Back May last year Intel announced the Nehalem-EX Octal Core processor, but later this month the monster server CPU is set to hit the market. The company hyped the new Nehalem-EX-based Xeons processor to be the “single greatest generational jump in its history”. Hit on the continue link for more blood-pumping details.

Nehalem-EX-based Xeons Specification details:

• Intel Nehalem Architecture built on Intel’s unique 45nm high-k metal gate technology process
• Up to 8 cores per processor
• Up to 16 threads per processor with Intel Hyper-threading
• Scalability up to eight sockets via Quick Path Interconnects and greater with third-party node controllers
• QuickPath Architecture with four high-bandwidth links
• 24MB of shared cache
• Integrated memory controllers
• Intel Turbo Boost Technology
• Intel scalable memory buffer and scalable memory interconnects
• Up to 9x the memory bandwidth of previous generation
• Support for up to 16 memory slots per processor socket
• Advanced RAS capabilities including MCA Recovery
• 2.3 billion transistors

MSI, a computer maker has announced that Core i7 laptops will be offered in September. MSI has confirmed a series of 15.4 and 17-inch mobile Core i7 laptops will be ready before the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 version of its OS.

Intel’s new Core i7 CPU is an excellent processor at multitasking and hard-core gaming, but it still draws quite a bit of power. The i7 is the CPU that will populate the next generation of eye-popping gaming laptops that will, in most instances, also come with eye-popping prices.

Intel’s new processor platform is code-named Arrandale and will soon produce Core i3 and Core i5 mobile CPUs some time in 2010, set to replace some more mainstream laptop processors.

These MSI Core i7 super-laptops will be top-of-the-line desktop replacements, far from the budget categories that have been the fastest-growing part of the marketplace. And the real question will be whether battery life will be anywhere near functional for a serious laptop user who isn’t interested in camping near a power outlet.

It will be interesting to see just how well these laptops work on Windows 7. Various reports out on the Web already say that Windows 7 won’t be able to run more than three different programs at once.

We think that MSI should also offer Linux on their super-laptops. Let’s all hope they do soon.

Source: Intel.com

The partnership Intel and Nokia announced on Tuesday to develop future mobile devices should help both companies, though analysts are skeptical whether it will result in any actual products.

The companies announced they were teaming up to develop new mobile computing devices and chipset architectures. They will also collaborate on several open-source mobile Linux projects.

The joint effort could lead to the development of “pocketable” devices that reach a new audience beyond netbook and mobile Internet device (MID) users, the companies said. The companies said they wanted to merge the computing and mobile worlds in pocketable devices but otherwise were vague on product details.

Several industry analysts were disappointed at the lack of product details in the announcement and speculated that the device could be a smartphone, an MID, a netbook, or an e-book reader. It’s too early to predict, as designs of mobile devices consistently change, they said.

One analyst doubts the alliance will result in a winning product. The companies have worked together for close to a decade on multiple technologies that included mobile devices and mobile broadband technologies such as WiMAX, but nothing spectacular has come of it, said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist with In-Stat. The partnership is “vaporware” until they detail the products surrounding it, he said.

Intel is already covering a range of mobile devices — including netbooks, MIDs and smartphones — with its current and future chips, and it’s hard to envision a radically different mobile device, McGregor said. However, the partnership could be a sign that Nokia is looking to move beyond handsets into netbooks, a product category that is popular and gaining momentum, McGregor said.

Even if no specific products come out of it, the collaboration could be mutually beneficial as both companies try to expand their presence in key markets, analysts said. Intel, the world’s top chip maker, is trying to catch up with competitor Arm in the mobile-phone space. Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile-phone vendor, is looking to expand its product offerings beyond handsets, analysts said.

Intel has a road map of chips that could go into many devices, and the alliance gives Nokia a broader capability to build Internet-centric devices, said Leslie Fiering, a vice president covering mobile computing at Gartner. Nokia has been strong in the handset space and could be looking at mobile devices in different form factors, which could include netbooks, Fiering said.

One trigger for Nokia’s alignment with Intel may have been Apple’s popular iPhone device, an Internet-centric smartphone that has a strong software and entertainment ecosystem around it, Fiering said. For example, iPhone users can download movies and videos from the iTunes store, and software applications from Apple’s App Store. Using Intel’s chips could bring a larger ecosystem and stronger set of x86-based applications to Nokia’s mobile devices, Fiering said.

Intel, on the other hand, could use Nokia’s market presence to get an entry into the mobile space, which is the next obvious market for the chip company as it tries to expand beyond the PC business, said Dan Olds, principal analyst with Gabriel Consulting Group. After years of trying, Intel has realized that it can’t sell chips for mobile devices itself, and Nokia gives Intel a beachhead to get into that industry.

Intel’s revenue opportunities from the alliance will be insignificant for a while, Olds said. However, the company will get an inside view on how to market its mobile chips through Nokia’s eyes, which could help it build revenue over time.

Intel has a history of trying to enter key markets itself, and this alliance shows Intel’s willingness to adopt partners. Intel realized it needed help to sell its mobile chips based on the Atom architecture to tackle processors designed by rival Arm, Olds said. Arm chips go into most of the world’s mobile phones, including the iPhone 3G S and Palm’s Pre.

Nokia, which currently depends on Arm chips for most of its smartphones and its Internet tablets, understands that the Arm architecture could fall short as it tries to move upstream and serve the netbook and MID markets, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, in a research report. Most of the netbooks today carry Intel’s Atom chips.

“By working with Intel, Nokia gets to influence the design of Atom chips specifically targeted where Nokia needs to go; expanding from its smartphones base and into more wireless entertainment devices,” Gold wrote.

Two of the world’s top three mobile-phone makers now plan to use Intel’s chips in mobile devices. LG Electronics said earlier this year it would use Intel chips in an upcoming MID. These two design wins should put Intel in a better position to compete with companies such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, which make Arm-based chips for mobile devices.

During the announcement, Intel also said it would license Nokia’s technology for 3G HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) cellular technology for use with its chips. Nokia has compelling intellectual property in 3G radio technology, and the adoption of Nokia’s mobile broadband technology could help to strengthen Intel’s communications offerings, which include Wi-Fi and WiMax chips, analysts said.

“This is critical in the netbook and MID space, where it has targeted its Atom processors, and where it hopes to eventually make a play for smartphones as well with future, lower-powered models of Atom,” Gold wrote. Initial products using the new capability could be in Atom-based systems that could be released in early to mid-2010, he said.