Communications

Small start-up Tilera still beats chip giants like Intel handily on core counts. Tilera updated its line of many-core processors Monday, adding a 36-core version to the mix.

Tilera, which made a splash last year when it introduced its first 64-core processor, announced a scaled-down 36-core Tile processor on Monday, in order to broaden its market reach.

The TilePro36 "is giving us a midrange product. This type of device would be used in a high-end video conferencing (system)," said Bob Doud, who is the director of marketing at Tilera. The TilePro36 chip is also targeted at applications such … Read more

BMW has been telling us that the iDrive interface will be upgraded soon. It's even given us a peak at the next generation of vehicles. It looks like BMW owners will be getting a double dose of new cabin tech as BMW has just announced that the BMW Assist feature will be upgraded with a search feature to be powered by search engine giant Google.

In actuality, the Bavarian automaker has also been teasing us with information about its partnership with Google since the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, but only recently announced final details of a production implementation.

After … Read more

Ask Sean Maloney about Intel's biggest challenges and biggest opportunities for growth and he'll mention the same thing: WiMax, the company's chosen broadband technology.

Maloney, an executive vice president of Intel and the chipmaker's chief sales and marketing officer, has seen waves of technology come and go since joining the company back in 1982. Recently, he got the additional responsibility of coordinating company strategy, which he said has "a good deal to do with the rapid pace of our global development."

I had the chance to talk with him last week. Maloney initially touched … Read more

Founded in 1902, AAA has shown no signs of being stuck in the past with the launch of its fourth-generation mobile service, dubbed AAA Mobile. This service works on GPS-enabled phones to provide mapping and turn-by-turn directions along with a plethora of location-based services. We saw a short demonstration of the service on a Motorola phone at this week's CTIA show. Although the maps were small, and would be difficult to read while driving, they were useful. AAA Mobile includes points-of-interest and can guide you to motels and other locations that offer AAA discounts.

And similar to the new … Read more

Update on September 4 at 10:00 a.m. with correction about Aicent. See also statement clarifying Aicent's business strategy at bottom.

Intel's investment arm has put another chunk of change into WiMax, a wireless technology that has not lived up to its billing as the successor to Wi-Fi.

This time Intel Capital has sunk $3 million into Aicent with the hope of accelerating the wireless technology's adoption.

Aicent provides data network, messaging, and roaming solutions for GSM and CDMA mobile operators and operates one of the world's first and largest multimedia messaging exchanges, according to … Read more

At the Intel Developer Forum, Clarion launched the production version of ClarionMind, a portable GPS device with full Internet connectivity that runs on Linux. Clarion showed off a concept of the device at last January's CES. The full product launch reveals a device that looks similar to current GPS devices, featuring a 4.8-inch 800x480-pixel touch screen. 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 e-mail. It includes viewers for YouTube, Google Maps, MySpace, … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--In a speech here Tuesday, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett complained about a lack of R&D investment incentives in the U.S. while showing how low-cost computers and a little innovation can make a difference in the classroom.

Barrett lamented that the U.S. is not doing enough to spur R&D compared to the rest of the world. "You've got to have the right environment to invite investment in innovation, to invite investment in development," he said in his keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum. "This is my political statement of … Read more

Intel has released a specification revision for next-generation USB 3.0 technology that resolves a dispute with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, which had threatened to develop their own USB 3.0 standard.

USB 3.0--also known as SuperSpeed USB--is a next-generation high-speed connection standard due in 2009. It is significant not only because all future PCs and devices will use connectors based on the standard but because it will offer 10 times the speed of USB 2.0--used in virtually all PCs introduced in the last few years--or roughly 5 gigabits per second.

On Wednesday, Intel released what it … Read more

SHANGHAI -- Imagine a driver from Guangzhou has an accident. He calls OnStar, but the Mandarin-speaking OnStar staffer doesn't understand Cantonese, the dialect spoken in Guangzhou.

"You can't plan and design a system to cover 1,000 different dialects," says Jonathan Hyde, director of telematics for GM China Group. GM assumes that most car buyers will speak Mandarin, the dialect taught in China's schools.

Hundreds of local dialects are just one challenge General Motors faces as it prepares to launch OnStar in China. But the chance to be the first to offer such services in the world's fastest-growing automotive market trumps any trepidation Hyde might feel.

"It's fun," he says of his job. "This is all a huge opportunity."

… Read more