Five months ago, Intel introduced their low-power 45nm Atom and Centrino Atom processors. Now, Intel dropped the Centrino Atom brand-name and changed it to just Atom.  The Centrino Atom brand was used to describe processors under the Menlow platform aimed at Mobile Internet Devices (MID) but not for Ultra Low Cost Personal Computers (ULCPCs) like netbooks because the Atom processor was deigned for this.

So don’t be confused, all you have to worry now is the difference between MIDs and ULCPCs because their processors are now using the same brand name. LOL!

Popularity: 64% [?]

While Intel’s Nehalem (Core i7) processors are yet to arrive, there are now rumors that Intel is currently working on new processors code-named “Sandy Bridge” and “Haswell” processors which will be delivered in 2010 and 2012 respectively. According to the leaked slides obtained by CanardPlus, the upcoming processors will double the number of cores per chip and add a brand new language for specialized code.

The code-named Sandy Bridge processor according to rumors will be made using 32nm process technology sometime in 2010. It will be a six-core processor with 512KB of L2 cache per core as well as 16MB of L3 cache. This means that the processor will have a total of  20MB of cache which is a very unprecedented cache capacity for a desktop-class processor.

The code-named Haswell processor according to rumors will be made using 22nm process technology, will feature  eight cores, new cache design and a new energy-saving functions. The Haswell processor will also support the ability to both add and multiply in a single instruction, resulting in much more simplified code than the current processors which can only perform one type of math operation at a time.

Well, as of posting time, these information are just rumors, I hope that Intel will say something, perhaps confirm if these rumors are true during next week’s  Intel Developer Forum, which is focused on the Intel Core i7 processor.

Popularity: 66% [?]

Intel has released its Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) draft specification for USB 3.0 devices. USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB, is a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009 offerring data trasfer speed 10 times faster than  the current USB 2.0.

The objective of the draft specificationis to create an industry standard that will allow chipset makers to develop devices that can communicate with USB 3.0 system software. Also, the specification revision 0.9 resolves the dispute with Nvidia, AMD, VIA and others who are threatening to co-develop a more open USB 3.0 standard.

“Interoperability among devices from multiple manufacturers is important for consumer adoption of SuperSpeed USB products,” Intel said in a statement. The draft specification revision will make it easier to develop software support for the industry, according to Intel.

AMD, Dell, Microsoft, NEC and Nvidia have expressed support for the new draft specification from Intel.

Popularity: 21% [?]

In a sign that Fujitsu is now reaching out to customers concerned about the environment, the company has announced the “world’s first zero-watt monitors”. The Scenicview Premium Line ECO monitors feature a patent pending power saving technology that consumes zero watts in standby mode. Not only that, the monitors also feature an automatic brightness control  called “DisplayView AutoBright” that adapts monitor brightness to ambient light.

The monitors’ DC power converter shuts down when no output is sent to them using a switching element in the power supply controlled by the computers where they are connected . When the computers send signal to the monitors, a small electrical pulse triggers the display power on.

The 20-inch P20W-5 ECO and 22-inch P22W-5 ECO offer up to 1680 x 1050 pixels resolution and a 5 millisecond response time as well as a HDMI interface for connecting HD devices.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Emerging from the troubles after the failed merger with Microsoft, Yahoo has managed to launch a new service called Fire Eagle.  Fire Eagle is tool that allows you to store your current physical location in the world with web services and mobile products and syncs it with other applications that provide geo-related services or social network features.

Once you update your location, you can choose which applications with built-in Fire Eagle functionality like Dopplr, Pownce, and Movable Type you want to share your information with. You can also choose how much detail about your location you want to share like country, state, zip code, cross streets among the few. The idea, according to Yahoo, is to bring location awareness to everything on the Internet and to give control back to the user.

On the issues of security and privacy, Yahoo Brickhouse head of product Tom Coates made it very clear that users are in complete control of what location information is made available.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Google’s Gmail service experienced a system-wide outage today, the outage has affected regular Gmail accounts and Gmail enterprise users. On the other hand, Twitter survived the sudden spike in traffic after frustrated Gmail users used it to air their grievances to the Gmail outage.

Below is the message showing up after logging in:

Temporary Error (502)

We’re sorry, but your [Gmail]* account is currently experiencing errors. You won’t be able to use your account while these errors last, but don’t worry, your account data and messages are safe. Our engineers are working to resolve this issue.

Please try accessing your account again in a few minutes.

Gmail according to Google Groups is aware of what happened.

Popularity: 6% [?]