Intel to exit desktop motherboard business after Haswell

Intel has announced plans to shutter their retail motherboard business after more than 20 years on the job. The chip maker informed a number of tech publications of the decision late yesterday, stating that there will be no more retail boards from Intel after the fourth generation Intel Core processors are released later this year. This includes all standard ATX, mini-ATX and micro-ATX offerings.

It’s worth clarifying that the announcement won’t impact Haswell production as Intel still plans to volume produce motherboards based on that architecture. The decision to stop making boards after that shouldn’t deter buyers from picking up an Intel-branded board, however. The company has confirmed that they plan to offer traditional warranty and BIOS support that previous boards have enjoyed for years.

After Haswell’s life cycle of 18 months to two years, Intel and buyers alike will have to rely on motherboards from third party manufacturers like Asus, Gigabyte and MSI, just to name a few. Chipzilla plans to reallocate resources from the motherboard division to other product teams like those working on all-in-ones and Ultrabooks.

It’s also worth pointing out that Intel will still be responsible for making motherboard chipsets found in aftermarket boards.

At the end of the day, this really won’t mean much of anything for the average consumer that buys a PC off the store shelf. For enthusiasts that build their own systems, it simply means that you’ll have to select another board maker to base your build on. That said, one has to wonder how often a DIY PC builder selects an Intel-branded board to begin with.

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Intel to launch Haswell just days before Computex on June 2

We all know that Haswell is the successor to current generation Ivy Bridge CPUs but up to this point, we haven’t had a date to circle on our calendar for its arrival. That’s all changing now according to a new report from DigiTimes which says we can expect to see Intel’s revamped architecture arrive on June 2 – just two days before Computex kicks off in Taipei, Taiwan.

Sources say that the Core i7-4770K, i7-4770, i7-4770S, i7-4770T, i7-4765T, i5-4670K, i5-4670, i5-4670S, i5-4670T, i5-4570, i5-4570S, i5-4570T, i5-4430 and the i5-4430S will all be released during the second quarter of 2013. The chip maker is further expected to launch the Core i3 Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E processors during the third quarter followed by Pentium and Celeron chips after that.

As you may already know, Haswell will require a brand new socket, LGA1150. Chips will ship with Intel HD Graphics 4600 and a new memory controller that is able to hit speeds of up to 1,600MHz. The platform will also use a new chipset known as Lynx Point which includes up to 14 USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.0 / SATA 6Gbps ports and eight PCIe 2.0 lanes.

Jumping back to Computex, sources say that related products like motherboards, notebooks and maybe even tablets will likely be on display during the show. Along with motherboards, we have little doubt that third party cooling makers will have heatsinks and water cooling kits ready for the new socket as well.

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Google exec pushes North Korea for open web, smartphones

Google Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt completed his controversial but brief sojourn to North Korea, describing it as a private visit "to talk about the free and open Internet" and as a "private humanitarian mission." North Korea is an infamously reclusive and highly secretive nation headed by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, son of former leader Kim Jong-il.

Schmidt warned North Korean officials that Internet access is imperative for economic expansion and that continuing its isolation from the rest of the world digitally would "affect their physical world."

"The government has to do something, It has to make it possible for the people to use the Internet. It is their choice now. It's in my view time for them to start, or else they will remain behind."

Accompanied by U.S. Senator Bill Richardson, U.S. State Department officials criticized the visit as "ill timed", interfering with sanctions and other U.S. political strategies by conveying a false sense of legitimacy to North Korea.

"We had a good opportunity to talk about expanding the Internet and cell phones in the DPRK" saidRichardson. The senator added that their discussions on technology were seemingly the most productive. Schmidt seemed to agree, telling reporters that some North Korean officials seemed receptive to various points during technology talks.

North Korea's original cellular network was shut down around 2004, an official reason for which remains elusive. An updated wireless network with 3G capability was rolled out in 2008 though, but only select citizens have access to the highly-censored and filtered network. The country's government recently deemed using a cell phone as a criminal act, punishable by its heavy-handed "war criminal" laws.

According to some human rights activists, Eric Schmidt has already done more than most by virtue of heading Google for several years. Google Earth, for example, helped reveal dozens of gulag-style prison camps believe to be sites for inhumane conditions and even executions. 

"What Eric Schmidt does or does not do in Pyongyang will probably be forgotten in a few weeks," said Joshua Stanton, a Washington lawyer and human rights activist. "The good that Google has done, however inadvertently, by helping people tell the truth about North Korea, will probably be reflected in the history of the country one day".

In addition to Schmidt's technology talks, Richardson took part in negotiations regarding the release of anAmerican detainee and discussed North Korea's development of nuclear technologies alongside its recent ballistic missile launch endeavors.

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Micron and Crucial announce next generation M500 solid state drive

Micron has unveiled the M500 solid state drive that uses Micron’s latest 20-nanometer multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash technology. Using the SATA 6Gbps interface, the M500 drives can deliver up to 80,000 IOPS with sequential read and write speeds topping out at 500 MB/s and 400 MB/sec, respectively.

The M500 uses what’s known as device sleep (DEVSLP) where the SSD draws an average of 150mW during use and just 5mW during sleep, meaning excess heat in cramped spaces shouldn’t be a concern. Other useful features include a small bank of capacitors designed to protect against data loss in the event your system loses power.

The drives also incorporate TCG Opal 2.0 + IEEE 1667, 256-bit AES hardware encryption should your system or drive be compromised by theft or loss. Furthermore, Micron says the M500 can wake up from sleep in just 0.2 seconds, or about five times faster than the previous generation.

The M500 will likely gain the most media attention based on the price tag that Crucial has pinned on the 960GB SSD – less than $600, or under $0.63 per GB. When you consider that most solid state drives in the 1TB range cost around $1,000 or more, you quickly realize why this drive will be a hot commodity when it hits the market.

The M500 will be available in 120GB, 240GB, 480GB and 960GB capacities in the first quarter of 2013 as Crucial-branded drives. M.2 and mSATA form factors will be available in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities starting in Q2 2013. Units will also be available directly to OEMs under the Micron brand through their distribution network, we’re told.

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Nokia's Lumia did 'better than expected' in Q4, 4.4 million units sold

Nokia has revealed that fourth quarter sales of their Lumia handsets were better than expected, giving the company’s stock a nice boost in the process. A strong holiday season pushed Lumia sales to 4.4 million, a solid increase over the 2.9 million handsets moved in Q3 2012 and the 4 million in the previous quarter.

Looking at all smartphones, Nokia sold 15.9 million units in Q4 2012 which includes the 4.4 million Lumia phones, 9.3 million Asha smartphones and 2.2 million Symbian devices. Net sales for the Devices & Services division stands at $5.1 billion for the quarter while total device volumes sit at 86.3 million units.

Nokia’s press release said they achieved underlying profitability in the quarter as the mobile phone business and the Lumia portfolio did better than expected. Operating expenses were also lower than anticipated thanks to better than expected cost management which is always a good thing. As of writing, share value is up nearly 20 percent following the announcement.

Nokia did warn that seasonality and the competitive environment are expected to have a negative impact on the first quarter 2013 underlying profitability compared to the fourth quarter 2012. This of course is expected as the holiday buying season is typically more lucrative than any other time of year.

It’s worth mentioning that these are all preliminary figures. The Finnish handset maker is expected to report full fourth quarter details and a full year report on January 24.

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Why Adobe (and other vendors) should give away older software

No doubt you heard earlier this week that Adobe is giving away Creative Suite 2, an older version of its popular (and pricey) image-editing and design bundle.

Then it turned out that, no, the software wasn't free; Adobe's Don Isaacs wrote that the company was merely "terminating the activation servers for CS2," and that the download page was only for those who already owned licenses for the product.

Ah, but it was too late: the story had gone viral (big time), and it appears Adobe has decided not to try stuffing the genie back into the bottle. As of now, you can download the whole of CS2 (for Windows or Mac) or individual components (like, say, Photoshop) free of charge, and unlock them using the serial numbers provided right on Adobe's download page.

There's nothing there to indicate you need an Adobe account, an existing software license, or anything else. There are no warnings about who's allowed to use the software or for what purposes. It sure looks like a freebie to me. Indeed, I downloaded and installed Photoshop, using Adobe's provided serial number, and no police have arrived at my door.

Good for Adobe. The company may not have intended to give away this old, discontinued product, but think of the goodwill they'll earn by doing so. (The company could use some, asusers of Photoshop Elements are incensed about Adobe's discontinued support of Photoshop.com.) Think how many users who would never try, say, Illustrator or Premiere Pro that now have the chance to do so. And if they try it and like it, they're at least a little more likely to pay for the latest version, CS6.

This is not an unprecedented move. For the past couple years, SoftMaker Software has given away SoftMaker FreeOffice, an older (but still very capable) version of its office suite. It's a great way to introduce customers to their products (and, hopefully, get them to upgrade) by giving them something of real value.

Can you imagine if Microsoft did something similar? I'd love to see the company release, say, Windows XP free of charge. Give it away to people running older computers, making clear that it's provided without support, and watch as former Microsoft haters turn into Microsoft lovers. At the same time, how about making Microsoft Office 2003 a freebie? It can't be generating much (if any) money for the company, yet it's more than sufficient for many users -- especially those with older PCs.

Maybe it's just me, but if Microsoft actually gave me something like that for free, I wouldn't have such a bad taste in my mouth when it came time to buy Office 2013.

Indeed, I'd love to see more software vendors step up and give away their discontinued wares. (Actually, you can find a ton of "oldware" at OldVersion.com, but most of it was freeware to begin with.) How about it, Intuit? And Corel? And Apple, and Symantec? This might be just the scheme you need to compete with the mountains of freeware and Web apps out there.

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Razer Edge becomes reality at CES: Hands-on with the tablet-PC-game console

LAS VEGAS--Gaming hardware usually takes a backseat at CES, but this year seems to be an exception. We've already seen Nvidia's blockbuster Project Shield handheld Android/PC game streaming device. Today Razer announced the Edge PC gaming tablet, and we took a good long look at and played with it along with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan at this year's CES.

Razer teased the tablet at last year's CES under the code name Project Fiona. The company then conducted a crowd-sourcing campaign in which gamers provided Razer with feedback about the specs they'd like to see in a mobile PC gaming device.

Razer Edge brings full PC gaming to a versatile tablet (pictures)

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It’s an innovative approach, but the result is what you could probably guess anyway: the Edge splits the difference between hard-core gaming PCs and tablets with a full-fledged Windows 8 tablet running an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT640M LE graphics. It looks...well, it looks like a tablet. But, under the hood, it has the guts of a high-powered gaming ultrabook.

(Credit: Rich Brown/CNET)

If the specs are perhaps predictable, it's the accessories that help it stand out.

The accessories help the Edge transform into a few different modes: a handheld dual-controller case looks nearly identical to the Project Fiona images shown last year. It adds gaming console-like buttons and sticks and makes the Edge a large gaming handheld, of a sort.

(Credit: Razer)

There's also a dock that offers external HDMI and USB connectors to plug into a TV and add additional Xbox 360-like controllers, for two-player simultaneous gaming. You can use the dock with a larger-screen monitor or TV, or as a standalone device.

The Razer Edge: Windows 8 gaming tablet

(Credit: Rich Brown/CNET)

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

A keyboard accessory turns the Edge into a little gaming hybrid device, and both the keyboard and the game pad accessories support a removable battery that doubles the life of the Edge. You will likely want an extra battery, too. Without it, Razer estimates the Edge has 2 hours of power during general tablet use, and around 1 hour when you're playing games, but an extended 40-watt battery will take gaming use up to 2-4 hours, or around 8 hours for less graphics-intensive tablet use.

Razer Edge gaming tablet from every direction (pictures)

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The Edge costs $999 in its base configuration with a Core i5 chip, 4GB of RAM, and a 64GB solid-state hard drive. That's in the same ballpark as other Windows 8 tablets like Microsoft's forthcoming Surface Pro.

The $1,299 Edge Pro model will get a bump to Core i7, 8GB of memory, and either a 128GB or 256GB SSD. A $1,499 bundle includes the game pad case. Both models are available for purchase today from online retailers and Razer's own Web site, but will be available starting Q1 of 2013.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

We had a chance to play with the Razer Edge in all its various modes, and in person it surprises and impresses more than we even expected. In particular, the Edge shines as a desktop or TV-connected device: its easy keyboard, mouse, or controller hookup turns the 10-inch tablet into a pretty capable gaming mini-console, and games ranging from Dirt Showdown to Dishonored looked and played better than we thought they would. Granted, the Edge only has a 1,366x768-pixel display, but the smaller IPS screen's pixel density shows off the games to very good effect, and held in your hands, it obviously blows away any gaming handheld.

Held in your hands, the Edge is a tiny bit more awkward. The game pad looks cool and controls well, but the dual-stick yoke and feel and the size of the entire package makes for an odd in-hand feel: bigger and heavier than any handheld, and your hands end up farther apart than they'd be using a standard game controller.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

Split-screen simultaneous gameplay on a large-screen TV using the HDMI-output on the dock works as well as advertised. The Edge supports 720p output, and a heated race in Dirt Showdown was highly playable and fun using the Xbox 360-like Razer controllers.

The laptop-like keyboard dock, coming later this year, gives the Edge a feel that's reminiscent of the original Switchblade "gaming Netbook" concept from several CESes ago, except in this case the Edge is a far more powerful, even smaller-screened PC. Using the keyboard and either touch-screen or mouse controls to play games like Rift worked pretty well, too.

(Credit: Razer)

The Razer Edge, along with Nvidia's Project Shield, signals a strategy shift from companies with strong ties to PC gaming due to an increasingly portable consumer computer landscape. Whether gamers of any variety want these devices is an open question, but we expect they won't be the last to tempt PC gamers away from the desktop. The best news about the Razer Edge is that it's ready to go: all its modes feel weirdly practical, avoiding the challenges that the touch-screen Switchblade UI continues to pose for Razer's Blade gaming laptop. And, especially compared with the Blade, its price isn't too high. As a demonstration of the evolution of the PC and PC gaming, the Edge succeeds.

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