iXBT Labs - Computer Hardware in Detail

Platform

Video

Multimedia

Mobile

Other

News Archive


 « Previous Day News Archive Next Day » 

Headlines


Intel: x86, 32-Bit On-Die Application Support Dropped For IA-64 Montecito

Kingmax Offers 256MB microSD Card

ASUS Announces... V66 Cell Phone

X1900-Based Novelties From ASUS, Info-Tek, MSI, Sapphire

ATI Introduces Imageon 2380 And Imageon 2388 Media Processors



Intel: x86, 32-Bit On-Die Application Support Dropped For IA-64 Montecito

According to TG Daily, an Intel spokesperson confirmed that the Montecito platform, which will premiere the company's next-generation 64-bit Itanium architecture, will dispense with executing all 32-bit instruction set applications on-die, prompting customers to opt instead for software-based emulation which Intel promises will be faster anyway.

The disposal of the on-die feature was discovered last week by CNET reporter Joris Evers, who noticed the omission of any mention of x86 platform emulation in an addendum manual for the Montecito platform released by Intel last week, entitled "Dual-Core Update to the Intel Itanium 2 Reference Manual." The update manual refers to the fact that first-generation IA-32 processing support had been moved from the hardware level, to emulation software called "IA-32 Execution Layer." "IA-32 EL is OS-based and is only available after an OS has booted," it states, which is the manual's way of saying it's a program on disk, not microcode on a chip.

What was unclear was whether this meant for certain that x86 emulation was being moved to IA-32 LA as well, or perhaps to some other unmentioned service. But in a statement to us this afternoon, Intel spokesperson Scott McLaughlin stated, "x86 software will run on Montecito using the IA32-EL emulation software rather than via an on-die solution."

At one time, support for 32-bit software was considered critical to IA-64's consideration as a full-featured platform. But the reasons for this change in direction, stated McLaughlin, are threefold: "First, IA32-EL is good code," he said, "and outperforms the hardware solution by [greater than a factor of three], and as the processor performance scales, so will the application performance.

"The second point is related," McLaughlin continued. "Application performance scales well through the emulation software, which means the customers get benefits without us having to re-spin or redesign transistors to deliver more performance. This is good for them, us, [as well as] system manufacturers who need to revalidate after every silicon spin. Finally, this lets us use the transistors that were focused on x86 software for other features in the processor."

Later, McLaughlin added that all of his 32-bit "legacy apps" run fine on the Itanium-2 64-bit platform, "which is all I care about, really."

With Intel's more consumer-related projects having stolen the spotlight, not much had been stated about Intel's plans for Montecito and Itanium 2 since last September's demonstration at the IDF conference.

Source: TG Daily

Kingmax Offers 256MB microSD Card

Kingmax is now offering its new microSD card with 256MB capacity. This form-factor is currently one of the smallest in the world and is naturally intended for mobile phones or such.

Features:

  • Compatible with Secure Digital Music Initiative(SDMI), SD with an adapter
  • 12.5MB/s throughput
  • 15x11x1mm dimensions
  • 8-pin contact pad
  • PIP (Product in Package), TinyBGA DRAM

Source: Kingmax

ASUS Announces... V66 Cell Phone

ASUS, more known as a PC hardware vendor, announced a new tri-band mobile handset - ASUS V66 Cell Phone. The novelty has stylish design oriented for younger people. The package includes ASUS MV Director software that manages photos, music and videos.

Specs:

  • GSM 900/1800/1900 ÌÃö; GPRS class 10
  • Silver/Blue/Orange body colors
  • 1.8" LCD, 262K colors, 128x160
  • 255-contact phonebook
  • SMS/MMS/E-mail
  • 0.3-megapixel CMOS cam, 4x digital zoom
  • ÌÐ3, MPEG4 supported
  • 64-tone polyphony, MP3 ringtones
  • Voice recorder
  • FM tuner
  • 32MB memory
  • miniSD slot
  • 3 Java games
  • USB 1.1
  • WAP 1.2.1 / WAP 2.0
  • 720 mAh Li-Ion battery
  • 150-200 hours of standby
  • 2.5-5 hours of talking
  • 99.8x43.8x18.7mm dimensions
  • 90g weight

Source: ASUS

X1900-Based Novelties From ASUS, Info-Tek, MSI, Sapphire

Following the announcement of ATI's X1900 GPUs, all companies are presenting their corresponding products.

ASUS announced the EAX1900XTX and the EAX1900XT cards that adopted Radeon X1900XTX and Radeon X1900XT VPUs, respectively.

Info-Tek presented GC-X1900XTD-VIE3, GC-X1900XTXD-VIE3, and GC-CX1900XT-E2 cards with MSRP of $549-649.

MSI's RX1900 series includes two models RX1900XTX-VT2D512E and RX1900XT-VT2D512E.

Sapphire unveiled RADEON X1900XTX, RADEON X1900XT, and RADEON X1900 Crossfire products.

All products have reference specifications and differ primarily by packages and proprietary features. If you need the complete specifications, please take a look at this page.

ATI Introduces Imageon 2380 And Imageon 2388 Media Processors

ATI Technologies introduced its latest handheld media processors - the Imageon 2380 and the Imageon 2388 - that support OpenGL ES 1.2.

Also, the programmable audio engine in the new Imageon processors enable new features such as positional 3D sound, CD-quality ring-tones and music phones with stereo recording and playback. Novelties support more than seventeen audio formats, including AMR, AAC LC, aacPlus enhanced, MP3, Real Audio, WMA and MIDI.

The Imageon video engine enables a mobile digital camcorder/player and supports advanced features such as video-telephony and video-streaming. Both media processors support video playback and recording at up to 30 frames-per-second in MPEG-4 and H.263/H.263+ formats. In addition, they support the latest video formats such as H.264 and Real Video offering compatibility for video streaming applications. Another feature implemented into the processors is ATI's PowerPlay power management technology.

All Imageon components come with the necessary software drivers and middleware that is compatible across the product line.

ATI is currently sampling the Imageon 2380 and Imageon 2388 to customers.

Source: ATI Technologies

 « Previous Day News Archive Next Day » 

Write a comment below. No registration needed!




blog comments powered by Disqus

  Most Popular Reviews More    RSS  

AMD Phenom II X4 955, Phenom II X4 960T, Phenom II X6 1075T, and Intel Pentium G2120, Core i3-3220, Core i5-3330 Processors

Comparing old, cheap solutions from AMD with new, budget offerings from Intel.
February 1, 2013 · Processor Roundups

Inno3D GeForce GTX 670 iChill, Inno3D GeForce GTX 660 Ti Graphics Cards

A couple of mid-range adapters with original cooling systems.
January 30, 2013 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1

An external X-Fi solution in tests.
September 9, 2008 · Sound Cards

AMD FX-8350 Processor

The first worthwhile Piledriver CPU.
September 11, 2012 · Processors: AMD

Consumed Power, Energy Consumption: Ivy Bridge vs. Sandy Bridge

Trying out the new method.
September 18, 2012 · Processors: Intel
  Latest Reviews More    RSS  

i3DSpeed, September 2013

Retested all graphics cards with the new drivers.
Oct 18, 2013 · 3Digests

i3DSpeed, August 2013

Added new benchmarks: BioShock Infinite and Metro: Last Light.
Sep 06, 2013 · 3Digests

i3DSpeed, July 2013

Added the test results of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 and AMD Radeon HD 7730.
Aug 05, 2013 · 3Digests

Gainward GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB Golden Sample Graphics Card

An excellent hybrid of GeForce GTX 650 Ti and GeForce GTX 660.
Jun 24, 2013 · Video cards: NVIDIA GPUs

i3DSpeed, May 2013

Added the test results of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770/780.
Jun 03, 2013 · 3Digests
  Latest News More    RSS  

Platform  ·  Video  ·  Multimedia  ·  Mobile  ·  Other  ||  About us & Privacy policy  ·  Twitter  ·  Facebook


Copyright © Byrds Research & Publishing, Ltd., 1997–2011. All rights reserved.