arm

Intel will do what many would consider, at the very least, unusual: make the very kind of chip that it has vowed to crush.

That would be ARM, Intel's biggest nemesis.

First a little background. Intel is the world's largest chipmaker because it owns the x86 design that Apple and all of the world's PC makers use for laptops, desktops, and servers.

But Intel's x86 chips must compete mightily these days against ARM, the chip of choice for smartphones and tablets. Those chips are supplied by Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Samsung.

So, this is where … Read more

Device makers continue to concoct novel designs to take advantage of Windows 8 Metro interface.

On Tuesday at Computex in Taipei, Samsung showed a Series 5 ultrabook running Windows 8 with a 13.3-inch touch display. … Read more

Intel has opened the door to potentially supporting Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system on its chips, according to a report by Computer World today.

Intel is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Windows Phone platform, which has won some critical praise but limited commercial success. Instead, the company is largely betting on the continued success of Google's Android platform, which is the most widely adopted mobile operating system in the world. Android phones running on Intel's x86 platform started to trickle out in different markets earlier this year.

Intel is hoping that Android can boost its presence … Read more

One of the reasons Windows 8 is a big deal is the promise of newfangled devices that span laptop and tablet design. Here are some the hottest appearing at Computex in Taipei so far.

Asus more than any single PC maker is pointing the way toward this brave new device world with the Taichi, a dual-screen Windows 8 ultrabook sporting an extra tablet-mode display on the back of the display panel.

And that screen is no ordinary display: it boasts a resolution of 1,920x1,080: that's a lot of pixels for an 11.6-inch tablet screen. And there'… Read more

Asus, Acer, and Toshiba will roll out a mix of tablets based on both Windows 8 and Windows RT at the hardware-centric Computex trade show next week, according to Bloomberg.

Windows 8 will run on chips from Intel, while Windows RT is powered by ARM chips from Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments.

One Asus tablet uses an Nvidia chip, said Bloomberg. CNET reported earlier in the month that Asus and Lenovo are expected to bring out Windows RT tablets built around Nvidia Tegra 3 chips.

A Windows RT-based Toshiba tablet is using Texas Instruments' silicon, according to Bloomberg.

This jibes … Read more

Only a handful of Windows RT devices will appear initially, as Microsoft wades slowly into new Windows waters, sources told CNET.

Chipmakers Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments will initially get two "slots" each for devices, according to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

"ARM is restricted to two designs each, meaning six total initial designs," one source said, referring to the chip design from U.K.-based ARM that those three suppliers use.

Windows RT -- aka, Windows on ARM -- is the first mainstream, desktop-class Windows operating system to run on ARM chips. This presents … Read more

In today's show, we're Binging our friends, casting spells in Kindle's library, and bracing ourselves for the return of the browser wars:

Microsoft's Bing search engine now includes Facebook integration. When you search for something on Bing, a side panel will pop up and show which of your friends might help you with your search. So for example, if you search for hotels in Chicago, Bing will point out which of your friends live in Chicago.

Microsoft is also in the news today for stirring up the browser wars again. According to Mozilla, Microsoft is preventing … Read more

Intel CEO Paul Otellini took aim at a vulnerability of the ARM chips running Windows 8 when he addressed investors today at a meeting at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.

"There's been a lot of debate that [Windows 8] is going to be a real entree for the ARM camp into Windows for the first time," he said. "While at face value, that's true...[but] I think they have a big uphill fight," he said.

Intel showed off an ultrabook with a touch screen running Windows 8, demonstrating how easy it is to … Read more

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has ripped a page right out of the Intel playbook.

TSMC announced today that a chip rolling off its advanced 28-nanometer manufacturing process was jacked up to 3.1GHz -- unheard of in the annals of ARM-based mobile system reviews.

Intel, of course, is not a stranger to fast frequencies. Its high-performance Core i desktop processors run well more than 3GHz, and even its higher-end mobile parts are rated close to 3GHz.

But that's unfamiliar territory for ARM, which is known more for power efficiency than raw power.

More specifically, the TSMC chip is a … Read more