Talking cool: Intel doubles notebook fan speed

Intel has invented a way to double the air flow generated by fans used to cool ultrathin notebook computers.

Demonstrating a prototype of the technology in public for the first time at its developer forum taking place this week in San Francisco, Intel says the upshot will be cooler computers--and it's not referring to style.

"This will have the same power consumption and noise level of current fans," said Bradley Urban, an engineer inside Intel's Thermal Technology Development Unit.

As with other engineering advances coming out of its research side, Intel intends to license the proprietary design to computer makers--the idea being that anything which fosters more demand for Intel-based computers will, by definition, add to the company's bottom line.

Call it a product announcement by stealth: You'll find the technology demonstration in a nondescript booth at San Francisco's Moscone Center, a half stone's toss away from the myriad Atom-based notebook PCs Intel is putting on display at its developer forum.

In a side-by-side comparison, the Intel fan flow moves a Styrofoam ball around a track significantly faster. "It's a 2x comparison," Urban said. He added that Intel took less than a year to work out the kinks for a reliably faster fan to fit into ultra-thin notebooks.

"As soon as we can get it into production, we will," he said. It was unclear how long this next step in the process will take before faster fans wend their way into the commercial market. "Maybe two years," he offered.

Via CNET News

PC and TV manufacturers fail marketing 101 with ridiculous model names

Each day during the week here at CNET we have a quick meeting to talk about what stories and reviews we think should be promoted on the CNET home page. Not so surprisingly, computers and TVs are popular among our readers, so those types of products tend to get a lot of play on the CNET home page. But, the problem is these computers and TVs have the most ridiculous model numbers attached to them that it makes it very difficult--and almost comical--to pitch them.

Take a recent selection of model numbers from the Home & Hardware schedule. From HP you have the HP Pavilion dv7-1025nr and HP Pavilion dv5-1004nr. Then there's the Gateway GT5692, Sony VAIO VGN-FW140, Compaq Presario CQ50-115NR, Toshiba Satellite L355D-S7815, and Toshiba Satellite U405D-S2852. On the TV front, you get stuff like the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U, Westinghouse VK-40FS580D, Mitsubishi LT-46148, Toshiba Regza 42RV530U, and Vizio SV470XVT. The list of wacky names goes on and on, which makes you think: What are these people thinking?

By "these people" I guess I mean the marketing teams of these various companies. I mean, haven't they learned anything from Apple? Some of the cell phone manufacturers seem to have. Now we're seeing popular phones like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare that have simple one-word names that people can easily remember. There's a shocker.
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Panasonic targets healthcare with new tablet PC

The medical profession may exist in a sterile environment, but it's possibly one of the most hazardous places for a laptop to exist. From liquid medicines to harried medical staff, getting the right computing device which can survive more than a single night shift in the Accident and Emergency ward is tough.



But tough is the Panasonic ToughBook's middle name. At the IDF 2008 San Francisco, the Japanese maker showcased a tablet PC built specifically for the healthcare market. It comes with an integrated carry handle and though no specifications have been released yet, we can safely assume that water resistance and shock protection will be key features for this medical tablet PC.

Via Ubergizmo

Intel finally delivers a SATA solid-state drive

Intel finally announced its own SATA solid-state drive (SSD) for notebook and desktop clients, and our secured lab has become a feeding frenzy of folks geeking out on the X25-M, just one of the SSD drives Intel introduced at its Developer Forum in San Francisco.

The mainstream SSDs will come in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch models and both will use standard multi-level cell NAND flash memory that will hopefully translate to a lower cost-per-bit for the consumer.

As of the time of this announcement, Intel hasn't released pricing. We're crossing our fingers that the company will eventually price these drives within a reasonable range for the average consumer; most current 64GB SSDs fall around S$1,300 (US$925.79).

Along with the 80GB drive, Intel also sent over its own system benchmarks that show a 50 percent improvement in system performance as well as a nine-fold improvement in HDD performance.

Via CNET Crave

Clarion shows in-car GPS and Internet device

Clarion launched the production version of ClarionMiND at the Intel Developer Forum. This is a portable GPS device with full Internet connectivity that runs on Linux. Clarion showed off a concept of the device at CES 2008. The full product launch reveals a device that looks similar to current GPS devices, featuring a 4.8-inch 800x480-pixel touchscreen. And like some current GPS devices, the ClarionMiND offers media playback and Bluetooth for hands-free calling.

What sets it apart is Wi-Fi and software for various Internet applications, including a Web browser and email. It includes viewers for YouTube, Google Maps, MySpace, and weather. According to the press release, Clarion integrated Internet search and GPS functions, so that you can search for local businesses and feed the addresses into the destination entry. Along with in-vehicle navigation and Internet use, the device is also designed to work as a portable Internet appliance in the home or anywhere else.

The ClarionMiND runs on an Intel Atom processor and includes 512MB of DRAM along with 4GB of flash memory. There are two USB ports and an SD card slot. Clarion says that a vehicle dock will also be available, and that the device has an "Automobile Mode for safe access behind the wheels". We hope this last feature isn't too restrictive, although from the devices description, it can easily be defeated.

ClarionMiND will ship in the fourth quarter in the US. Availability in Asia is not known at this time.

Via CNET Car Tech

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