Intel showcases their first dedicated GPU in a decade – runs Destiny 2 at 1080p

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It has happened, Intel has showed off its first discrete GPU after a decade. The Intel DG1 (DG for Discrete Graphics). It’s been teased before, but Team Blue has showed off the DG1 at CES 2020, much to the amusement of many. The card itself looks to be a single-fan GPU with a muted shroud design; but, it has its own light – only emits blue though.

Image credit: The Verge

It needs to be said however, the one showed off isn’t a high-end card – it was shown off running Destiny 2 at 1080p capped at 60FPS; but, Intel has noted the Xe architecture-based cards will be available in three variants – Xe LP, Xe HP and Xe HPC, catering to low-, mid- and high-end systems. Some variants may overlap in what in can be used for.

Destiny 2 running on Intel Discreet Graphics.

It is at 1080P, locked at 60FPS, and they won’t give me more info, but it exists!
pic.twitter.com/M4jIKU5fil

— Linus Tech Tips (@LinusTech)
January 7, 2020

The DG1 isn’t for sale however, and we can see why – as mentioned, it’s a low-end GPU and with the Nvidia and AMD dominating the market, Intel isn’t looking to rush into things. According to PC Games N, Intel is planning to release a PC GPU this year, but it’s likely to be the DG2 instead.

Image credit: The Verge

In any case, we’re glad to see Intel re-joining the dedicated GPU market to provide Team Green and Red some healthy competition – more options for us eh!

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Intel finally shows off Arc discrete graphics with promising performance

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Intel has had a long history of trying to make a name in the discrete graphics space, the company used to partner with rival AMD on making a Radeon integrated laptop chip but that effort only lasted for one generation, then it poached ex-AMD graphics chief Raja Koduri and unveiled Intel Xe graphics on its 11th Gen mobile chips, and now, we are finally looking at the Intel Arc discrete graphics that is set to rival AMD and NVIDIA beginning in the laptop space.

The Intel Arc graphics comprise of three categories – namely the Arc 3, Arc 5 and Arc 7, which is pretty self explanatory by the numbers just like how Intel names its Core processors, the Arc 3 is the entry line up that is aimed at Intel Evo or entry-level gaming laptops that offers ‘enhanced gaming’, the Arc 5 and Arc 7 targeted at content creation and high end gaming laptops.

Like its rivals, Intel has prepped similar graphics technologies such as Xe Super Sampling, which is similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS that upscale games to higher resolution with sharper details; Intel Deep Link, which comprise of a Dynamic PowerShare feature that can pull extra resources from the CPU and memory for more performance and is similar to AMD’s SmartShift, while interestingly Intel claims that the Arc discrete graphics are the only discrete GPUs that can encode and decode the AV1 streaming standard with hardware acceleration, which will be able to playback higher quality video more efficiently.

The Arc 3 will be the first to debut on upcoming laptops, and Intel has put on some interesting benchmarks against its own Intel Xe integrated graphics, showing as much as a 20% performance improvement with a mixture of medium to high graphics settings with most of them performing above 60 frames per second, this looks very promising considering the Arc 3 is set to compete with NVIDIA’s entry-level MX series graphics.

Expect to see Intel Arc 3 laptops really soon from the usual suspects with laptops starting from US$899, Intel says that we can expect the desktop add-in cards to be available starting this summer, which we certainly can’t wait to find out more.

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Intel hits gold with its latest Compute Stick

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The future is here!

Team KL Gadget Guy was invited to the Intelligent Generations showcase in PG 12, and boy, were we in for a treat as Intel unraveled its latest and power-packed computing device – in a 4-inch long chassis!

Without a doubt the Compute Stick was the highlight of the event as many social media fans and other friends of the media was bustling away at the auditorium when the announcement was made.

The Intel Compute Stick provides the functionality of a full-fledged desktop computer without taking up the space of one. It will open up a whole new world of computing for its users – be it those who work in small offices, those who compute on the go, or those looking to upgrade their smart living room setups.
Sumner Lemon, Country Manager, Intel Malaysia & Singapore

But what exactly is this contraption of sorts? Well, in lay man’s terms it’s an entire computer in a 4-inch chassis! Talk about breaking boundaries and fulfiling Moore’s Law. And with that, below are some of its features in an infographic for easy viewing.

And now for the Tech Specs of this stick – it is powered by an Intel Atom Processor Z3735F which supports Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT-x), driven by Intel HD Graphics with a HDMI 1.4a port with a 2GB soldered System Memory for Windows. It also boasts a built-in 32GB eMMC Internal Memory and Expandable Memory via an SDXC v3.0 slot with UHS I-Support. On top of that, it also comes equipped with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity and a USB 2.0 slot.

A fun fact on this neat device is that it was the brainchild of local engineers right here on homeground of Intel Malaysia! The Compute Stick was designed locally and has been making waves around the world since its debut and of coursed continued to impress at the event.

Besides the Compute Stick, Intel also exhibited the latest 5th Generation Intel Core and various Intel Atom x3 reference designs and development boards – which saw the new Edison board and Galileo Gen 2.

As for he new
5th Generation Intel® Core™ processor family
, it is Intel’s latest wave of 14nm processors which promises to deliver improved system and graphics performance, more natural and immersive user experiences, and enabling longer battery life compared to previous generations, which is of utmost importance in the age of
wall-hugging.

“The 5th Gen Intel Core processors enable a diverse portfolio of form factors to meet every lifestyle and work style. From large screen 2-in-1s, sleek Ultrabooks, and traditional clamshell notebooks to All in One PCs and mini desktops, the U series is the flexible solution for mainstream mobile and innovative desktop systems,” according to Intel

Finally, we also had a tour around the Intel Facility and more precisely of the two labs present at PG12, Bayan Lepas, Penang. One was the 25,000 square feet Manufacturing Lab and the other 11,000 square feet Systems Validation Lab which deals with the Software and Hardware side of things. No pictures here unfortunately as all recording devices were surrendered – sensitive material in there.

After which, we sat down with
Prakash Mallya
, Managing Director Sales and Marketing Intel South East Asia;
Sumner Lemon
, Country Manager Intel Malaysia and Singapore;
Christopher Kelly
, General Manager, Malaysia Design Centre and
Yannick LeClercq
, Managing Director, Intel Mobile Communications South East Asia Pte. Ltd. for an exclusive Q&A session.

We were able to slot in a question or two regarding the future of smart TV’s and how it would be like with the advent of the Compute Stick.

Team KLGG:
 Bouncing off on working with partners, are there any plans for tie-ins with TV manufacturers? (as far as the Compute Stick is concerned)

Sumner Lemon:
That is more of a business model like question but regardless, anything is possible. We’re keeping all our options open as the future is full of opportunities.

“But we are looking into producing a family of devices with different price points,” quipped
Christopher Kelly.

With that, the Compute Stick is expected to have a SRP of
RM599
and is expected to be in stores real soon. Watch this space for updates!


Intel is in the final stages of releasing an 8-core and 22-core processor

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Intel and AMD’s race for the best and greatest processor is a never-ending battle. AMD announced their new processors and the Threadripper 2 processor which is even more of a beast than the first generation. Now, it looks like Intel is prepared to release their 8-core Coffee Lake processor as well as a 22-core high-end desktop CPU for its X299 chipset.

The processors are expected to arrive in September, this news was discovered by a Japanese tech site,
PC Watch
. This might just put them on par with the highest offering from AMD, but they are probably not prepared for the 32-core Threadripper processor that will release in the coming months. AMD has asserted their dominance on the mainstream market with their 8-core Ryzen 7 2700X processor which beats the 6-core Intel Core i7-8700K in the multi-threaded task. However, when it comes to high-end desktop market, the 18-core Core i9-7980XE processor still remains king.

Looks like Intel might just be able to take back the crown from the Ryzen 7 2700X, but would it be able to match the rather affordable price that AMD is asking for? We will know soon, in the next few months.

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Intel jumps into the war of GPUs by teases their very own graphics card

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It’s happening folks; for the longest time, PC building had always been about pairing either an Intel or AMD processor with either a Nvidia or AMD graphics card. Now, Intel could shake the course of history (this may be a bit of an over exaggeration) with the announcement of their very own Intel graphics cards!

That’s right, Intel – who’re more popular for their processors and chipsets – have teased what their own GPUs will look like during Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019. They’ll possibly be called Odyssey based on their presentation slides.

Image credit: Tech Radar

According to Tech Radar, Intel announced two graphics cards – one is a single-fan mini GPU that will boast a single fan shroud design; the other will take on similar aesthetics as Intel’s Optane SSD 905P – think buzzsaw-like hinges.

However, no other details have been given yet such as name, price and release date. But with an Intel GPU in the pipelines, one hopes that an Intel CPU and Intel GPU combination would breed unrivaled performance levels.

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Intel Kaby Lake powered iMac leaked online

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Following the launch of the iPhone 7 and the Apple Watch Series 2, Apple is expected to refresh their Mac’s later this month. Last weekend, a 27-inch iMac with Intel’s latest Kaby Lake processor was spotted lurking around at Best Buy’s online store. The alleged leak by the US major retailer has given us some ideas as to what to expect from Apple when it refreshes its Macbook’s and iMac’s later this month.

Based on the screenshot captured by Apple Insider, the alleged 27-inch iMac sports the new 7th gen Intel i7 processor. The rest of the specs remain pretty much the same, with the Retina 5K display, 32GB of RAM, plus a 2TB Fusion Drive. So we can safely assume that the iMac will only be getting a minor upgrade this year, which isn’t something new based on Apple’s desktop refresh history. However, one thing to note that the “new” iMac on Best Buy has the image of an iMac with the old Mac OS X El Capitan desktop wallpaper, which can be just a minor error, or render the whole post as just a mistake.

Having said that, Apple is expected to shift its focus a little more to its Macbook’s, which are rumored to have USB Type-C ports, a fingerprint sensor, plus an OLED touchscreen right above the keyboard, based on concept renders and alleged leaks. Who knows? The new Macbook’s might be running on Intel’s Kaby Lake processors as well. What do you think?

Source:
Apple Insider

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Intel latest U-Series processors can offer up to 19-hours of laptop battery life

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Intel has officially announced the new 8th Generation U and Y-series processor codenamed Whiskey Lake and Amber Lake respectively. The company has stated that these processors are specially made for thin and light laptops.

The processors that fall under the U-series are the i7-8565U which has a base clock speed of 1.8GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.6GHz, the i5-8265U has a base clock speed of 1.6Ghz and a boost clock of 3.9GHz, and the i3-8145U which is clocked at 2GHz with a boost clock of 3.9GHz. The most impressive improvement that Intel claimed these processors can offer is up to 16 hours of battery life and with power-optimized systems, they target to reach 19 hours of battery life.

The Y-series consist of the i7-8500Y comes with a base clock speed of 1.5GHz and boost clock speeds of 4.2GHz, the i5-8200Y has a base clock speed of 1.3GHz and boost clock speed of 3.9GHz and lastly, the m3-8100Y has a base clock speed of 1.1GHz and boost clock of 3.4GHz. It is not as impressive as the U-series but it will still come with faster WiFi and LTE speeds as well as an obvious gain in performance.

The U-series processors could be equipped in the upcoming 13-inch MacBook Air, which Apple has confirmed that they are releasing a device that will follow the design factor of the MacBook Air.

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Intel launches 13th Gen Core processors, to be available starting October 20th

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Intel has finally caught up to the momentum with AMD by launching its 13th Generation Core desktop processors, which is also more well known as Raptor Lake.

Built on the 3rd generation Intel 7 SuperFin process, it comes in Core i5, i7 and i9 unlocked K and KF processor variants, the leading Core i9-13900K features 24 cores (8 Performance-cores and 16 Efficient-cores) and 32 threads, the CPU can achieve a maximum clock speed of up to 5.8GHz, which Intel claims is the world’s fastest desktop processor as of 7th September 2022.

Customers can expect up to 15% better single-thread performance an 41% better multi-threaded performance, which will benefit gaming and creative workflows respectively, these processors also has 2x the L2 cache and increased L3 cache.

In addition, Raptor Lake will support PCIe Gen 5.0 with up to 16 lanes when equipped with an Intel 700 series chipset  motherboards, while existing Intel 600 series motherboards can be equipped these new processors and still enjoy the performance gains over 12th Gen Core processors.

Intel will start shipping these new desktop processors on October 20th, with the Core i5 model retailing from US$294, the Core i7 retailing from US$384 and Core i9 retailing from US$564, the 13th generation Intel Core processors will ultimately consist a total of 22 processors from the mobile lineup and more than 125 partner system designs.

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Intel launches Core M processors for thinner 2-in-1 PCs

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With more and more 2-in-1 PCs and laptops surfacing in the market, Intel announced the all new 14nm Core M processors that will change how these devices can be manufactured. Technically, the Core M processor is Intel’s 5th Gen Core processor, with a 14nm process this could only mean lesser energy consumption and longer battery life without having huge batteries onboard, which leads to smaller and thinner devices at the end of the day.

The above picture is Intel’s Llama Moutain Windows 8.1 Pro reference
tablet
, which has a Core M CPU and only has a thickness of 7.2mm. Due to the efficiency of the chip, this
tablet
 has a fanless design and is able to fit in a 32Wh battery, which will give users a minimum of 8 hour usage on a full charge.

Intel has been going really aggressive this year and we hope to see more affordable and powerful computing devices reach our shores soon.

Image Credit: Engadget


Intel Mac users will be missing out these features on macOS Monterey

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Apple is clearly going all-in on its M1 chip on Macs and for those who still owns an Intel based Mac, you are probably going to miss out future features as time goes on, starting with the upcoming macOS Monterey. Here are a list of them:

FaceTime Portrait Mode, which blurs your background on a FaceTime video call

Live Text, which lets you extract text in images and photos

Apple Maps new globe view and detailed maps in major US cities

Natural text-to-speech in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Finnish

Offline, on-device dictation without a time limit

These are some major features which could affect a number of users, it is also something we can anticipate that’s coming to macOS since Apple really wants its user base to start to adapt Apple Silicon powered systems, not forgetting to mention that we might even see apps dropping support for Intel powered Macs soon enough.

This is probably a good time to ponder about upgrading your existing Intel powered Macs, as we definitely have no clue on what feature Apple is about to omit even on a minor macOS update.

Read more:
MacBook Air M1 Review after 6 months

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Intel Malaysia announces PC Refresh campaign along with partners

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Are you still using an old laptop or PC that is already squeaking, heating up or slowing down your productivity? If the answer is yes it’s probably time for you to look forward to Intel Malaysia’s PC Refresh campaign. The company today has announced this campaign to allow consumers to switch to newer and powerful devices by being able to trade in their old devices for a new machine.

Intel Malaysia country manager Prakash Mallya says that the latest Intel processors are very much powerful and efficient, which enables their partners to produce computing devices with a light and thin form factor without compromising on performance, many consumers today do not want to switch their devices because the process of transitioning their data to new devices is a hassle, Intel’s PC Refresh campaign will attempt to solve this issue.

Along with its partners, Intel intends to reach 1 million audience in Malaysia with a retail span of 640 retail stores.

The company has also intended to perform a mobile cruiser activation roadshow in shopping malls and universities as you can see in the slides, there will be a total of 24 roadshow venues for the rest of the year.

Customers who participate in the campaign will also
stand
 a chance to win a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, the number of entries aren’t mentioned though.

There will also be a fire sales activation scheduled next month at Low Yat Plaza, which you’ll be able to get some great deals on buying your new computing device.

If you happen to worry on data transition to your new computing devices, consultants from SNS Network Sdn Bhd will be available at select retail locations to provide data backup services to ensure a seamless move to your brand new device.

Intel Malaysia presenting a cheque to sponsor Sekolah Kebangsaan Paya Bunga on refreshing the school’s lab PCs to run a virtual classroom using the e-book, the lab is worth up to RM30000.

Look at this amazing
Dell Inspiron
 3000 series notebook, it looks sexy and powerful! If you’re thinking to refresh your PC this year, remember to stay tuned to
Intel Malaysia’s Facebook Page
 or any of your favorite OEM fan page to know more details on the deal. OEM partners will include ASUS, Dell, HP, Acer, and Lenovo.


Intel Malaysia’s first PC refresh campaign is here–The Fire Sale

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Remember a few weeks back we attended Intel Malaysia’s PC refresh campaign, which the company promised to give rebates for old laptop trade-in. You’re in luck because Intel Malaysia has just kicked off it’s first campaign. The Fire Sale will be held on the 26th of June at the Firestorm outlet, Low Yat Plaza. The event will last for 3 days and there will be laptops from ASUS,
Dell
, HP, Lenovo, and Acer up for grabs, if the laptop that you traded in is still in good working condition, you may get a minimum rebate of RM100 up to RM500 depending on the age and condition of your old faithful laptop. Intel will also be taking in defect units as well, but rebates are capped up to RM100 only. Check out the image below for the list of laptops available, most of them are entry level laptops though but we think there will be more choices available. Of course, there will be also games and events in the roadshow so be sure to check them out this Thursday.


Intel and MediaTek teams up to offer 5G solution to PCs in 2021

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Intel and MediaTek has recently announced a partnership to produce 5G solution for PCs, in order to catch up with their biggest competitor, Qualcomm.

According to the press release, Intel will be defining a 5G solution specification, while MediaTek will be developing the 5G modem that will be integrated into PCs. Intel will also be producing the suitable hardware and software integration that includes the OS host drivers to be paired with the 5G solution.

Image credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Both companies target to offer 5G connectivity to PCs in early 2021, in which Dell and HP will be the first OEMs to feature the 5G support. “With this partnership, consumers will be able to browse, stream and game faster on their PCs, but we also expect them to innovate with 5G in ways we have not yet imagined,” said MediaTek President Joe Chen.

Just earlier this year, Intel introduced Project Athena — an innovative program that’s supposed to offer laptops with a more advanced experience. However, these laptops are still not cellular-enabled. This might all change when the 5G solution is out in 2021.

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Intel officially unveils Coffee Lake R desktop processors

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Intel isn’t resting its laurels to let AMD take over the competition, as it has unveiled its 9th Gen Core processors a few hours ago that will compete directly with AMD’s Ryzen processors.

The new processors’ codename is merely called Coffee Lake R and is still based on the 14nm++ process that was introduced with last year’s chip. The 9th Gen processors will be made available in Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9 variants, which Intel claims that the 9th Gen Core i9 is ‘The best gaming processor in the world. Period.’

In the case of the new Core i9-9900K, it has 8 cores and 16 threads that is clocked at 3.6GHz and has a Turbo Boost frequency of up to 5.0GHz. The Core i7-9700K now gets 8 cores and 8 threads, with a Turbo Boost frequency of up to 4.9GHz from the base 3.6GHz speed. Lastly, the Core i5-9600K has 6 cores and 6 threads with a Turbo Boost frequency of up to 4.6GHz with a 3.7GHz base clock speed.

READ MORE

Windows’ latest update comes with DirectX Ray-Tracing API

Intel has further claimed that these new processors are the first desktop processors to have hardware fixes for the Meltdown Variant 3 and L1 Terminal Fault issues, which has been present on Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors, with other protections done through software efforts.

Preorders for Intel’s 9th Gen Core processors begin today in the US, and they will ship on October 19th. The Core i9-9900K will retail at $488 (RM2,028), i7-9700K at $373 (RM1550) and i5-9600K at $262 (RM1089). We also expect the chips to arrive in the Malaysian market very soon.

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Intel officially unveils the new 8th generation of Intel Core Processors

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Intel has announced that its new family of 8th Gen Intel Core processors will be available for purchase starting 5th October 2017. The new processors are catered to all kinds of users from gamers, content creators and overclockers. As usual, the processors will range from the Core i3 to the Core i7 variants for the different range of users.

Intel is upping the core count with the i5 processor bring it to 6-cores while the i3 will be getting 4-cores. All the processors will be unlocked giving flexibility to users that want to push the processors for more power. On the high-end side, the Intel Core i7-8700K is the best gaming desktop processor, capable of 4.7 GHz maximum single-core turbo frequency, making it the highest Intel has ever pushed their processors.

Intel boasts that the new processors will be able to give gamers up to 25 percent more frames when it comes to demanding games like Gears of War 4 and it will make easy work if you want to game, stream and record all the same time.

Other than that, they have also said that the new processors will be able to edit and render 4K 360-degrees videos up to 32 percent faster compared to previous generations and 65 percent faster compared to a 3-year old PC.

All the new processors will be compatible with Intel Optane memory which combined with the 8th gen processors will increase system performance by 2.1 times faster than regular HDDs. The processor will be available on the 5th October with pricing to be announced soon.

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Intel Optane Memory H10 officially announced and offer speedy memory and storage solutions in a single drive

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Speed is of the essence – especially when it comes to transferring data and launching applications. Intel’s Optane memory modules offer faster cache read speeds that surpass that of traditional RAM sticks.

Recently, Intel has gone a step further in the race for storage and memory superiority by unveiling the Optane Memory H10 SSD.

Image credit: Intel

These hybrid drives incorporate Octane memory modules with the new quad-level cell NAND on a single M.2. This means that the drive can be used either like RAM sticks or as storage with read and write speeds that surpass normal SSDs.

The H10 will be available in three variants, 16GB Optane + 256GB storage, 32GB Optane + 512GB storage and 32GB Optane + 1TB storage. The drive has sequential read/write performances of up to 2,400 and 1,800 MBps respectively, while random read/write speeds can reach a maximum of 32K and 30K IOPS respectively.

The Intel Optane Memory H10 drive will be available on OEM platforms by Q2 of this year.

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Intel Outlines Opportunities for Partners at 2014 Asia Solutions Summit

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Tablets, 2 in 1s, reimagined desktops, servers and the Internet of Things (IoT) represent key growth opportunities for partners over the next twelve months, Intel has told a gathering of leading technology channel businesses at Singapore yesterday. 500 Intel Technology Partners from Asia Pacific and Japan meet in Singapore this week at the 2014 Intel Solutions Summit (ISS). This week’s event is the fourth of five on the global ISS schedule, the company’s largest partner event.

New Intel® NUC powered by Intel® AtomTM Processor E3815 Launched

Intel today launched the newest offering in its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) product line – the first to be powered by an Intel Atom E3815 processor (based on the company’s “Bay Trail” architecture).

The new NUC, model DE3815TYKH, is designed with thin client applications in mind. It features a fan-less design, on board eMMC memory, and the space savings of a 4”x4” motherboard. With the ability to directly power a LCD monitor through an onboard eDP connector, the new NUC is a great solution for kiosks, point-of-sale and
digital signage
. It also is expected to be relevant to the space-constraints of modern Asia’s urban homes.

The new product is available in distribution starting today.

First-Ever Intel® Education 2 in 1 Provides Countless Ways to Learn

Intel also announced the first APJ partners for its recently-introduced Education 2 in 1, Intel’s first ever education-targeted reference design using the 2 in 1 form factor.

A learning tool designed with students in mind, the Intel Education 2 in 1 has the flexibility and mobility of a
tablet
 plus the performance and productivity of a laptop, giving students the best of both worlds in one device.

The Intel Education 2 in 1 is a powerful learning platform that features affordable tools such as a snap-on magnification lens and a temperature sensor, which work with the Intel Education Software suite to enable experiments that inspire student curiosity and promote inquiry.

The Intel Education 2 in 1 is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom processor Z3740D, runs Windows* 8.1, and provides up to 7.8 hours of battery life as a
tablet
 and an optional 3+ hours of additional battery life when docked1.

With its ruggedized, durable design, the Intel Education 2 in 1 is designed to withstand drops of up to 70 cm and is water and dust resistant2, which ensures the device can stand up to hands-on learning inside and outside the classroom.

Intel Technology Partners Leader (Australia), Viper (Pakistan), Connoisseur (India), Supreme (Thailand), publisher Felta (Philippines) and systems integrator EM Harrisma (Indonesia) will offer the Intel Education 2 in 1 to schools in their market.

Enabling the Growing Internet of Things

Intel also is actively pursuing a range of solutions, from the edge device to the cloud, that address the growing opportunities presented by IoT, Mr Patel said.

The company recently announced availability of the Intel® Gateway Solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), a family of integrated solutions based on Intel Quark SoC X1000 Series and Atom processors, in addition to a Galileo-based development platform. These platforms enable businesses to reduce costs and offer new services by unlocking valuable data from legacy systems that were not connected to each other or the cloud.

Turning to other smart, connected devices that help make up the IoT, Intel Edison technology is on track for availability later this year, the company recently said.

Source: Intel PR


Overclock your 9th-Gen Intel Core CPU with one click thanks to Intel Performance Maximizer

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Today, PC components are practically made to be pushed it its limits – we have better cooling equipment, more efficient case designs, and tougher materials too. Every PC enthusiast probably encourages overclocking to get the best performance out of your gear – but to the uninitiated, the process of boosting your CPU can be tricky; not so much of GPUs thanks to MSI Afterburner.

In comes Intel – the company has just launched Intel Performance Maximizer, a tool that gives your Intel CPU an extra boost with just a single click. Regularly, you’d have to tweak a bunch of settings in your BIOS or download programs to help with the overclocking.

Image credit: Overclock 3D

Intel says that the tool uses “hyper-intelligent automation” to individually examine your CPUs settings and overclock it to give you extra a little extra juice. The caveat, however, is that the tool only works with a handful of 9th-Gen Intel Core processors, including the Core i9-9900KF and 9900K; the Core i7-9700KF and i7-9700K, as well as the Core i5-9600KF and Core i5-9600K.

It’s unfortunate that Intel hasn’t made the tool compatible with older-Gen unlocked CPUs, but we think that feature will be added in due time. Intel Performance Maximizer is free to download here.

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Intel plans to introduce 10nm CPUs in 2017

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It has been a really long time that Intel has been using a Tick-Tock model when putting their processors on the market. Two generations would normally be released on a single processing node while the Tick moves towards a newer processing node, increasing efficiency and minor architecture changes/upgrades with the Tock making some major architectural changes to the CPU line.

This would most likely be the process node generation where Intel seem to be moving away from their usual Tick-Tock model towards a Tick-Tock-Tock model. This processing node will be utilised in 3 generations of CPUs, primarily due to the difficulty in continuing their manufacturing technology to become smaller and smaller.

Cannonlake should be released in 2017, which officially brings their first 10nm CPU to the market while Kaby Lake CPUs are to be released sometime this year.

With Intel already having 2 processor architectures on the 14nm processing node; Broadwell and Skylake, Kaby Lake would be making up the 3rd CPU generation on this processing node. This will mean that Intel is already breaking their usual Tick-Tock cycle, unless Kaby lake is merely a rebatch of Skylake with higher clock speeds like how the Devil’s Canyon was for Haswell.

The 10nm process node current roadmaps suggest that 10nm will be with us for about 3 years until 2020, where we will have Cannonlake in 2017, Icelake in 2018 and Tigerlake in 2019, finally being replaced by an unnamed prototype Intel 5nm CPU on 2020.

For 5nm CPU, we’d be most likely seeing a shift towards the EUV technology, Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, which should allow sub 10nm processing tech to be possible, though right now we cannot be certain exactly how Intel plan on replacing 10nm anytime soon after.

 Source:
OC3D

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Intel is releasing two i9 processors for laptops

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The i9 processor was Intel’s attempt to shut down the competition and it is a formidable chip that showed it is capable enough to be an all-rounder for anything you might need it to do. Sure enough, people are using that chip for workstations and rendering systems but it was limited to only desktops until now.

Intel has recently announced that they will be bringing the i9 processors to laptops and they have produced two laptop-grade processors, the Core i9-8000H and the Core i9-8950HK. News of this came from the release notes for AIDA64 Extreme which listed the two mentioned processors. However, there are no details on the core-count and clock speeds that these processors will push out but expect it to be really powerful chips as seen on the desktop-grade versions of the chip.

Assumptions are that the processor will be released somewhere next year, as they are still focused on releasing a new processing unit which they are working with AMD to produce for a year-end release.

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Intel reveals Apollo Lake platform at IDF Shenzhen

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During IDF Shenzhen, Intel has given the media a sneak preview as to what to expect from the chip manufacturer’s next generation low-cost SoC platform: Apollo Lake.

Based on the new Atom-based x86 microarchitecture known as Goldmont, Apollo Lake comes with a new graphics core that features Intel’s ninth-generation architecture which is currently used in Skylake processors. This graphics core would allow the Apollo Lake to integrate more codecs, enabling hardware-accelerated playback of 4K video from hardware decoding of HEVC and VP9 codecs.

For memory, Apollo Lake will support dual-channel DDR4, DDR3L and LPDDR3/4 memory. Besides dual-channel memory, Apollo Lake will also support traditional SATA drives, PCIe x4 drives and eMMC 5.0 options to oppeal to all types of form factors.

Apart from that, Intel remains tight-lipped as to the exact specifications and performance number of the Apollo Lake. Intel has not specified the TDP of its new processors, but they claim that the power management features of the platform will help it to improve battery life compared to previous-gen systems.

Intel will be shipping out Apollo Lake-powered Celeron and Pentium processors in the second half of 2016.

Source:
Anandtech

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Intel rumoured to be developing new x86 processors that will be available in 2019

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It seems that the clock is finally ticking for Intel’s series of Core processors as rumours are swirling around that Intel is currently in the process of studying a new microarchitecture that will replace the current x86 microarchitecture in the desktop and enterprise market.

Sources speaking to
bitsandchips
 reveal that the upcoming Intel approach to the new microarchitecture will be similar to that of AMD with its Zen processor. The upcoming chip will attempt to balance power consumption, performance and price. As Intel is looking to create a smaller die with the next generation of processors to improve the power consumption-to-performance ratio, Intel is said to be throwing away some old SIMD and old hardware remainders.

Assuming that the rumours surrounding Intel’s new processor microarchitecture turns out to be true, the processors will likely hit the market in 2019. This would mean that TigerLake will be the last of the Core processors when it becomes available in 2019.

Source:
bitsandchips

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Intel rumoured to rebrand the 7th gen Core m processors as part of the Core i series

283

As many of you may be aware by now, Intel’s 7th-gen processors, codenamed Kaby Lake, will be arriving on the laptops shortly. However, controversy surrounding the chips have erupted and it has to do with the branding of the Core m series

Up until today, Intel’s 4.5-watt processors for the laptops have been branded under the Core m series such as the Core m3, m5 and m7. With the Kaby Lake processors, Intel is rumoured to be dumping the Core m5 and m7, opting to name them as the Core i5 and i7 respectively. If this change is true, the only way to identify a regular Core i series chip and a previous Core m series chip is through the SKU numbers. Regular Core i processors will have the processor numbers ending with the letter “U” (e.g. i3-7100U, i5-7200U and so on). Meanwhile, the processors that would be part of the Core m series will have a “Y” in the SKU number (e.g. i5-7Y54, i7-7Y75 and so on). With this change, the only chip that will remain in the Core m series is the m3.

This change in the branding of Intel’s processors wouldn’t really affect those who know their way around hardware, but it would definitely affect the regular buyer who aren’t as well versed in Intel’s processor models. For example, a person may walk into a store and buy a laptop that is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, only to discover that this isn’t the regular Core i5, but a lower end processor instead.

Long story short, Intel’s decision to change the change the Core m branding of the m5 and m7 chips to the i5 and i7 respectively is going to confuse a lot of people. Hopefully, Intel has decided to backtrack on this decision. If they don’t, we foresee many a lawsuits will be filled over the misleading branding.

Source:
LaptopMag

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Intel set to drop price of CPUs in response to upcoming release of 3rd-Gen AMD Ryzen chips

365

Another year, another tussle between Intel and AMD – two giants of the CPU business. The battle between lot takes on a new progression as AMD releases their new 3rd-Gen Ryzen processors – in response to this, Intel is reportedly planning to reduce the prices of their own CPUs by a whopping 10 to 15 percent.

According to DigiTimes, Intel have apparently notified component partners about the price drops and we could expect around $25 to $75 off selected products.

According to TechSpot, these items include 9th-Gen Intel Core processors like the Core i9 9900K, i7 9700K and the i5 9600K.

When the new 3rd-Gen AMD Ryzen CPUs hit, we can expect bang-for-you-buck levels of experience – which gives Intel a run for their money, literally. With the new Ryzen chips touted to hit shelves this July 7, we can expect the price drop to be implemented a little sooner.

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Intel sets the bar high with the announcement of their 9th-Gen mobile processors

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Intel took to the stage at Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 to announce a list of gaming-centric upcoming products – including the well-received Intel graphics card.

Its onwards and upwards for the company, and it shows when they announced their 9th-gen processors for mobile platforms. The Intel Core H-Series mobile processors will include Core i9 lineups and is touted to arrive in Q2 of this year.

Image credit: WCCF Tech

It goes without saying that Intel’s Core i9 processors are meant to carry heavy loads which are ideal for heavy media editing and of course, gaming. Intel claims that the H-Series processors will allow users to game and stream without any loss of frames, while the integrated Wi-Fi 6 AX200 network adaptor should deliver low-latency internet speeds.

Intel hasn’t announced the complete list of H-Series products yet, so we won’t know the price until they’re officially launched sometime middle this year.

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Intel Skylake has been stripped

319

A Japanese tech publication PC Watch got under the hood (lid) of a Core i7-6700K quad-core processor and it seem they found the processor was an unexpectedly small silicon. It has shorter in proportion to its width than previous dies from Intel, such as Haswell D, and Ivy Bridge-D. Then, it’s smaller than the Intel Core i7-5775C, despite the same 14 nm process, because of its slimmer integrated graphics core with just 24 execution units (compare to 48 on the i7-5775C), and the lack of an external 128 MB SRAM cache for the iGPU.

The new Intel Core i7-6700K has a layer of substance with 0.8 mm thickness on the processor compared to previous generation i7-4700k with 1.1 mm thickness. The thicker HIS (integrated heat spreader) makes up for the thinner substrate, so it shouldn’t cause problems when you are trying to use your older LGA 1150 coolers with the new socket.

PC Watch changes the stock TIM with Prolimatech PK-3 and Cool Laboratory Liquid Pro and found some impressive drops in temperatures at stock speed (4.00 GHz) and with a mild overclock (4.60 GHz). Can’t wait to get our hands on the latest Intel Skylake processor and try to overclock the processor to the max.

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Intel Skylake processors confirmed for new 12-inch MacBook

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Apple is set to have its September 9th event soon and we are going to expect new iPhones, iPads and possibly a new Apple TV, apart from that the company might be looking to refresh its current lightweight new 12-inch Macbook with more powerful and efficient Intel Skylake processors, as leaks has pointed out two new variants of the Core  processor, namely the Core m3 and Core m5 processors.

The new 12-inch MacBooks are the lightest and thinnest notebooks that Apple has ever released, despite of that they are really pricey and under powered with the current generation Broadwell based Core m processors, the new Skylake processors should introduce better power savings and performance judging from the Turbo speeds that these chips are able to deliver.

In other
reports
, Apple is also expected to refresh its MacBook Airs with the new Skylake based Core m chips as well with the option of a Core m7 CPU, which technically succeeds the current Core i5 and Core i7 ultra low voltage chips. We shall be knowing more of it in a couple of days soon, and lets hope Apple maintains the price of the new Skylake powered MacBooks.

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Intel teases a VR sensor prototype ahead of the Intel Developer Conference

271

Two weeks from now, San Francisco will play host to the Intel Developer Conference. In what seems to be a teaser to the upcoming event, an Intel engineer has just leaked a photo of what seems to be a new VR sensor prototype online.

In a since-deleted tweet by senior prototyping engineer at Intel Dimitri Diakopulos, the picture reveals a depth-sensing prototype attachment for the HTC Vive. While the technical aspects of this attachment wasn’t revealed, the sensor’s general design looks similar to some of the designs that can be found on previous Intel RealSense developer kits. Diakopolos has mentioned to
Upload VR
 that this device could track hand movement as well as IR-tracked controllers. The sensor can also scan the environment in real-time, opening up the possibility for it to detect obstacles automatically.

With Intel teasing such a device for the Intel Developer Conference, it’s highly possible that VR will be one of the focal points at the event. Here’s to hoping that Intel will demonstrate what it attempts to do in the VR space this year.

Source:
TechCrunch
,
Upload VR

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Intel to strengthen partnerships with OEMs and committed to make more powerful mobile chipsets

286

Recently, we can see Intel’s aggressiveness in the ASUS ZenFone event that took place back last month in Indonesia. Today, Intel again hosted its Intel Mobility event here to introduce a range of products that runs on their SoCs.

This event isn’t exactly introducing a range of devices that runs off Intel’s processors, but more of a session to tell us about Intel’s commitment to strengthen partnerships with OEMs, ODMs while introducing a new range of SoCs this year to power more mobile devices. Intel’s country manager Prakash Mallya says that devices that computes and connects runs best on Intel’s processors, because they are going to play a very different game than other SoC makers out there with very much efficient Intel powered chips while maintaining the devices at an affordable price tag.

Mobile devices come in various screen sizes and form factors, every one of them comes with a unique purpose and there will be one device that will fit a user’s everyday computing needs.

Intel’s main partners currently include ASUS,
Dell
, and Lenovo, which the company will continue to support these companies in making much more innovative products. Furthermore, Intel has also decided to seek for new partners especially in China, where we can find many ODMs and OEMs that make great hardware in incredible form factors, while able to produce them in a mass volume.

While Android devices are considerably affordable in the market, Windows devices continue to be positioned at the mainstream and premium price point, Intel intends to grow the Windows entry level market by introducing much more affordable chips to manufacturers, those devices will be at the price point of USD $99-$129.

This year, Intel will introduce the SoFIA 3G, SoFIA LTE, Cherry Trail and Broxton platform to smart devices, which has an all new architecture with better power efficiency and performance.

The SoFIA 3G platform has been shipped and is the first Intel Atom processor integrated with leading global 3G modem and 64-bit ready, which means devices equipped with this chipset will be able to roam the world without any issues and can be paired with 4GB RAM and above.

LTE capable chips has also been introduced last year and supports up to 300Mbps, we still haven’t see devices with this chip yet though.

Intel hasn’t forget to mention their belief that they believe their chips don’t need that much of cores to have better performance as opposed to ARM chipsets, the trick to this is to double up the DRAM in the SoC itself.

Of course, Intel has performed benchmarks of its Bay Trail Atom processor against last year’s flagship SoCs, we will certainly get to the bottom of this when we get our ASUS ZenFone for review.

Intel Malaysia’s Channel Platform Manager Clifford Tan showed us a demo on how well a Bay Trail Intel Atom
tablet
 is able to perform photo editing with ease and some amazing performance, though it is still considerably slower than the company’s Core processors.

And yes, the
tablet
 is able to accomplish its task without crashing and the poor cat goes missing.

Intel also claims that any
tablet
 that runs on the Clover Trail processor will be able to play graphics demanding games smoothly, on the screen is a game called Civilization, which we realize its really smooth.

Clifford also showed off how Intel’s WiDi wireless display technology is able to mirror videos to the screen with very minimal lag, though we still find the lag pretty obvious and this could be due to a low quality router. Intel’s WiDi technology is also compatible with the Miracast standard.

The
Samsung GALAXY
 Note 3 gets slightly higher scores than an Intel Atom based smartphone, but Clifford stresses that the price point between a flagship ARM and Intel Atom powered smartphone is a massive difference.

Throughout the event, we learnt and understand Intel’s focus on mobile devices this year as the trend of mobile computing has increased, we hope to see new Intel powered devices with an amazing price tag and performance that other SoC makers aren’t able to give. Till then, we will save our judgement over Intel’s performance benchmark tests against ARM chips until we receive our very own ASUS ZenFone review unit coming very soon. Stay tuned.


Intel warns of continued CPU shortages well into 2023

887

Intel has warned that there will be a global CPU shortage that will happen starting this September and will likely continue until 2023.

Intel’s chief financial officer George Davis attributes this to the “persistent industry-wide component and substrate
shortages
” and he expects this to continue for several quarters.

The 11th Gen Intel Core S-series desktop processors launched worldwide on March 16, 2021, are led by the flagship Intel Core i9-11900K. It can reach speeds up to 5.3 GHz with Intel Thermal Velocity Boost. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

According to
reports
, Intel is focusing on producing heavy-duty processors used by data centers, mainly because that’s where the profits lie for the brand. With production costs now increasing due to the shortage of raw materials, it would make sense for intel to extract as much profit they can, and data center CPUs seem to be the way to go.

This comes at the cost of consumer-grade processors – so if you think GPU and PlayStation 5 shortages were bad enough, this development completes the unholy trifecta of bad news for gamers across the globe. Just remember to avoid scalpers, and be wait patiently for reasonably priced products.

cpu
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Intel will be retiring the 'Tick-Tock' chip development methodology

389

For the past 10 years or so, Intel has been developing new chips through its ‘Tick-Tock’ methodology. However, Intel has ran into complications with the methodology when it comes to the company’s own 10nm technology. Today, the company has went ahead a declared that ‘Tick-Tock’ is dead.

In a recent
form 10-K filing
 by Intel, the company has stated that it would be lengthening the amount of time they will “utilize our 14nm and our next-generation 10nm process technologies, further optimizing our products and process technologies while meeting the yearly market cadence for product introductions.”

Thus far, Intel has a development model whereby the company would first upgrade its manufacturing technology to make circuits smaller. This is known to Intel as the “Tick.” As that manufacturing technology matured and chip design teams become more familiar with the technology, Intel would then use said technology to manufacture chips with changes in its microcode, resulting in a faster and more energy efficient chip. This is known as the “Tock.”

From this point forward, Intel will be employing a three-step methodology for future chip development, known as “Process, Architecture, and Optimization.” This methodology is expected to slow down the pace of innovation and would result in consumers having to wait an extra year before they can see significant speed improvements, resulting in less reason to upgrade your current hardware.

Despite the dropping of ‘Tick-Tock’, Intel has maintained that it will introduce 10nm chips before its competitors. Intel believes that their competitive advantage “will be extended in the future as the costs to build leading-edge fabrication facilities increase.” Other companies that are slated to release their own 10nm chip includes Samsung and TMSC.

Source:
Engadget
,
The Motley Fool

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Intel will be undergoing a restructure; 12,000 employees will be laid off

283

12,000 Intel employees will be getting laid off soon as the company has announced that it will be undergoing a restructuring to intensify the company’s focus in high-growth areas.

In a statement issued by Intel, the company states that it will be focusing more on the data center and Internet of Things (IoT) business as well as the memory and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). According to the statement, both sectors made up 40% of Intel’s USD 2.2 billion revenue growth last year, which largely offset the decline in the PC market segment.

Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, has outlined the changes that will be happening to the company. Krzanich states that Intel has the opportunity to “accelerate this momentum and build on our strengths.” “I am confident that we’ll emerge as a more productive company with broader reach and sharper execution,” Krzanich says.

The reduction of 12,000 employees – roughly 11% of Intel’s workforce – will occur globally through site consolidations, voluntary and involuntary departures, and re-evaluation of programs by mid-2017. Intel expects this restructuring to deliver the company USD 750 million in savings this year and an annual run rate savings of USD 1.4 billion by mid-2017.

Source:
Intel

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Intel will introduce the new 8th Gen Intel processors via live stream on August 21

336

On August 21, Intel will be unveiling their 8th Generation Intel Core processor family on Facebook Live. The event will be focusing on showing what the new generation processors will have to offer and it will be just in time for the Great American Solar Eclipse. The event also features talks from those who have worked on bringing these new and improved processors to the market.

Some of the things that will be highlighted will be the speeds that these processors will be able to produce and what it can help you do. They will be showing off how the immersive experiences that will allow spectators to participate in the new processors’ capabilities. VR capabilities will also be shown off by a VR creator and imaging technologist and amazing system designs that will be equipped with the new 8th Gen processors. Finally, they will be showing off systems that will be equipped with the processor before that can be purchased by the end-of-the-year holiday season, but that will probably be restricted to US citizens.

Don’t forget to save the date, 21 August 11 PM Malaysian time. You can view the Live broadcast on either
Intel’s Facebook page
 or
Intel Newsroom
. I am quite interested in what is Intel’s answer to the Ryzen processors, see you on the live stream!

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Intel Xeon processor D: Xeon power on an SoC

313

Intel has managed to cram an Intel Xeon Processor into the form of an System-on-Chip (SoC). This new product, the Intel Xeon Processor D has the size and power-savings of an SoC but has the performance and advanced intelligence of an Intel Xeon processor. The processor is built on Intel’s 14nm process technology. Of course, seeing as how it’s a Xeon processor, this product would be more geared towards servers and data centers or system infrastructures. An SoC is an entire system on a single chip and differs from a micro-controller by the fact that SoCs are able to run desktop services such as Windows and Linux applications.

So that you won’t be confused, you won’t be able to slot this into your motherboard’s socket. An SoC is basically a processor with the integrated compatibility with integrated I/O and network functionality. The Intel Xeon Processor D was designed to deliver high-density infrastructure solutions by providing enhanced intelligence and greater agility while maintaining a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). This chip also features server-class reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) in an ultra-dense, low-powered device. This is Intel’s rebuttal against the growing popularity of ARM devices, securing their position as server monoliths with the inclusion of a Xeon powered SoC.

This may not be a big thing to the usual readers of this site but it is interesting to note that we have come to a position in our technological growth where several functional Xeon-based server system can fit in the palm of our hands. Cloud and telecommunications service providers are going to get excited with the scalability provided by the Intel Xeon processor D. Seeing as this is Intel’s 3rd generation 64-bit SoC, the performance leap from the 2nd generation is insane, with it’s ability to be deployed into workloads such as dynamic web serving, dedicated web hosting and even network routing. The new chip also promises to deliver up to 3.4 times the performance per node when compared to the previous generation, as well as 1.7 times estimated better performance per watt. These bad boys also support up to 128GB of high-speed DDR4 memory.

Having never worked directly with a Xeon processor before, I can only speculate that this will mean trouble for the ARM-based systems. ARM is more widespread and have more manufacturers currently producing ARM systems, but, I have much more faith in Intel’s systems. Being x86 at heart, the Xeon processor D is definitely going to give ARM vendors a run for their money in the coming future. Right now ARM is the dominating force, but no champion can
stand
 at the top of the podium forever. With that being said, Intel does that future plans to tailor their chips towards a more specialization towards areas of applications in Storage, Network and IoT as well as Microservers.

More information can be found on their
brief
 and
webcast presentation
.


Intel’s 6th-gen Skylake processor is now official in Core i7 and Core i5 models

344

OEMs have been crazily releasing Intel’s Z170 motherboards recently and the CPU boss has finally made the first two Skylake processors official, the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K desktop CPUs are now the most sophisticated silicons that you can buy really soon for your mainstream rigs, the new CPUs from Intel are also designed for overclockers and will have full DDR4 support.

The new Skylake processors are designed with the most efficient 14nm process, which means these chips not only just run faster but it is also cooler and more efficient than its predecessor. If you have actually spent your cash on a 5th Gen Intel Core processor, fret not as you are still getting a much more powerful computing experience than Skylake, as the latter doesn’t have that much of CPU cache, two times lesser processing threads while merely having up to 32GB of maximum RAM. Since Skylake processors are designed to be more budget friendly, Intel’s ARK has mentioned that the processor will support DDR3L RAM, which means you could expect affordable Skylake motherboards if you are not prepared to invest into expensive DDR4 RAMs just yet.

Both the Core i5 and Core i7 Skylake CPUs are equipped with Intel’s HD Graphics 530 GPU that delivers a maximum frequency of 1.15GHz and 1.7GB of graphics memory, it supports a maximum resolution output of 4096×2304  @ 60Hz over eDP connection. Pricing of the new Skylake CPU has also been revealed by Intel, the Core i7-6700K retails at $350 (MYR1360) and the Core i5-6600K retails at $243 (MYR945), which is similarly priced with its 4th Generation processors. We are expecting the new CPUs to hit up in local stores within two weeks time and we certainly can’t wait to see what performance advantages it has over its predecessor. Are you ready for Skylake?

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Intel’s 9th Gen Core i9 processor leaks on Amazon, comes with a unique packaging and priced at about RM2500

361

AMD has got Intel shaking in its boots when they launched the Ryzen Threadripper to combat the highest-end Intel processor at the time. AMD was probably confident with the performance of the processor, that they packaged the Threadripper in very fancy boxes that stood out. Looks like it paid off because they probably produced the best workstation processor ever.

But Intel is not going to keep licking their wounds, they will be responding with the 9th Generation Intel processors starting with the Core i9-9900K and i7-9700K processors. So far little is known about the processor but in a recent listing on Amazon which was removed, we know how the packaging looks like. The processors will be packed into a semi-transparent dodecahedron, possibly due to peer pressure from how AMD packages their Threadripper processors. Other than that, the listing also states that it will come with 8-cores and 16-threads with speeds up to 5.0GHz. It also supports overclocking and will be priced at $582.50 (RM2413.12).

Although the listing did not state that it is the i9-9900K processor but based on the specs, it’s safe to say that it is the 9th Generation Core i9 processor.

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Intel’s Coffee Lake CPU spotted in the works

300

As the CPU war rages on between Intel and AMD, the former seems to be prepared for its next generation of Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake (can’t they think of a better name?), the 8th generation of Intel Core processors has been spotted on a CPU-Z screenshot as reported by VideoCardz, it reveals a 6-core processor that uses the LGA1151 socket with a TDP of 80W, the base clock speed is a 3.6GHz with a maximum multiplier of 43, we can assume this to be probably a mainstream Core i5 processor.

Intel’s current Kaby Lake mainstream processor feature 4-cores and 8-threads as in the case of the Core i7-7700K, which makes sense for the company to include more Cores to the next generation Core processors to compete with AMD’s Ryzen, which has ousted the 7700K in several benchmarks in
our tests
, the good news here is that Coffee Lake is still using the LGA1151 socket, which means that older motherboards that supports the Skylake architecture should be able to use the processor with a BIOS update.

Expect Intel to unveil Coffee Lake early 2018, where OEMs and PC builders will announce the use of the chip in events such as CES 2018, time for Intel to buck up.

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Intel’s ‘Devil Canyon’ to break 4GHz base clock speeds

309

Who says processor frequencies aren’t important? Intel has just announced a processor that simply breaks the 4GHz base clock speed, codenamed “Devil Canyon”, this chip is technically a refreshed Haswell based Core i7-4790K CPU, which is able to boost its clock speed from 4GHZ up to 4.4GHz in turbo mode, power consumption is also increased from 84W to 88W in the boost. According to reports, this beastly cheap will be priced at $339, which is what you can pay for a Core i7-4770K on
Newegg
 at this point of time. Who’s on for this beast?

Source:
Engadget


Intel’s Iris Pro: Coming to Desktops and NUC

381

We are no stranger to Intel’s Iris Pro, when back in October 2013, they held a tournament during New York Comic Con featuring the Intel Iris Pro integrated graphic chips doing all the processing and heavy lifting. The game was Starcraft II and ran perfectly without the help of any discrete graphics card. Thanks to the Intel Iris Pro, we have seen many thin laptops with very decent graphics performance, able to run games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, League of Legends and DOTA2 comfortably at low to medium settings. (As seen on the Iris Pro 5200)

Intel has recently announced that the Iris Pro will be integrated into desktops with a partnership with Raptr to help gamers automatically optimize Intel-based PCs for peak gaming performance. Intel’s Iris Pro will be coming with it’s latest and greatest Iris Pro 6100 to bring a 65 watt integrated GPU along side a majority of desktop CPU chips as well as Intel’s New Unit of Computing (
NUC
). The new Iris Pro will also get an additional boost from DirectX 12 (DX12).

Although, the Iris Pro would not be something hardcore gamers will even take a second look at, the usability of this chip is only limited to one’s imagination. How about Twitch-streaming at 4K resolution 60FPS? I know that our internet connection in the world cannot upkeep such an insane resolution at such an insane frame rate but it is a possibility — you will need a compatible motherboard, however. IntelQuick Sync has the ability to offload some processing requests to the integrated GPU while you are streaming or recording live gameplay, leaving your discrete graphics card to render the game uninhibited by any extra tasks. Another implementation would be to fix up a small PC and use it as a media hub, maybe loading in 4K videos or movies and playing it live into your home theatre.

Come on AMD, where are you in this ballpark?


Intel’s new 5G modem will arrive earlier than expected in 2019

364

Intel announced yesterday that its XMM 8160 5G modem will launch earlier by at least six months of its expected date, which means it will be seen in the second half of 2019.

The modem is made to provide 5G connectivity to phones, PCs and broadband gateways in addition to supporting peak speeds up to 6 gigabits per second, which is three to six times faster than the latest LTE modems today. It will be supporting standalone and non-standalone (5G networks that are supported by 4G infrastructures) modes, and also 4G, 3G and 2G legacy radios in one chipset.

According to Intel, manufacturers will be able to produce smaller devices that are more power-efficient with the new modem which supports simultaneous connectivity for LTE and 5G to ensure that areas without 5G network coverage will still be able to connect to 4G or LTE networks.

It was also announced that Intel will integrate advanced technology into the modem “to support new millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum as well as sub 6 GHz 5G NR support (including FDD and TDD bands from 600 MHz to 6 GHz) and download speeds up to 6 Gbps”, which means users will be getting faster upload and download speeds than the current 4G networks that ranges from around 700MHz to 2.6 GHz. To put it in layman’s terms, the 5G modem will be able to provide faster data speeds, almost zero-delay to phone calls and instant 4K VR livestreams.

Although the modem will be available in 2019, the devices that will use the modem will be expected to arrive in 2020, so those who have been hoping for 5G iPhones will have to wait till 2020 just as announced by Apple.

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Intel’s new crypto chip could be more power efficient in mining

618

Cryptocurrency mining requires a lot of power regardless whether you use a ASIC miner or GPU, and Intel wants to change that with its ‘blockchain accelerator’ that’s set to ship later this year.

Intel’s crypto chip is made to mine cryptocurrencies with the SHA-256 algorithm such as Bitcoin, Intel’s chief architect in graphics Raja Koduri says that customers can expect 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs, which sounds very promising and more details will be revealed at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference on February 20th.

Cryptocurrency mining has caused a huge environmental impact in recent times and it has also been one of the reasons that caused GPU shortages around the world, though companies like NVIDIA has created LHR version of cards to discourage miners from buying up their cards, that still didn’t stop mining software such as NBMiner from cracking that hash rate limiter to realize 70% of the GPU’s mining performance.

Perhaps with Intel’s new chip, miners might actually have a second alternative to ASIC miners and GPUs for crypto mining activities, companies such as GRIID Infrastructures and Jack Dorsey’s owned fintech company Block have already placed orders for the chip so it could be quite the real deal, but details of whether Intel intends to sell the chip to consumers is still unknown for now.

Source:
Intel

bitcoin
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Intel’s upcoming high-end processors could be made with the 14nm process

322

Modern processors are adopting smaller manufacturing processes for faster speeds, better power efficiency, and space efficiency. Intel have been able to achieve a relatively small 10nm process with their Cannon Lake architecture chips making it one of the fastest processors in the market today.

But according to Tech Radar, Intel’s upcoming top-of-the-line processers may be made using the 14nm process again. The reports suggest that the new list of high-power chips will be built on the Cascade Lake microarchitecture; and they are set to be announced at Computex 2019.

Cascade Lake (LGA 3647) : April
 Cascade Lake-X (LGA 2066) : COMPUTEX 2019

2019
 Intel / AMD
 10C Skylake (Comet Lake ?) / 12C Zen2
 18C Cascade Lake-X & 28C Skylake-X (W-3175X ?) / 32C Threadripper
 ❓

— 188号 (@momomo_us)
March 10, 2019

These processors are supposed to be the successors to Intel’s current lineup of high-end processors, but all of their heavy-duty Core i9 chips are already built on the 14nm process already.

This comes as bad news some as there were hops of these high-power chips to come built on Intel’s 10th generation 10nm Ice Lake microarchitecture.

These are only rumors however, so let’s withhold all judgment until the processors are officially announced.

chips
computer
i9
intel
motherboard
nanometer
process
processors


Intercollege Cyber Challenge – RM30,000 grand prize and e-sports experience up for grabs at 5-month tournament

386

In an effort to promote e-sports in the country, gaming league organizers Genysis Cyber E-sports (GCE), in cooperation with The GamePlan, have today launched the Intercollege Cyber Challenge (ICC) where a host of teams consisting of tertiary students battle it out for the grand prize of RM30,000.

The objective for GCE, of course, is about exposing e-sports culture to the younger generation – the ones to take over for the likes of Mushi, Ohaiyo, kaze- and more. GCE Managing Director Justin Sau says that ICC will be a platform for young e-sports athletes to sharpen their skills and provide them with the experience to compete on a global stage.

The ICC tournament partners with 8 universities including Sunway University, TAR University College, UCSI University and more to form what GCE calls the Malaysian Esports Total Alliance (M.E.T.A) – the purpose of which is to collaborate and identify talented groups to represent their college and potentially the country. Also involved are Esports Malaysia, Malaysia’s official e-sports body, as well as the Malaysian Digital Econopy Corporation.

Participants of the tournament will be duelling it out in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, in brackets, throughout the 5-month tournament period. Winners of course will walk away with the moolah, as well as knowledge on team management, tournament hosting, e-sports and athletic performance and even sponsorship requirements should they hit the big time. The ICC tournament ends this November and you can keep tabs it via streams on The GamePlan’s Facebook
page
.

csgo
genysis
icc
intercollege cyber challenge
tournament


Interesting things you can ask Google Now to do for you

366

One of the reasons I am not too fond of using voice commands is probably due to our Malaysian accent. No matter how clear or slow I speak, the AI records some gibberish at times, which can be a tad frustrating since I end up sounding like a broken record. However, there are certain things that can be easily done using Google now, especially more so when Android M rolls out. Here are some fun and interesting things you can ask Google Now to do, using the ‘OK Google’ wake up command.

#1: Set alarms, timers and notes

It may sound like a simple thing but most of us tend not to use it. I have to admit, since I’m quite lazy to keep touching and touching to get into the settings, I’ll usually just use voice commands to do it. One of my favorite usage? Setting timer when I am cooking so I can continue gaming without worrying about burning the pot. So far these easy to pronounce commands doesn’t produce some weird lingo. Setting reminders and notes is also quite simple; you just need to specify when you are using it for the first time, which app to take notes in.

What can you say?

.. Remind me to [call Boss] at [9am]
.. Set timer for [10 minutes]
.. Wake me up in [12 hours]
.. Remind me [when I reach home] to [call mom]

#2: Calling, messaging and emails

This is kind of a hit or miss; I reckon it depends on Google Now’s mood (seriously, can they change that name?), but generally it is still usable. Just don’t try using voice commands to call names like “Ah Beng” as it does have some problems detecting that. Names like Affendi or even nicknames like Sumomo can be detected though. I suppose it can learn, since after it detects some other name or word, you can manually choose a contact instead and hopefully the next time it can detect the same pronounciation to match with the name. Anyway, there are some apps that can be used with Google Now, such as Whatsapp, Viber and Telegram. Try these out and hope that it gets the names right. By the way, don’t speak long messages or you will get “Google can’t be reached at the moment.”

What can you say?

.. Send [Whatsapp message] to [Warren]; [Call Marcus urgent]
.. Call [Andrew]
.. Send [SMS] to [Alex]; [Event at 8am tomorrow don’t forget]
.. [Email] [Andrew] [Hello (this is the subject)]; [Meeting tomorrow is cancelled (this is the message)]

#3: Currency and Conversions

Since our local currency is getting lower when comparing to the US Dollar, I have to convert everything in US$ back to our currency to see whether I can afford that cool new gadget or not. Instead of typing (me being lazy as usual), I just ask Google Now to convert the currencies for me according to the latest exchange rate. You can also convert measurements, which is convenient for us when changing to the metric system, and you can also do calculations which is great during a sale.

What can you say?

.. How much is [100 US dollar] in [Ringgit]?
.. Convert [5 inch] to [mm]
.. What is [150][minus][40%]?

#4: Easter Eggs

There are some really funny responses from Google Now you can try out just for fun. We tried in at the office and amused ourselves just for laughs.

What can you say?

.. What does the fox say?
.. What is your favorite color?
.. How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
.. What is the loneliest number?
.. Make me a sandwich
.. Up up down down left right left right
.. Beam me up Scotty!
.. Who are you?
.. Do a barrel roll

So, have fun trying out all these things and by the next upgrade, I hope Google would let us personalize Google Now to an easier name, or at least something with more personality like Siri or Cortana.

google
googlenow
howtouse
okgoogle
techquickie
whattosay


International Illusionist JC Sum reveals new iFrame act at a private showcase

443

Whether young or old, the idea of magic is still magical with all of us. That was how we felt when treated to a private showcase of renown international illusionish JC Sum held at Live House KL recently. For those who do not know him, JC Sum is an award-winning illusionist and designer of original illusions, whether for performance at special events, luxury cruise liners, theaters, showrooms and television.

Hailed from Singapore, JC Sum showcased a new creation called the iFrame act, which involves some tech-centric illusions such as magically transforming a smart phone into a digital tablet, shrinking a smart phone half its size, on top of other interactive visual effects with the tablet such as making money appear and disappear from and within the iFrame and creating a confetti of snowstorm from thin air.

This is a first of its kind, as this act combines technology with art and magic, as explained by JC Sum. Being able to converse in both Mandarin and English, he has appeared in many international corporate events as well.

We were also entertained by a variety of illusions, some even calling upon people in the audience to take part in. After the showcase, JC Sum came around and showed us an up close and personal illusion where he passed coins through a mobile phone, from the bottom to the top.

If you’re interested in magic, you can check out some of JC Sum’s books as he has so far written nine books on illusion designs and presentations for the magic community, and business books for live entertainers.

iframe
illusionist
jcsum
magic


International Nubia phones will ditch Nubia UI in favour of stock Android

284

Nubia has just made quite a significant announcement that could be a great direction for the company. They announced that they are removing the Nubia UI in favour of a stock Android experience for its global devices. This decision was made because users were wanting faster Android updates and patches.

However, the Nubia UI will be maintained for its china devices where they don’t have Google Services. Future phones outside China will come with a stock Android Oreo and will be on Project Treble, allowing them to push Android updates as soon as it releases. Nubia has stated that it will be easier for them to maintain models for the global market and they are targeting to keep their consumers in Europe and other regions happier.

On a side note, Nubia has been releasing their phones in Europe under a different name called Archos but they are one and the same as they have gone under a partnership with Nubia.

android
international
nubia
stock
ui


Internet Explorer will be dead by next week

276

Developers who have been lamenting about having to still support very old versions of Internet Explorer will be glad to know that Microsoft has finally released a statement that there will be no more technical support for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10. In fact, there will be a patch going live on January 9, 2016 which will bug and annoy you to upgrade your browser to the latest version supported by their version of Windows. This naggy patch will be mostly aimed at Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 users who are still using the dinosaur version of Internet Explorer.

So, what does it mean by ending of technical support? Basically, Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 will not be receiving any more security updates, or any kind of patches, which can leave devices susceptible and vunerable to malicious attacks. While this patch is to bug you to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11, it is interesting to know that this will be the last version of IE supported by Windows before having to move on to Edge on Windows 10.

Source:
The Next Web

browser
ie10
ie8
ie9
internetexplorer
microsoft


Interview and Xiaomi Mi Pad First Look

290

We stayed on quite late at the event today, got on an interview with Hugo and check out the company’s latest and greatest
Android tablet
. Let’s get on with the interview down below.

Interview with Hugo Barra

1) We understand that Xiaomi focuses a lot on user experience and attempting to introduce a complete ecosystem for the brand, are you planing to introduce all Xiaomi products into Malaysia?

Hugo: Definitely, we want to try bringing all Xiaomi products into Malaysia if possible!

2) How do you intend to educate consumers about Xiaomi products? Though MIUI could be straightforward, it has too many features to cover and consumers will be happy to know that.

Hugo: We’ll have MI Homes set up soon, which is a place where customers can go over to purchase accessories for their MI devices and get them repaired. While they’re there, they can also seek for our trained staffs to learn some of the great tips and tricks on our devices.

3) How do you want consumers to perceive Xiaomi products? As we know over here, many of them are still regarding Chinese made products as cheap without value.

Hugo: We are going to change that perspective, and that will start with our global branding, we simply call it MI instead of Xiaomi to make the brand to be easily pronounced and sound global, we even spent lots of cash to purchase the
Mi.com
 domain to make things simple for customers. We do what we are best at and try to focus on making the best purchase and after sales services, and that will slowly change people’s perspective about our products. I also believe that this is also a challenge for our competitors here.

4) Are you thinking of introducing value added services of your own into the market one day? As we know MIUI is a platform of its own, so you definitely must have some unique services to differentiate yourselves from the competition, such as music streaming and video on demand services.

Hugo: It’s possible and we can work on that in the future, in terms of providing multimedia content, our challenge is definitely at the licensing part, which every country will have different regulations that we’ll need to comply.

5) Do you think MIUI can be an operating system of its own one day? No doubt its relying on Android’s core at this point of time, there’ll be definitely be one day that the company could work out on its own proprietary platform.

Hugo: That would be too much of an effort, Android is a very flexible platform and allows us to customise MIUI to suit our user base, and it would not make sense for us to move to that direction as it would be very difficult to maintain and control a platform.

6) Let’s talk about localisation, we still find the experience of MIUI very ‘Chinese’, are you going to introduce Themes API locally?

Hugo: Yes, we’ll be using the MIUI forum for that, give out guidelines on creating themes for the devices.

7) Now on to Mi TV 2, will you bring in the TV and partner with local content providers so that users can purchase a total solution (TV+Service) from it?

Hugo: We would certainly like to partner with content providers if there’s any possibility

Xiaomi Mi Pad First Look

You can simply call it an
iPad
 Mini with Retina Display rip off, however our experience with the
tablet
 doesn’t feel like one, MIUI is just simply MIUI, even though there are still traces of iOS on it, but the company has certainly made a very respectable
tablet
 UI for the Mi Pad. The Mi Pad is the first Android device to run on an NVIDIA K1 Kepler chip and comes with 2GB of RAM, 16/64GB of storage.

It has screen where you get
tablet
 optimised widgets, pretty much like Magazine UX on Samsung’s recent
tablet
 devices. however on the Mi Pad, it doesn’t fill up the whole screen, which we feel that the company could’ve done more in this aspect to make full use of the resolution.

The Mi Pad has an 8MP BSI sensor camera, we aren’t allowed to take image samples unfortunately, but early tests on the camera seem to reveal a lot of noise, which we believe it would be improved at a later time.

The Mi Pad has stereo speakers at the bottom of the device, and the back certainly feels ‘unapologetically plastic’. The speakers are really loud and clear.

It does look a bit bulky and cheap on the side, there’s the power button and volume rocker.

Xiaomi is working hard to bring this monster in to our market really soon, so stay tuned for more updates coming soon!


Interview and Xiaomi Mi Pad First Look

305

We stayed on quite late at the event today, got on an interview with Hugo and check out the company’s latest and greatest
Android tablet
. Let’s get on with the interview down below.

Interview with Hugo Barra

1) We understand that Xiaomi focuses a lot on user experience and attempting to introduce a complete ecosystem for the brand, are you planing to introduce all Xiaomi products into Malaysia?

Hugo: Definitely, we want to try bringing all Xiaomi products into Malaysia if possible!

2) How do you intend to educate consumers about Xiaomi products? Though MIUI could be straightforward, it has too many features to cover and consumers will be happy to know that.

Hugo: We’ll have MI Homes set up soon, which is a place where customers can go over to purchase accessories for their MI devices and get them repaired. While they’re there, they can also seek for our trained staffs to learn some of the great tips and tricks on our devices.

3) How do you want consumers to perceive Xiaomi products? As we know over here, many of them are still regarding Chinese made products as cheap without value.

Hugo: We are going to change that perspective, and that will start with our global branding, we simply call it MI instead of Xiaomi to make the brand to be easily pronounced and sound global, we even spent lots of cash to purchase the
Mi.com
 domain to make things simple for customers. We do what we are best at and try to focus on making the best purchase and after sales services, and that will slowly change people’s perspective about our products. I also believe that this is also a challenge for our competitors here.

4) Are you thinking of introducing value added services of your own into the market one day? As we know MIUI is a platform of its own, so you definitely must have some unique services to differentiate yourselves from the competition, such as music streaming and video on demand services.

Hugo: It’s possible and we can work on that in the future, in terms of providing multimedia content, our challenge is definitely at the licensing part, which every country will have different regulations that we’ll need to comply.

5) Do you think MIUI can be an operating system of its own one day? No doubt its relying on Android’s core at this point of time, there’ll be definitely be one day that the company could work out on its own proprietary platform.

Hugo: That would be too much of an effort, Android is a very flexible platform and allows us to customise MIUI to suit our user base, and it would not make sense for us to move to that direction as it would be very difficult to maintain and control a platform.

6) Let’s talk about localisation, we still find the experience of MIUI very ‘Chinese’, are you going to introduce Themes API locally?

Hugo: Yes, we’ll be using the MIUI forum for that, give out guidelines on creating themes for the devices.

7) Now on to Mi TV 2, will you bring in the TV and partner with local content providers so that users can purchase a total solution (TV+Service) from it?

Hugo: We would certainly like to partner with content providers if there’s any possibility

Xiaomi Mi Pad
 First Look

You can simply call it
an iPad
 Mini with Retina Display rip off, however our experience with the
tablet
 doesn’t feel like one, MIUI is just simply MIUI, even though there are still traces of iOS on it, but the company has certainly made a very respectable
tablet
 UI for the Mi Pad. The Mi Pad is the first Android device to run on an NVIDIA K1 Kepler chip and comes with 2GB of RAM, 16/64GB of storage.

It has screen where you get
tablet
 optimised widgets, pretty much like Magazine UX on Samsung’s recent
tablet
 devices. however on the Mi Pad, it doesn’t fill up the whole screen, which we feel that the company could’ve done more in this aspect to make full use of the resolution.

The
Mi Pad
 has an 8MP BSI sensor camera, we aren’t allowed to take image samples unfortunately, but early tests on the camera seem to reveal a lot of noise, which we believe it would be improved at a later time.

The
Mi Pad
 has stereo speakers at the bottom of the device, and the back certainly feels ‘unapologetically plastic’. The speakers are really loud and clear.

It does look a bit bulky and cheap on the side, there’s the power button and volume rocker.

Xiaomi is working hard to bring this monster in to our market really soon, so stay tuned for more updates coming soon!


Interview: Samsung shares reasons why the Galaxy Z Flip3, Fold3 and Galaxy Watch4 products are important in 2021

1.7K

In an interview shared by the Samsung, a selection of the company’s top brass talk about what makes the Galaxy Z Flip3, Z Fold3, and Galaxy Watch4 series of products important in 2021, and and how they fit in the current smartphone and smartwatch market.

Here’s a roundup of that interview.

What is the demand like for foldable smartphones in 2021?

Bryan Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of Strategic Marketing says that the brand is working on pushing a volume of the product that exceed the market demand, which is about 6.5 million this year alone.

He believes that the brand is positioned to meet those demands, and then some. Samsung can achieve that with their competitive pricings, and cutting-edge innovations.

Drew Blackard, Vice President of Mobile Product Management says that there is an appreciation for the phones’ unique form factor on top of its other benefits in the multitasking and portability front.

He notes that 9 out of 10 existing
Galaxy Z
 series users want to buy more foldable phones in the future, which is indicative to the phones’ growing appeal in the mainstream market.

Improving the Galaxy Z series to meet demands

Dr. Won-Joon Choi, Executive Vice President acknowledges that the durability of foldables is an area of priority when it comes to making improvements – he adds that Samsung is the first to offer the world’s first water-resistant foldable smartphone, and this was achieved by implementing innovative sealing designs.

Choi adds that t
he displays used are 80% more durable now and that’s thanks to the new type of protective film used to layer the panel. The outer body of the frame is protected with Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus.

When it comes to the new S Pen that now works with the Galaxy Z Fold3, even that’s been given an upgrade – Samsung and Wacom’s 10-year collab results in a stylus that offers impressive performance, low latency, and a tuned-up tip that makes the writing and drawing better on a foldable display.

How is the Galaxy Watch4 better?

Dr. Janghyun Yoon, Executive Vice President notes that the Galaxy Watch4 is equipped with the company’s most advanced sensor to date (Samsung BioActive Sensor) that incorporates an Optical Heart Rate Sensor, Electrical Heart Sensor, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Sensor into one chipset.

This allows the chassis of the device to be slimmer than before. On top of that, Yoon notes that the Galaxy Watch4 is the first in the series to offer Body Composition analysis, offering users a more holistic health tracking experience.

The watches ship with the new One UI Watch software which is the brainchild of a collab between Samsung and Google. It allows users to seamlessly sync up their smartwatches with their other Android smartphones.

The Galaxy Z Series and Galaxy Watch4 products are the future

Patrick Chomet, Executive Vice President says in the interview that his favourite features on the smartphones include the hands-free selfie mode with the Galaxy Z Flip3, Google Duo with its automatic zoom that fits everyone in the frame, and the S Pen for the Galaxy Z Fold3 which is great for multitasking.

Both product lineups have great enterprise use cases as well as Hamshy Raveendran, Head of Mobile B2B Product Management points out – being able to use both portions of the smartphones’ screens is great for being on a video chat with colleagues while reviewing a portfolio at the same time.

With Samsung Dex, you can connect your phones to a monitor, use your S Pen to sign documents, and more. With the Galaxy Watch4, you can keep your health in check, which is great after a period of stressful work.

You can read the complete interview on Samsung’s website
here

or visit purchase the products

here
.

Galaxy Watch4
Galaxy Z Flip3
Galaxy Z Fold3
samsung


An interview with Snap Games: How mobile games helped connect friends during the COVID lockdown

1K

The COVID-induced global lockdown showed us what it meant to be connected to each other, and to play together – with most of the world barred inside their homes, video games became a go-to source of not just entertainment, but also social interaction.

Snapchat understands this, and with their own gaming platform Snap Games,
 they helped its millions of users connect with each other during a time of social isolation. So with this, how did the lockdown affect a smaller gaming platform like Snap Games, and what’s more to come from the emerging brand?

Phil Larsen

We spoke to Head of Snap Games Studio Phil Larsen to find out.

First of all, what is Snap Games?

Phil Larsen believes that friendship is a key element of Snapchat, and that it can be fostered by empowering the Snapchat community with fun and play. The Snap Games project began way back in 2016; the company worked with
PlayCanvas
 (games engine creator) and
Prettygreat
 (a company founded by Larsen himself), which led to the
development
 of the platform to publish fun multiplayer games aimed at fostering a sense of togetherness.

Snap Games can be accessed in the Snapchat app and in chat – you can the choose from a host of games that you and your friends can play together.

Mobile games are a dime a dozen, so how does Snap Games set itself apart from the rest?

Snapchat is a communications platform first and foremost – like Bitmojis, Cameos and snapping pics with Lenses, Snap Games is another avenue for injecting creativity in real-life conversations among users and their friends.

As mentioned before, the titles there are easy to access as it can be found in your chats, so you and your buddy can decide what to play, then launch the game there and then. Speaking of titles, Snap Games offers different types of games from Leaderboard-type titles like Find My Friends, co-op games like Zombie Rescue Squad, or party-type games like
Bitmoji
 Party.

Built-in voice chat is also available at default so communicating with your friends, or throwing banters at each other becomes much easier without relying on external apps.

What has Snap Games done differently during the COVID-19 lockdown?

Play real-time multiplayer games with friends on Snap Games 🚀
 Team up or go head-to-head while catching up over Voice or Chat 💬

Start playing with ‘Ready, Chef, Go!’ now:
https://t.co/ODZCvrH71b

pic.twitter.com/Ose36EpyW5

— Snapchat (@Snapchat)
April 7, 2020

It’s unprecedented times as Larsen notes, but he says that the team at Snap Games have continued to work with its partner developers to make, test, launch, and measure the success of their games.

As a result,
Snapchatters
 can look forward to a host of new games coming out in the coming months including titles like
Bitmoji
 Paint, Ready Set Golf, Quiz Party, and more.

How has the COVID lockdown affected Snap Games in terms of player base count?

Quite positively apparently – Larsen says that there’s been an 11% spike in user engagement for mobile games; he also notes that
Bitmoji
 is particularly a crowd
favourite
 with
Snapchatters
 spending an
average
 of 20 minutes
every day
 playing the game.

Bitmoji Party

This isn’t all that surprising since
Bitmoji
 Party is a game of cat and mouse where one person from the pool of players act as the aggressor, while the rest have to work together to survive – that’s definitely a recipe for a good laugh with your pals.

Also, Ready Chef Go was another hit as it recorded 25 million unique users play the game in the past six months.

But with the lockdown now easing, and people returning to relative normalcy, how will Snap Games continue to reel in players?

Leaderboard-type games are key in allowing users to game even when their friends are not online – games like Flip the Egg, Snow Time, and Slide the Shakes let you set a score for your friends to beat when they have the time.

Slide The Shakes
Image credit: Marketing Interactive

These games are easy to get into with their casual gameplay style, which make them great time killers for when a user is commuting, or on a lunch break.

As Snap Games is a “friend-centric” gaming experience, the transition from chat is seamless as you go from having a conversation with your friend to playing a game with them while continuing the
conversation
.

Lastly, if you could recommend one Snap Games title to play, which would it be?

Being the Head of Snap Games, Larsen finds the choice difficult to make – “I am excited to see
Bitmoji
 Party and
Bitmoji
 Tennis resonate well with the community,” he says; besides that, “Ready Chef Go! Is a great third-party game by
Mojiworks
 to play with your friends too,” he adds.

Ready Chef Go

It’s got the
exhilarating
 mix of planning, time management, and collaboration needed in order to win the game with your fellow players – and that’s what makes it fun.

With a community that is 299 million users strong, Snapchat gives Snap Games a healthy pool of user to pull in as players – but Larsen
Larsen
 believes that the platform’s goal isn’t really about bringing in new players, but rather reminding its current users that friendship can be built upon even when you can’t be with each other.

With that, we can see Snap Games grow alongside its parent app as it continues to offer simple, fun titles that any Snapchat user can get into, anywhere and anytime.

If you’d like to learn more about Snap Games, visit their website
here
.

Bitmoji
bitmoji party
mobile games
phil larsen
snap games
snapchat


INTI International College co-organised AppAsia Mobile Challenge with great success

337

INTI International College co-organised the AppAsia Mobile Challenge 2015 recently on 26 October 2015, which is a competition that requires students to use their knowledge, ingenuity and creativity to come up with original mobile applications. It is an excellent platform for the students to showcase their creative concept and innovative ideas and to contribute a useful mobile application to mobile users.

The Challenge was jointly launched by INTI International College Dean for UOW Programme Dr Jane Lim, Executive Director of AppAsia Bhd Calvert Wong and Chief Technology Officer of AppAsia Bhd Joekie Thong.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Jane expressed her deepest gratitude to AppAsia Bhd for their hard work in organising the Challenge and their generous sponsorship for the event. She emphasised on how technologies have a great impact in shaping the way we live, study and communicate with one another. She added, “The use of mobile apps will continue to be on the rise. The knowledge that you gained today, plus the innovativeness and creativity in you, can make you a very successful technopreneur.”

In his address, Calvert extended his warm gratitude to INTI International College for the opportunity to work together in nurturing talents among the students, specifically in the mobile application industry. He shared his experiences in the mobile industry and encouraged students to have a good thinking spirit, the right mindset and passion in order to achieve their dreams.

He advised, “Be passionate in chasing your dreams, never stop innovating. The future of the mobile apps industry lies in hands of those of you who love what you do.” Apart from that, he added that if we love to do something, we will do it honestly. “Be passionate in chasing your dreams, never stop inventing new technology and change the world,” enthused Calvert.

The Challenge is open to students of all faculties in INTI International College. The participating students stand a chance to win attractive prizes, which include RM5,000 for the first prize, RM3,000 for the second prize, RM1,000 for the third prize and RM300 each for the five consolation prizes. In addition, the winners will also receive trophies and certificates of participation.

The top 10 finalists presented their mobile applications to 4 judges from INTI International College and AppAsia Bhd. Team Fragbit bags home the first prize of RM5,000 with their “Crumbs” application.

appasia
education
inticollege
mobileapps
mobilechallenge