Intel Switches to Core i3 and Core i5 Chips

Intel's strategy to rename its chips and platforms has seen some opposition from chip enthusiasts, who say the new naming conventions are even more confusing.

The chip company this week announced it was making changes to the naming convention of Core processors, switching the derivatives attached to it. Tags like Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad will be replaced by names like Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7, depending on the type of PC and configuration.

Chips for entry-level desktops and laptops will carry the Core i3 brand, while chips for mid-level and high-end PCs will have Core i5 and Core i7 tags respectively. The Core i7 tag is already being used on Intel's Nehalem-based chips that go in high-end desktop PCs.

Intel said it will continue to use its Atom brand for low-power processors used in netbooks and smartphones. The company will also retain the Celeron and Pentium entry-level chips for mainstream laptops and desktops. The company said it would phase out usage of the popular Centrino brand to describe mobile laptop platforms by early next year.

"For PC purchasing, think in terms of good-better-best with Celeron being good, Pentium better, and the Intel Core family representing the best we have to offer," wrote Bill Calder, an Intel spokesman, in a blog entry. The change will make it easier for customers to differentiate and recognize brands in the future.

"The fact of the matter is, we have a complex structure with too many platform brands, product names, and product brands, and we've made things confusing for consumers and IT buyers in the process," Calder wrote.

But the glut of name changes has confused some users even more, who complained of the new names being incomplete. The changes would not fully reflect how the Core chip would perform, some people wrote in response to the blog entry.

"Too confusing. Make the names longer and more telling," wrote someone identified as Jonah, in a comment on the blog. Dismissing the new naming conventions as meaningless, multiple posters asked Intel to either retain the old names or change chip names to reflect the number of cores, clock speed and cache.

Calling the name changes "nonsense", another poster, John, wrote: "I buy a Core 2 Duo, I'm getting a 2 core processor made out of Core 2. Usually the clock speed is advertised as well. I buy a Core i5 who knows what the hell I'm getting except maybe Intel marketing."

In all the opposition, Intel found support from a few posters who said that the name changes could make it easier to distinguish chips.

"I can see how replacing the confusing mess of 'Core 2 Duo T6400' with 'Core i7' could make things easier for the typical consumer when browsing the laptops at Best Buy," wrote a poster, Colin.

Test adapted from pcworld.in

HP Still Getting Heat on Nvidia Chips

Months after the issue first surfaced in the US, HP laptop owners continue to complain about defective Nvidia graphics cards that could cause laptops to fail.

Some customers say that they have been treated unfairly by HP, in part because their laptops are not included on a list of affected machines that was issued last July by HP, so they are ineligible for a free repair or an extended warranty.

One laptop model with overheating problems is the Pavilion dv9500 line, with screens going blank or overheating, leading to system failure, customers wrote on one HP board. The laptop model isn't on HP's list of affected laptops, and in some cases HP is asking users to pay for repairs.

HP isn't moving quickly to add new laptops to the list of affected PCs, customers wrote. Users are asking HP to examine and update the list of laptops affected by the issue. Laptop failure may also result from components unrelated to the issue with graphics cards, but a trend among posted complaints points to laptops with Nvidia parts, said Matthew Hilsenrad, an HP laptop owner.

"I hadn't seen any post of ATI chips going bad, only Nvidia chips going bad," Hilsenrad said. "A whole lot of people [on the boards] who bought the laptop around the same time seem to have the same problem."

Hilsenrad owns a Pavilion dv9500 model with a Nvidia GeForce 8600 series graphics card, which he bought in September 2007. Many laptops not included in the list - including the HP Pavilion dv9500 and dv9600 series - bought in 2007 are now experiencing similar problems, Hilsenrad said.

He was asked to pay around $400 to replace a motherboard when overheating rendered his laptop screen dysfunctional. He called HP to request a fix, but the PC didn't fall under the extended warranty that HP issued for affected laptops.

After haggling with an HP case manager, he got the laptop repaired for around $215. However, the case manager said the affected laptop list could be updated to include the model he owned, in which case he would be refunded the amount.

Another poster, Salman Fateh, reported system failure and a blank screen on an HP Pavilion dv9500 with a Nvidia 8600 series graphic chip, which was purchased in October 2007.

"HP will not honour the extended warranty for this model. HP should honor customers and replace all laptops with defective Nvidia GPUs," Fateh wrote in a separate HP forum.

Customers echoed Fateh's opinion, saying that unless HP addresses the issue quickly, their laptops would become paperweights.

"HP needs to add the rest of these bad GPU units on the list, get them all repaired," wrote a poster with the screen name Sarah Locker on HP's board. "I don't want to blame HP for Nvidia's manufacturing fault, but it appears now that HP is the one that is dragging their feet."

HP didn't immediately comment on this story. Officials from Nvidia were not available to comment either.

Nvidia last July said that some of its graphics chips were overheating due to packaging material and the thermal design of some laptops. HP subsequently issued an advisory warning of possible laptop failure and a list of models affected by the Nvidia parts.

HP also issued a BIOS patch to keep system fans running longer to prevent overheating, and offered to repair laptops depending on certain symptoms. The affected laptops included some HP Pavilion dv2000, dv6000, dv9000 models and Compaq Presario V3000 and V6000 series laptops. HP also offered a 24-month warranty extension to affected customers in North America.

Other PC vendors, including Dell and Apple, had to address issues related to faulty Nvidia graphics cards. Like HP, Dell issued a software patch to control heating problems, but it attracted a fierce response from unhappy users, who accused Dell of shying away from addressing a larger problem of bad hardware. Apple offered a free repair of laptops with faulty Nvidia graphics cards.

Tech news from pcworld.in

New Bluetooth 3.0 devices to hit market later this year ‘09

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has recently announced the new Bluetooth 3.0 standard to boost wireless data transfer between devices to 24Mbps from the recent data transfer rate of just 3Mbps for Bluetooth 2.1 standards. In fact, the Bluetooth 3.0 specification is an update from the Bluetooth 2.1 protocol, which was adopted by the group in 2007.

A standards group has approved specifications for a new Bluetooth standard that speeds up wireless data transfers between devices like smart phones and laptops. Bluetooth is commonly used to pair mobile phones with wireless headsets for hands-free talking. It is also used to connect a mobile phone to a laptop to synchronize data or transfer multimedia files without using wires. Over 2 billion devices have shipped with Bluetooth built in, according to Bluetooth SIG report.

The adoption of the standard, and devices based on the Bluetooth 3.0 specification could ship later this year ‘09 or by early next year ‘10 near the holiday season. However, post specification adoption might delay the products on the market. The faster data transfers could lead to its adoption in a number consumer electronics devices beyond just mobile phones.

The Bluetooth SIG has expected Bluetooth 3.0 to make its way into PCs, mobile phones, camcorders, cameras, TVs, digital presenters - devices that consumers use to transfer large data files like those of video, photographs and even entire music libraries.

The standard enables faster data transfers while using less power, giving consumers improved responsiveness and better battery life in mobile devices. It also stabilizes connections between devices, ironing out kinks from earlier standards when connections broke after a device like a cell phone was placed in the pocket. The Bluetooth 3.0 radio is based on Wi-Fi standards, which enables better data throughput while delivers power-saving benefits for mobile devices. It uses short bursts of Wi-Fi to send data, after which the radio is shut off until it is needed again.

More about Bluetooth from the Geeklog.

Access e-mail On Your Phone for Cheap Through GooseBerry

GooseBerry has introduced a service with which users can access their emails on their mobiles, without an internet or GPRS connection. According to a press release, the service helps users receive and reply emails using SMS. Further, the Email content is compressed by up to 30% to ensure that users get only the important part of the email. This service works across GSM and CDMA networks.

The release further states that Gooseberry supports 37 email servers as of January 2009, including corporate emails, Gmail, Yahoo and Ibibo, among others. The service runs on any mobile on the planet without needing to install anything. Among other advantages that the service gives users, as mentioned in the release, includes the low cost of the service, the ability to create filters to prevent unwanted emails on your phone, no extra charges for roaming and easy installation. For more details you can go to http://www.gooseberry.in. 

16GB JetFlash Pen Drive from Transcend

Transcend introduces the JetFlash V33 16GB pen drive in India. The JetFlash V33 has dimensions of 60mm x 16.5mm x 8.1mm and weighs 7g. According to a press release, the JetFlash V33 supports Windows Me / 2000 / XP / Vista, Mac OS 9.0 / OS X and Linux Kernel 2.4.2 or later.

The release quotes Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, "With renowned Transcend build quality at down-to-earth prices, the JetFlash V33 represents a new standard in value. The JetFlash V33 allows you store a whole lot more of your personal files, documents from work or school, digital photos, movies and music on a flash drive smaller than your finger."

The JetFlash V33 further comes with Transcend’s JetFlash software that offers features such as AutoLogin, PC-Lock, Mobile Favorites, Secret-Zip encryption, Mobile E-mail, DataBackup, Online Update and the My JetFlash browser. Apart from 16GB (Rs. 2,300), the V33 is also available in 1GB (Rs. 400), 2GB (Rs. 500), 4GB (Rs. 800) and 8GB (Rs.1,300).