What’s Happening On The Internet Every Minute [Infographic]

    How much time do you spend on the internet every day? I spend at least eight hours online every weekday, and that’s a conservative estimate. I know some smart-phone addicts who are probably wired in, one way or another, nearly every minute of the day — excluding the six or so hours they sleep at night.

    While we’re all hanging out on this complex series of tubes, we’re doing a lot of stuff, too: like e-mailing, banking, watching porn movies and TV shows, stealing people’s identities, comparing others to Hitler, shopping, trolling, lurking, stalking, and sharing cat memes. But have you ever wondered exactly how much stuff is going on in a minute of Web-time? Intel has, and they made this little infographic to show you. More than ten and a half gigs of data are transferred each second. Isn’t that nuts?

    And I get distracted from work at least three times.

    Of course, there are some conspicuous omissions on this graphic. I’m still waiting for someone to tell me just how many half-baked theological arguments get started each minute, and how many dumb things get said on 4chan.

    Just kidding, /b/ros. Maybe.

    [Intel, H/T: UberGizmo]

  • Intel, NASA and Others Join Forces to Support Students

    The Administrator of NASA, Charles Bolden blogged recently about his recent trip to Atlanta to visit Georgia Tech’s “Day of Engineering.” Bolden attended a Facebook pep rally that was the kick off to President Obama’s new “Stay with it” campaign, which is devoted to graduating 10,000 engineers each year.

    “Spearheaded by Intel President & CEO, Paul Otellini, who is also a member of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, the Stay With It campaign will provide mentors and other supports to increase the number of American engineering graduates which has fallen woefully behind other surging economies and has led to a shortage of skilled workers for American jobs,” Bolden said.

    Bolden thinks that NASA and Intel’s participation is important because he sees aerospace and computer technology as the growth industries of the future.

    In a rather interesting aside, Bolden says that NASA will need more skilled engineers to help with its plans to once again start up manned missions. “NASA is now embarking on ambitious agenda of deep space exploration that will carry our astronauts to places where we have never been, including an asteroid and eventually Mars.” This reiterates NASA’s goal of sending astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, as reported by space.com this time last year. This goal was originally outlined by President Obama in an April 2010 speech at Kennedy Space Center. In that same speech, the president said he believed humans could be sent into orbit around Mars by the mid-2030’s.

    Fourteen other universities participated in the event through Facebook viewing parties. You can still watch the presentation, including a message from the president and a panel discussion with Bolden, Otellini, and Gary May, Dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering, below.

    Watch live streaming video from fbtechtalks at livestream.com
  • Toshiba Updates Satellite Laptops

    Toshiba Updates Satellite Laptops

    Toshiba has announced that it will be updating its Satellite P and L series in the coming months, as a part of a general revamping of its laptops, TV’s and peripherals. The company has yet to post pricing for the new computers, and there isn’t any information on processor updates. The new models appear to be typical of incremental updates.

    toshiba laptops

    Toshiba’s high-end Satellite P series has retained most of the features included in its last iteration, including a Blu-ray drive, a high-definition screen with optional 3D, on the 15.6-inch Satellite P850 and P855 models. However, the 3D models of 2012 include Toshiba’s glasses-free 3D instead of active shutter displays. The company will also be selling two of 17.3-inch models, the P875 and P870, which will not feature 3D as an option. All P series laptops will have an option of a 1TB hard drive, or smaller HDD / SSD hybrid drives.

    Toshiba’s L series will come in 13.3-inch, 15.6-inch, and 17.3-inch options, and customers can choose between Intel and AMD processors. Screen resolution will range between 1366×768 to 1600×900 and will not include any 3D options, although versions with Blu-ray drives will be capable of pushing 3D content over HDMI. Both the P and L series will be released sometime in during Q2, 2012, and it has been speculated that some models will feature Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors.

  • Intel Unveils Graphics Performance Analyzers 2012

    At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) today in San Francisco, Intel released Intel GPA 2012, the latest suite of tools for game and media app developers to optimize performance. The new software is now available for smartphones, tablets, and ultrabook app developers, and will be able to support Android devices later this year.

    Intel Corporation today introduced Intel Graphics Performance Analyzers (Intel GPA) 2012, the latest version of a powerful tool suite to optimize performance of gaming, media and entertainment applications. Expanding upon Intel’s mobile momentum, Intel GPA 2012 will support mobile applications for ultrabook devices and Android based smartphones and tablets for the first time.

    Previously available only on PC platforms, Intel GPA helps developers improve the experience of game and media applications by accessing powerful tools to analyze and optimize performance on Intel Core and Intel Atom processor-based platforms. The tool suite enables developers to enhance application performance on smartphones, tablets, Ultrabooks and PCs. Developers can also optimize Web content for browsers that support hardware-accelerated rich media, including Microsoft Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

    “Gaming is one of the largest consumer segments for smartphones, but nobody wants a game that drains a smartphone battery,” said Craig Hurst, Intel’s director of Visual Computing Product Management. “There are few choices for developers who want to optimize apps for power, so Intel GPA 2012 introduces power metrics, ensuring that a game not only has great performance, but also runs longer on Ultrabooks, Android tablets and smartphones.”

    The Intel GPA tool suite includes:

    Intel GPA System Analyzer – Analyzes game performance and identifies potential bottlenecks that slow down performance or affect graphics. This tool allows developers to perform optimization experiments to fine-tune performance without changing application code. New in Intel GPA 2012, Intel GPA System Analyzer now supports a standalone mode that enables real-time analysis of application performance on smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks, including Android devices. Intel GPA System Analyzer can be used to analyze an application’s power usage and how it will affect battery life on mobile devices.

    Intel GPA Frame Analyzer – Offers application developers deep frame analysis of individual application elements such as shaders, textures and pixel history. Intel GPA Frame Analyzer shows the visual and performance impact of each individual element in real time without affecting the application source code.

    Intel GPA Platform Analyzer – Developers can visualize performance of application tasks and the effect on devices by viewing CPU metrics and graphics workloads. PC application developers can also see how their software would perform in a multi-core environment. Intel GPA Platform Analyzer has been rebuilt from the ground up for the release of Intel GPA 2012 to provide more system behavior information. Additionally, the tool is capable of handling large volumes of data to emulate application performance on an extended run.

    Intel GPA Media Analyzer – When used in conjunction with Intel Media SDK, Media Analyzer enables developers to see how effectively an application uses hardware-accelerated video encode and decode in real-time.

    Intel GPA 2012 is available as a free download at www.intel.com/software/gpa. Support for Android devices is expected to be publically released this year.

  • Mobile World Congress: Intel Increasing Its Smartphone Presence

    Intel has added a number of smartphone makers to its list of customers, the company announced to day at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Deals with Lava International of India, ZTE of China, the UK’s Orange, and Visa. As part of the deals – similar to those Intel currently enjoys with Motorola and Lenovo – Intel chips will begin going into the next generation of devices from each of the manufacturers.

    Intel also announced several new, faster processors designed to handle the particular demands of mobile devices like smartphones. The Atom Z2460, formerly codenamed Medfield, will support platforms up to 2 GHz. The Atom Z2580 has double the power of the Z2460 and is designed to handle the demands of LTE-capable phones. The Z2000 is targeted at the value smartphome market. The 1 GHz Atom processor supports HSPA+ capable phones.

    Late last year we reported that Intel had been sending prototype Android phones built with Intel chips to various smartphone manufacturers. The devices were designed to showcase what phones and tablets centered on Intel’s chips could do. The prototypes were a part of Intel’s efforts to increase its presence in the smartphone market. Despite maintaining relative hegemony in the desktop and laptop processor market, Intel has largely been shut out of the smartphone and tablet market. Along with previous deals with Motorola and Lenovo, these new partnerships constitute an attempt to work its way into the mobile device market.

  • Intel Buys RealNetwork Patents

    Intel has agreed to purchase a collection of almost 200 patents and 170 patent application from the RealNetwork. This $120 million deal also includes Real’s next-generation video codec software.

    RealNetworks President and CEO Thomas Nielsen claims:

    “Selling these patents to Intel unlocks some of the substantial and unrealized value of RealNetworks assets, …It represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to generate additional capital to boost investments in new businesses and markets while still protecting our existing business.”

    Details of the sale allow RealNetwork to continue to use the patented technology in current and future products. The company will continue to stay focused on technology for distributing and managing media on a variety of different devices as well as investing in different avenues.

    Stock prices have been rising for RealNetwork. Just thursday they were up 32%!

    On the Intel side of things, senior vice president and general manager of Software and Services Group, Renee James comments:

    “The acquisition of these foundational media patents, additional patents and video codec software expands Intel’s diverse and extensive portfolio of intellectual property….we believe this agreement enhances our ability to continue to offer richer experiences and innovative solutions to end users across a wide spectrum of devices, including through Ultrabook devices, smartphones and digital media.”

  • AMD is Ultra-Thin and Ready to Compete

    AMD makes processors for computers, they don’t make computers in any capacity however; many are speculating on who will engage AMD to supply processors for a leaner competitor to Intel equipped Ultrabooks‘.

    So I think the buzz surrounding AMD revolves around price point, especially since AMD has been “ultrathin” for a long time now, offering miniscule sized components since early 2009. In other words, they have been ready for a awhile, the opportunity to be featured in an ultrathin notebook is just something that has yet to come to light.

    For the consumer it means the anticipation of a product that competes directly with the Intel equipped Ultrabooks, but is less expensive. Now remember, Ultrabooks are designed to compete against the MacBook Air, and save consumers a lot of bread. So, buyers will expect any AMD equipped Ultrabook knockoff’s to be significantly less expensive than an actual Intel equipped Ultrabook.

    Is this going to happen? And if so, when? And, will it actually be cheaper? The answer is, I don’t know. AMD’s new ultrathin 17mm Trinity processors are on their way to the market and ready to be used. There is no telling who will jump on the opportunity to use them in an Ultrabook competitor or how soon it will be.

  • Intel Q4 Earnings Released

    Intel, makers of fine processors and other delicious computing goods, announced a record year at their quarterly financial report.

    The corporation reported full-year revenue of $54 billion, operating income of $17.5 billion, net income of $12.9 billion and EPS of $2.39. The company generated approximately $21 in cash from operations, paid dividends of $4.1 billion and used $14.1 billion to repurchase 642 million shares of stock.

    For the fourth quarter, Intel posted revenue of $13.9 billion, operating income of $4.6 billion, net income of $3.4 billion and EPS of 64 cents. The company generated approximately $6.6 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion and used $4.1 billion to repurchase 174 million shares of stock.

    “2011 was an exceptional year for Intel,” Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, said. “With outstanding execution the company performed superbly, growing revenue by more than $10 billion and eclipsing all annual revenue and earnings records. With a tremendous product and technology pipeline for 2012, we’re excited about the global growth opportunities presented by Ultrabook systems, the data center, security and the introduction of Intel-powered smartphones and tablets.”

    Intel has posted a positive business outlook for 2012 as well.

    They expect Q1 2012 to bring in $12.8 billion in revenue, plus or minus $500 million. They expect a gross margin percentage of 63 percent and 64 percent non-GAAP. They expect to spend approximately $4.4 billion on R&D. They see Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles at $75 million. There should be no impact from equality investments and interest. Their depreciation is set to $1.5 billion.

    For the full year, they expect a gross margin percentage of 64 percent and 65 percent non-GAAP. They expect spending for R&D to cost around $18.3 billion. There is an amortization of acquisition-related tangibles at $300 million. They expect to see depreciation set to $6.5 billion. Their tax rate will be 29 percent and full year capital spending will be $12.5 billion.

    Their Q4 business unit revenue saw their PC client group revenue at $9 billion, up 17 percent year-over-year. Data center group revenue was at $2.7 billion, up eight percent year-over-year. Other Intel architecture group revenue was at $1.1 billion, up 35 percent year-after-year. Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset revenue brought in $167 million, down 57 percent year-over-year. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications contributed revenue of approximately $1 billion.

    Full year business unite revenue saw their PC client group’s revenue at $35.4 billion, up 17 percent from 2010. Their data center group saw revenue of $10.1 billion, up 17 percent from 2010. Other Intel architecture group saw revenue of $5 billion, up 64 percent from 2010. Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset saw revenue of $1.2 billion, down 25 percent from 2010. McAfee and Intel Mobile Communications contributed revenue of $3.6 billion.

    Intel plans to report their Q1 2012 earnings on April 17.

  • Windows and Intel Stay Stubborn

    Windows and Intel Stay Stubborn

    Apparently the soon to be arriving Windows 8 based Tablets are going to cost an arm and a leg for consumers. The steep cost is reportedly due to an inability for either Intel or Microsoft to flex on prices. A properly equipped tablet (Windows 8 & Intel Clover Trail-W) will cost between six and nine hundred dollars. This is roughly one hundred dollars more than the Apple iPad 3 (due to be released in March).

    Consumers and manufacturers alike will be hurt by the two companies stubbornness. According to a report by DigiTimes, vendors will be likely to choose ARM solutions from Nvidia, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm to reduce overall costs in their forthcoming tablets. It appears Intel is pricing themselves out of the game.

    Further supporting evidence that Intel is unwilling to compromise comes from makers of the new Ultrabook (a MacBook knockoff). Reports from these manufacturers say they are also unable to persuade a price break from Intel in order to make their products more affordable.

  • AMD To Enter Ultrabook Market This Year

    AMD has always been the cheaper alternative to Intel when it comes to processors and they are extending that to the Ultrabook market as well.

    Intel already announced their new Ivy Bridge platform Ultrabooks at CES. They’re hoping that will bring the price down to a more affordable $799 to $999. AMD, always being one to rain on Intel’s parade, is set to launch their own line of Ultrabooks, creatively called Ultrathin.

    Digitimes is reporting that the new Ultrathins are set to be 10 to 20 percent cheaper than their Intel counterparts. The reduced cost is supposedly already attracting HP, Acer and Asus.

    AMD is launching their Deccan platform with Krishna and Wichita APUs in June 2012 to compete with Intel’s Ivy Bridge. They will upgrade to the Kerala platform in 2013 with a Kabini APU to compete against Intel’s Haswell.

    AMD is pushing their new Trinity-based APU onto the Ultrabook market to increase their 10 percent share in the world CPU market.

    There is expected to be 75 new Ultrabooks based on Intel’s Ivy Bridge architecture in 2012 while only about 20 for AMD’s new Trinity architecture. The AMD models don’t offer any significant advantage over Intel’s Ultrabooks except in cost, which has always been AMD’s greatest advantage.

    Digitimes is reporting, however, that some vendors fear AMD’s entry into the Ultrabook market will in turn rapidly lower the price of Intel’s Ultrabook models.

  • Homeless Teenager Becomes Semifinalist In Intel Science Competition

    With the ETA of the workday’s end inching closer, here’s your feel-good story to ferry you into the weekend:

    Samantha Garvey, a 17-year-old high school senior in Long Island, New York, has been selected as a semifinalist in the eminent Intel Science Competition. That alone would be an accolade worth writing home about except this achievement is about to go from impressive to kicking you in the awesome button:

    Garvey is homeless.

    A New York CBS affiliate, WCBS 880, spoke to Garvey, who is 1 of 61 students in Long Island in the competition’s finals, ran the story yesterday:

    Garvey said she was blown away and started crying when she learned about her place in the competition.

    “I’ve gotten a lot of calls. People on Facebook, they’re posting things on my wall and it’s really exciting,” she said.

    “I did a marsh study where I looked at mussels in a marsh and I saw that when they were exposed to crabs, they grew heavier shells,” she said.

    After that, she introduced the situation to a lab setting.

    Garvey’s other impressive stats: plays violin, speaks Italian, 3.9 GPA, all around ass-kicker of science. And if there’s any justice in the universe, you will one day call her Boss.

  • CES 2012: Razer Has Won The Tablet War

    CES 2012: Razer Has Won The Tablet War

    Tablets can play games, sure, but this tablet can really play games.

    Razer announced during CES Project Fiona, a gaming tablet that is more akin to a gaming PC.

    The device itself looks really weird at first. It’s a tablet with handles on the side featuring dual analog sticks, four face buttons and two shoulder buttons each. It’s designed to play all major current PC games without a hitch.

    The actual innards are the most surprising though as there’s an Intel core i7 crammed into its tiny body. This is what makes the tablet perform like a gaming PC and I believe it. The i7 is the best processor out on the market right now and to see it performing in a tablet is mind-blowing.

    Some of the best news is that it also performs like a gaming PC in that many PC games out on the market today run natively on Project Fiona. There’s no need to port and specifically program games to run on the device.

    “Project Fiona’s combination of high performance Intel-based gaming hardware and innovative tablet design is specifically focused for PC gamers. It will unleash the PC gamer to play their existing and future high-end games in one of the most exciting new form factors – a tablet,” Brad Graff, Director of Partner Marketing, Netbook & Tablet Group, Intel, said.

    With its dual analog stick handles, Project Fiona will run gamepad-enabled PC games right out of the box.

    Along with the controllers, Project Fiona will also sport ultra-precise accelerometers and a multi-touch screen. They claim it will ensure that current-generation PC games can run on the device while also supporting any games optimized for tablets. To top it all off, the controllers on the device deliver full force feedback.

    “While multi-touch screens have become the de facto user interface for tablets, they are not the right interface for serious PC gaming,” Min-Liang Tan, CEO, Razer, said. “The user interface we have designed for Project Fiona allows all existing PC games to be played right out of the box and also provides game developers new opportunities as they develop next-gen games on a highly-intuitive platform. Both developers and gamers are going to love the new user interface that combines the best of a gamepad, multi-touch screen and accelerometers for an all-new gaming experience on-the-go.”

    Now, I know what you’re thinking. This kind of device is far off into the future and will cost a fortune once it is released. You would be right on both counts but only partially. Razer is shooting for a Q4 2012 release with the cost hopefully being below $1,000. While it obviously costs more than any current tablet PC out on the market, Project Fiona isn’t like any tablet PC out on the market.

    As soon as they can be pre-ordered, you can bet I’m going to be in line. Are you? Tell us in the comments.

  • Stephen Hawking’s PC’s Are Personally Delivered By an Intel Engineer

    The photo above is of Travis Bonifield, who works directly with Hawking, Rob Weatherly, who provides IT support for Hawking, and Sam Blackburn, Hawking’s grad assistant. And of course, Hawking himself.

    When you’ve defied the medical odds and lived 50 years longer than what medical experts said, devised some of the most important theories in physics and cosmology, and become a multi-million book selling author, then maybe you can have your PC’s delivered to you by Intel personally. Until then we can get a small glimpse into the relationship Stephen Hawking has developed with PC component manufacturer, Intel.

    This story begins in 1997, when Hawking was working with AMD to help him with his custom PC needs, due to the motor neuron disease which left him with very little physical functionality. According to Travis Bonifield, the Intel application engineer who works with Hawking personally, the relationship began when Intel’s Co-Founder, Gordon Moore spoke personally with Hawking, “Stephen and Gordon met at a conference around 1997. Gordon noted that Stephen was using an AMD machine. Gordon asked Stephen, ‘Would you like to use an Intel computer moving forward? We’d be happy to build that for you and support it.‘ ”

    If you’re wondering what’s powering Hawking’s latest PC, which is updated every 2 years, he’s sporting a Lenovo X220 tablet PC, with an Intel Core i7 processor. What’s really cool about the custom build is how it recognizes Hawking’s commands for his voice synthesizer.

    Originally, Hawking would use a clicker which he could highlight various commands or words and then communicate them through the synthesizer. However, the nerve which allowed him the use of his thumbs would degrade which required Intel to devise a new solution. They eventually developed an infrared sensor which hangs off of Hawking’s glasses. The sensor detects light changes as he twitches his cheek, and allows him to select commands. Which is amazing. Watch it in action below.

    Bonifield has been working with Hawking since 2001, when he took over the position from a previous engineer. One aspect of the job is having to deliver the PC’s from America to England, where Hawking lives. Bonifield mentions one of the less than glorious aspects of the project, “I actually take two systems out to Stephen [one is a backup]. One year I packed them in cases, checked them in as luggage and the airlines lost them for three days. The year after that I thought I’d ship them ahead of time. They got held up in customs for 3 days. This time I got lucky. My luggage showed up with me [laughs].”

    Below is a photo of Bonifield holding up a replica of the custom PC he developed for Hawking, and a video of Hawking’s grad assistant installing it.

    Hawking Intel

  • Intel Unveils First Forays Into the Smartphone and Tablet Market

    Intel has unveiled a set of reference designs for smartphones and tablets centered around their latest generation of chips. The devices run the Android operating system and sport the latest and greatest Intel chipsets, which have been specifically optimized to speed up web traffic and apps on mobile devices.

    According to Technology Review, who were apparently given the prototypes last week for review purposes, the devices are “powerful and easy to use,” comparable to the leaders in the device markets. The prototypes are a meant to be a demonstration of what Intel’s latest chips – dubbed Medfield – are capable of.

    Intel’s chips are found in a wide variety of devices, including computers, TVs, and a whole host of others. Nevertheless, the chip maker that has long reigned supreme in the personal computer market has remained woefully underrepresented in smartphones and tablets. Though Intel has chips in some Android-based phones, many smartphones use chip technology developed by, and licensed from, ARM Technology, a British tech company. The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S both use the A5 processor, a chip designed in-house by Apple and based on ARM’s technology. These new devices aim to increase Intel’s presence in the ridiculously lucrative smartphone market.

  • Intel Jumps On The NFC Bandwagon With New Deal

    INSIDE Secure, a company that specializes in near-field communication technology, announced today that it had entered into a partnership with Intel to provide the company with NFC techology to include in its chipsets. The agreement grants Intel full access to a range of INSIDE’s NFC products, including hardware, software, and firmware.

    Near-field communication (NFC) technology has been drawing quite a bit of attention lately. The technology has been making its way into a variety of devices, including MasterCard’s PayPass system, and several recent models of Android-based smartphone. There are a number of applications that use the technology for a variety of tasks, including exchanging files and and contact information. There are also a number of systems either in the works or already available that allow smartphone owners to use their phone’s NFC capabilities to as a mobile wallet, much like MasterCard’s aforementioned PayPass system. Mobile carriers Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are cooperating to bring a mobile payment system called ISIS online, while Google recently released their own Google Wallet mobile payment solution (though not without difficulties).

    Rumors circulated widely at the beginning of this year that the iPhone 5 (eventually released as the iPhone 4S) would include NFC technology, however that turned out not to be the case. The iPhone rumor mill is unusually quiet for this time of year – owing, no doubt, to the later-than-normal release of the current iPhone model. When it grinds back into action, however, we can probably expect NFC to pop up again.

    There is no information on what exactly Intel intends to do with the technology to which it gains access as part of this deal, however the potential applications are legion. Intel makes chips that go in an array of devices ranging from computers to smartphones and tablets to televisions to in-car infotainment systems. There are a myriad of potential uses for NFC in any of these devices.

  • Robert Noyce Google Doodle Celebrates The Father Of The Microchip, Intel

    Today, Google honors “The Mayor of Silicon Valley” with a Doodle that puts the Google logo right in the middle of a chip.

    That chip is there to celebrate Robert Noyce, the influential tech figure that is credited with the being one of the minds behind the microchip. Noyce died in 1990, but this Doodle recognizes his birthday – he would have turned 84 years old today.

    Noyce graduated from MIT and immediately jumped into research. He eventually landed a job at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, but shorty left the company as part of a group called the Traitorous Eight. These eight left the company due to a difference of opinion regarding managerial style and the direction of research.

    He then co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor, an highly influential company headquartered in San Jose, California. In 1968, he founded Intel with Gordon Moore – and you probably know a little about that company.

    Noyce was also an advocate for education, understanding that preparing kids for the technological improvements of the future was key to success. A year after his death, his family set up the Noyce Foundation, a charity charged with helping kids excel in math and science, among other things.

    Check out this amazing footage of Noyce from 1981. You’ll be amazed at how he describes the future of work – and how he accurately predicts the rise of the information sector. As one YouTube commenter points out, it looks like he’s talking about Skype about halfway through the piece. And because of this, he says people will live “where it’s conducive to live, not where it is conducive to work.”

  • Museum of Me Puts Your Facebook Life on Display

    I’m not sure how I feel about Intel’s new visualization “The Museum of Me.” On one hand, it’s pretty awesome as it puts much of your Facebook Life on display. On the other hand, it’s oddly disturbing as it puts much of your Facebook Life on display.

    Intel says that the museum is a way to “create and explore a visual archive of your social life.” Although skeptical, I bit. Here’s what to expect if you have the time to give it a try:

    Once you visit the Museum of Me site, you’ll be prompted to connect to Facebook and you must allow the usual access by a third party application. The video will then take a little bit to load, as it has to grab quite a few things off your Facebook profile to work. The video will begin and pan you through a museum exhibit dedicated to you and your friends on Facebook.

    Pictures, Video, Likes, and status words all have their own “room” in the exhibit. The whole think is set to piano/choral music that is a tad creepy, but ends up swelling nicely to a dramatic finish.

    Here’s the problem I would assume for some users. Trips down memory lane can be unnerving. Especially ones involving Facebook. Do you really want to see that picture of you drunkenly making out with some girl at a party juxtaposed with you and your mom at Christmas? And if the photo collages randomly generates pictures of deceased loved ones, it may create an even weirder situation.

    If the random image generator works for you how it worked for me, however, then you might be pleasantly surprised with some of the old, forgotten pictures it pulls from the depths. I actually laughed out loud at one I saw from years ago that I forgot even existed.

    But, there are the giant robot arms putting together a collage at the end of the tour, so…take from that what you will.

    It’s definitely worth the couple minutes as the visualization itself is quite beautiful. The word collage room informed me that I probably talk about my love for Cracklin Oat Bran way too much on Facebook. Maybe you’ll see something interesting about yourself.

    Here’s a generic video about the Museum of Me:

  • Intel Acquires McAfee: Now It’s Official

    Last summer, Intel announced its intention to acquire McAfee for about $7.68 billion at $48 per share in cash. Today, the company announced the completion of that acquisition. 

    McAfee will maintain its own brand, and the first "fruits" of the partnership will hit the market later this year, the companies said. 

    "In the past, energy-efficient performance and Internet connectivity have defined computing requirements,” said Renée James, Intel senior vice president, and general manager. "Intel has added security as a third pillar of what people demand from their experiences with personal computers and other connected devices. Security challenges put the future potential of computing at risk. The acquisition of McAfee adds not only world-leading security products and technologies to Intel’s computing portfolio, but also brings incredibly talented people focused on delivering products and services that help make connecting to the mobile Internet safer and more secure."

    Intel buys McAfeePat Clawson, CEO of endpoint security provider Lumension reached out to us with some thoughts on the acquisition and its effect on the industry, after it was first announced.

    "Intel’s acquisition of McAfee will not only fundamentally change the security landscape, it will have a ripple affect throughout industry. With this acquisition Intel is addressing areas that we really need to get better at protecting – smart phones, televisions, medical technology and cash machines. Short term, it gives Intel a competitive advantage but will no doubt make other chip manufacturers, like AMD, consider whether they need to mirror the acquisition."

    McAfee is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, and reports into Intel’s Software and Services Group. McAfee had experienced McAfee, which has experienced double-digit year-over-year growth when Intel first announced the acquisition. 

  • Apparently, No One Likes Mobile Device Users

    While we may be a nation of mobile device users — largely, anyway — it’s clear almost no one is using their device in a respectful, concerned-for-others manner.  What’s worse is, even if a large majority of users knows mobile device user behavior is largely inconsiderate, it doesn’t stop them from acting the same way when they’re using their own devices.

    Such are some of the findings from a recent Intel study over this very topic: Mobile Technology Etiquette 2011. Most, if not all of Intel’s findings are either A. not surprising, or B. obvious when you observe others using their mobile toys. 

    The biggest issue concerning mobile device etiquette is a distinct lack thereof. Some of the findings (pdf) include:

    – Nearly all U.S. adults (91 percent) have seen someone using their mobile device in an unusual place. The most common locations include behind the wheel (56 percent), in a Public restroom (48 percent), in a movie theater (32 percent) and on a honeymoon (9 percent).

    – The majority of U.S. adults (76 percent) say that if they had to choose, they would give up something other than their mobile Internet-enabled device for 1 week.

    – Seventy-four percent of U.S. adults believe that poor mobile etiquette has created a new form of public rage/violence, much like road rage

    – Sixty-five percent admit becoming angry around people misusing their mobile devices inappropriately.

    All interesting facts and figures, but perhaps the most informative part came when 92 percent of the respondents wished people would use better etiquette when using a mobile device.  While this sounds like a reasonable request, when contrasted with this tidbit of data:

    “Eighty-eight percent of U.S. adults agree that people rarely take others into consideration when using their mobile devices in public”

    You get the feeling the war for mobile device etiquette has already been lost, no matter how many suggestions Anna Post offers.  For instance, tips like the following are clearly lost on today’s mobile device user:

    “The solution is two fold. First, manage your time and other’s expectations, no matter how easy the technology makes it to respond immediately. You can return a call instead of answering, wait to answer a text, or excuse yourself for a minute to check email. Better yet, don’t keep a mobile device handy when you know you shouldn’t answer it. In a meeting? Put your laptop lid down. Better yet, keep your mobile devices in your handbag, briefcase or pocket.”

    A reaction consisting of “yeah, right” comes to mind, especially when it comes to the almost-extinct ideas of consideration and respect for others.  Throw a mobile device into the mix and it’s clear Post’s considerable writing ability would be better spent developing step-by-step guides for watching paint dry and lawn mower usage.

  • Facebook, Google & Other Tech Giants On Board White House Startup Initiative

    Facebook, Google & Other Tech Giants On Board White House Startup Initiative

    Today, the White House announced the launch of the Startup America Partnership as part of a national strategy to stimulate economic growth and create jobs. The initiative is being chaired by AOL co-founder Steve Case, and will receive funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation. Carl Schramm, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, will serve as a founding board member. 

    Partners will contribute funds to "existing proven models or develop new programs and efforts to help entrepreneurs." Partners include Google, Facebook, Intel, HP, and IBM (see full list here). 

    Facebook will host 12 "Startup Days" this year aimed at providing early-staged companies with engineering and design support on the Facebook platform. These are monthly events for building apps and sites that incorporate social technologies. 

    Startup America Partnership, Chaired by Steve Case"In addition, we plan to stay active within open source communities and are proud of what we’ve contributed in the past," says Facebook’s Doug Purdy. "Open source technologies continue to be important to startups that are scaling and growing quickly. They allow entrepreneurs to spend more time working on their products."

    "Over the past few years we’ve been contributing to a wide range of existing projects, from PHP to memcached to Varnish and many others," adds Purdy. "We also open source our own projects, ranging from major pieces of infrastructure (most recently HipHop for PHP) to small tools that make developing all sorts of software faster and easier (such as XHP and Three20)."

    Intel is committing $200M of new investment in U.S. companies for the project, and is serving on the board. IBM is investing $150 million to fund programs that promote entrepreneurs. HP is investing $4 million. Google’s contributions have yet to be revealed.

    "America’s story has been forged in large part by entrepreneurs who have against great odds created innovative products and services that have changed the world – and created millions of jobs," said Steve Case. "Our nation once again looks to these creative risk-takers to unleash the next wave of American innovation, and I am pleased that President Obama has made supporting and celebrating entrepreneurs a major priority of his economic strategy. I am honored to chair the Startup America Partnership, and look forward to working with the White House to champion the creation of new start-ups, and help accelerate the growth of speed-ups."

    The partnership will not target specific entrepreneurs, but will spotlight and connect programs and institutions that directly target entrepreneurs. So says this FAQ page.