Posted 02/19/10 at 08:36:41 AM by Paul Lilly

Could there be a love affair brewing between Intel and Nokia? Quite possibly, as it would appear the two are collaborating on a new mobile chip for use in smartphones and netbooks.

Officially, the two have teamed up to tackle Linux development, but reading between between the lines, ArsTechnica thinks there's a good chance they're up to more than that. As the rumor goes, Intel and Nokia are busy piecing together a system on a chip (SoC) called Penwell. The rumor is at least plausible when you consider Intel's Atom architecture.

"Intel's 32nm Atom core, codenamed Medfield, will leave plenty of 'uncore' available on an SoC for all sorts of third-party IP blocks. [Charlie] Demerjian [at SemiAccurate] suggests that once such IP block could be the HSPA/3G modem that Intel licensed from Nokia last summer," ArsTechinca writes.

But that isn't the only clue. Nokia doesn't seem to want to talk about the chip that's supposed to power the successor to the N900, saying only that it is continuing to develop on the OMAP3, which is the same chip used in the N900. Given the availability of next-gen ARM parts, it seems unusual that Nokia would stick with OMAP3.

Of course this is all speculation and could end up much ado about nothing, but what if it isn't?

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Posted 01/13/10 at 08:02:10 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have announced a new three-year pact worth $250 million. Although their friendship goes back many years, this new deal is the acme of their proximity. They plan to conquer the enterprise market by bundling their hardware and software together, with the new partnership spanning engineering, sales and marketing.

The fact that the two companies are leaders in their respective industries explains why they chose to name their new partnership “Frontline.” They are following the lead of some other big IT companies that have combined forces and solutions to sell integrated IT stacks.

If you are struggling to grasp the exact nature of the partnership, then you are not alone. Apparently, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and HP CEO Mark Hurd were so busy raving about their partnership that they forgot to divulge any lucid details. But the information posted on Microsoft Technet does seem to be of some help: “Microsoft and HP will deliver ‘Smart Bundles’ for small and medium businesses.  These are a combination of hardware and software, including HP server, storage and networking solutions, coupled with Windows Server Hyper-V and HP Insight software, delivered in a single, cost-effective package.”

The partnership will also provide a lot of impetus to the Windows Azure Platform, “with HP offering services, and Microsoft continuing to include HP hardware for Windows Azure infrastructure.”

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Posted 11/25/09 at 07:30:22 AM by Paul Lilly

The future of online media is very much up in the air as news conglomerates look for new ways to generate revenue. But instead of going at it alone, several of the magazine industry's biggest players have been considering joining forces to create a new mega-company.

If it happens, the alliance would be huge and include Time Inc., Conde Nast, and Hearst, which together publishes more than 50 magazines, such as The New Yorker, Time, People, Sports illustrated, The Oprah Magazine, and many more.

The goal is to create a company that will prepare magazines for multiple digital platforms. Those close to the plans have described it as an iTunes for news and magazines.

"It's pretty complicated stuff," said a source. "Thre really, really hard part is that you've got so many different kinds of devices running on different operating systems. And how do you handle that? The consortium provides one point of contact for the consumer. When you come to the main store, you can get the content any way you want."

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Posted 10/06/09 at 08:42:29 PM by Ryan Whitwam

A newly announced partnership between ARM and GlobalFoundries could mean the next generation of mobile devices will be faster than anyone expected. The project will focus on the ARM Cortex-A9 chip. The current Cortex-A8 powers the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. The new chip will be based on a 28nm process.

According to GlobalFoundries, the 28nm parts will take advantage of the manufacturer’s High-K Metal Gate semiconductor. The HKMG technology is known as “Gate First”, meaning that it should allow high performance with minimal leakage.

ARM CEO, Warren East, said of the collaboration, “This announcement reflects our business value and strategy of providing best in class processor implementation by marrying our own processor and physical IP with world class manufacturing semiconductor technology.” So get ready, the next round of ARM chips could blow your socks off.

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Posted 10/01/09 at 06:40:18 PM by Jason Barry

Looks like Best Buy wants to keep its hands, and its phones, in everyone’s pockets. They sealed a deal with Google on exclusivity of some mobile applications and collaboration on an online and in-store mobile storefront. With this effort, they hope to continue to make Best Buy’s mobile division competitive with mobile carrier stores.

In the works so far is a location aware Best Buy mobile application where users can search for, and track stock of, in-store products. They are collaborating on a few other applications in addition to Android specific and Ford Sync applications, but Best Buy declined to give details.

They also hope to launch a Best Buy Mobile online store where eventually users can share reviews and research mobile electronics, as well as purchase products online. Amazon opened a similar storefront (AmazonWireless) earlier this summer.

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