Intel: Honey, I Shrunk the Processor

Hardware getting smaller as software tries to catch up

(NEWSER) - Leaps forward in chip design are bringing supercomputing technology to personal computers and corporate data centers, Business Week writes. Hardware makers are coming up with more ways to cram colossal amounts of computing power into small spaces, but software is lagging a bit behind. Microsoft is building a brain trust in a bid to develop new applications. More»

'Intel Insider' designed to bring better HD content from studios

(NEWSER) - Intel has added a surprise new feature to its next generation of Core microprocessors—an anti-piracy feature that it hopes will convince studios to stream true 1080p videos. Until now, studios have offered “HD” streaming content, but they’ve held back on the true 1080p resolution out of fear of pirates, the Wall Street Journal explains. Intel’s new chips—codenamed “Sandy Bridge”—will have an “Intel Insider” feature that is intended to ensure the processor won’t copy such content. More»

(NEWSER) - Even Moore's Law has its limit. That's the much-cited dictum from Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that computer speed doubles every two years with ever-smaller and more powerful transistors. Two physicists crunched some numbers and found that the theory—which has held true for 40 years now—must eventually reach a "quantum limit," notes LiveScience. Their estimate? Give it another 75 to 80 years. More»

(NEWSER) - Almost half of American women would be willing to go without sex for 2 weeks in order to keep their Internet access, a new survey says. Of 2,119 adults surveyed last month, only 30% of men agreed, but that number rose to 39% in the younger 18-to-34 range. The survey was commissioned by Intel to demonstrate the importance of computers in modern life. More»

Before the iMac, there were mega machines

(NEWSER) - Convenience is a given when it comes to today's PCs, but the machine you're reading this on has come a long way. Major transformations date as far back as the early 19th century. Live Science gives the back-story on 10 revolutionary computers.

1. The Difference Engine, 1822: Designed by Charles Babbage but not built until decades later, today's replicas show this math-table-generating machine to work flawlessly.
2. ENIAC, 1946: This US Army computer weighed 30 tons, used 17,478 vacuum tubes, and consumed 150 kilowatts.