Computer tech

 

AMD-ARM Speculation Heats Up

Advanced Micro Devices is cozying up to ARM Holdings and that's led to speculation that AMD is pursuing an ARM architecture license or even plans to acquire the British chip designer outright in an effort to catch up with the growing media tablet market.
Available media tablets such as Apple's iPad and Motorola's Xoom almost exclusively use ARM-based central processors instead of the x86-based chips made by AMD and its larger rival Intel.
The news that ARM vice president of technology Jem Davies will keynote AMD's upcoming Fusion Developers Conference sparked rumors that AMD could be mulling a stab at the tablet market with an ARM license of its own.
But AMD has no specific plans to add ARM's RISC-based chips to its portfolio, an AMD spokesman told PCMag Friday.
"Specifically, I have no news to tell you about anything like that," said John Taylor, director of client product and software marketing at AMD.
But Taylor seemed to leave the door open for things to change.
"We're looking at all of our options as far as our strategy going forward," he said. "We feel we view the marketplace in a way that's pretty well aligned to the way ARM is looking at the marketplace as far as the future of devices."
That may yet happen, but IDC analyst Michael Palma said Intel had "been caught kind of flat-footed by the rise of tablets, even though they've been talking about [mobile Internet devices] for years."
Intel CEO Paul Otellini's recent comments that he'd be "disappointed" if there wasn't an Intel-based smartphone "in 12 months" had many analysts scratching their heads about such a lengthy window of time.
Intel has also said it plans to make a serious push on media tablets before the end of 2011, but that too seems like a company that is perhaps pacing itself too much in a race that's already being won.
But Palma said companies like Intel and AMD, which are selling more data center-targeted x86 server chips as Internet-dependent ARM-based device shipments rise, can afford to take their time.
 Update: AMD Looks Forward to 'Orochi,' Tablets
As expected, AMD reported flat revenue for the fourth quarter, but with a $375 million profit that company executives said demonstrated a return to profitability.
AMD reported net income of $375 million on revenue of $1.65 billion. A year ago, AMD reported net income of $1.18 billion, which was boosted by a settlement with Intel Corp. At that time, AND reported revenue of $1.65 billion as well.
For 2010, AMD reported net income of $471 million and $6.49 billion in revenue. Revenue increased 20 percent from 2009.
"AMD enters 2011 with significant momentum, amplified by the successful launch of our first Fusion APUs," said Thomas Seifert, CFO and interim chief executive, in a statement. "I am confident we can drive profitable growth based on the strength of new products we will bring to market. Our customers recognize that Fusion APUs are at the core of delivering the world's most vivid digital experiences." So far, AMD has shipped more than 1 million Brazos platforms, the company said. Next up? Orochi, the code name for the Bulldozer-based CPU that will be featured in the Zambezi platform for desktops, which will ship into systems in the "early summer," Seifert said, followed by Interlagos, the server platform, in late summer.
The next APU, Llano, is sampling in high volume now and will get ready to ship in the second quarter, Seifert said. That will help AMD move into "richer, higher-performance desktop and notebook performance as well," according to Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's product group.
Introducing the Toshiba Satellite M645 Toshiba has spent the last half a decade carving out an interesting niche as a notebook manufacturer, with many consumer-grade notebooks that are ostensibly budget offerings but often feature a markedly different look and feel from the kinds of laptops vendors like Dell, HP, and Acer produce to serve this market segment. Oftentimes they can feel stylistically behind the curve, but every so often they produce a big winner as they did with their Portege R700 series.
Now, a trickle-down of style couples with modern hardware in a respectable new entrant in their venerable Satellite line: the M645. Our review unit features a shiny new Sandy Bridge mobile dual-core processor along with a healthy amount of memory, an Optimus-enabled NVIDIA GeForce 500M series GPU, and a Blu-ray combo drive, all in a reasonable 14-inch chassis. But it threatens to set you back a grand: is it worth it?

The elegantly titled M645-S4118X we have on hand for review is the most expensive unit in Toshiba's M640 line, and as you'll see from the specifications, it largely earns that. This is as decked out as Toshiba's 14-inch consumer notebooks get, featuring a lot of power and flexibility. Here's what you get:

Toshiba M645-S4118X Specifications
Processor	Intel Core i5-2410M (2x2.3GHz + HTT, 2.9GHz Turbo, 32nm, 3MB L3, 35W)
Chipset	Intel HM65
Memory	4GB DDR3-1333 and 2GB DDR3-1333 (6GB Total, Max 2x4GB)
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB DDR3 (Optimus) (96 CUDA cores, 475MHz/950MHz/1.8GHz core/shaders/memory) Intel HD 3000 (12 EUs, 650-1200MHz core)
Display	14-inch LED Glossy 16:9 1366x768 (Chi Mei N140B6-L02 Panel)
Hard Drive(s)	Toshiba 640GB 5400RPM SATA 3Gbps Hard Disk
Optical Drive	BD-ROM/DVD+-RW Combo Drive w/ Labelflash
Networking	Realtek PCIe FE 10/100 Ethernet Atheros AR9002WB-1NG 802.11n Wireless Bluetooth 3.0+EDR
Audio	Realtek ALC269 HD audio Stereo speakers Headphone and microphone jacks
Battery	6-Cell, 10.8V, 48Wh battery
Front Side	Indicator lights SD/MS/MMC reader
Left Side	Kensington lock 2x USB 2.0 Ethernet jack Optical drive
Right Side	Headphone jack Microphone jack HDMI USB 3.0 VGA Exhaust vent AC adaptor jack
Back Side	-
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	13.3" x 9.0" x 1.12"-1.39" (WxDxH)
Weight	5.4 lbs
Extras	Webcam Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo) Blu-ray drive Backlit keyboard USB 3.0 Bluetooth
Warranty	1-year limited warranty
Pricing	MSRP at $1,099

Starting from the top we have one of Intel's midrange Sandy Bridge mobile processors, the Core i5-2410M. Like its kin it features 3MB of L3 cache along with Hyper-Threading, and depending on thermals and workload it can turbo up to 2.6GHz on two cores or 2.9GHz on one core. Its only real weak point is that its HD 3000 GPU tops out at 1200MHz instead of the 1300/1350MHz you get on some of the faster models, but given our next major component that shouldn't be a huge issue.
The M645 benefits greatly from the inclusion of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M with 1GB of DDR3 running at 900MHz (1.8GHz effective) and Optimus technology to maximize battery life while allowing the end user to enjoy both a decent mobile gaming GPU as well as Intel's Quick Sync hardware video encoder. Unfortunately, this is a point where the unit also falters: Toshiba runs the GT 525M at clocks well below spec. NVIDIA specifies the 525M to run the core at 600MHz (and thus the 96 CUDA cores at 1.2GHz), but Toshiba has substantially reduced its core clock to just 475MHz (reducing the CUDA cores to a paltry 950MHz). The cut is a brutal one that you'll see reduces performance below even a GeForce GT 420M.
Fortunately, all is not lost. Toshiba includes a generous 6GB of DDR3-1333, and while the 5400RPM spindle speed on the hard drive is slow, at least the 640GB of storage is copious. Better still, Toshiba also includes both a Blu-ray drive and a USB 3.0 port. The backlit keyboard is also a welcome touch, but the inexplicable lack of gigabit ethernet connectivity is troubling, and the mediocre 48Wh 6-cell battery is unfortunate.
In terms of the internal hardware, we really wind up with mixed feelings all around as Toshiba has been generous in some places while frustratingly stingy in others. At the price Toshiba is asking, some of these trade-offs just shouldn't have been made.

Software Niche Marketing A NICHE MARKET is a subsidiary small group among the main mass market, which is usually ignored by large companies. It consists of specific products focusing on specific needs of potential customers. There is a fine line between focusing on customers of a NICHE market and unsustainable niches. Every products and services in any sectors invariably have niches in them. Difficulty is finding them, analyzing the feasibility and marketing. An example of NICHE market is business channel that offer news exclusively for investors. Mainstream news channels don’t provide information about shares and stocks. The potential customers are share traders, investors etc,Here is a brief explanation on how to market software NICHES and get maximum profit from minimum resources.

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CHOOSING A SOFTWARE NICHE

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EFFECTIVE MARKETING STRATEGY FOR A SOFTWARE NICHE.

The best way to start marketing is identifying your target customers. Once you explain about the benefits of SOFTWARE NICHE they will be happy to pay more than normal price as they are satisfied with specific customized software products. Since they are satisfied, they usually stick to you for almost all their specific software needs. This can be achieved by “UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION” (USP).Your SOFTWARE NICHE has to be like a patented product which nobody else can emulate. However to bring out multiple SOFTWARE NICHES, extensive research and innovative ideas are required. This is hard to achieve but once it’s over you will be far ahead of competition and get a monopoly in that sector. Another marketing strategy is going as narrow as possible and over delivering value to your specific customers which keep them loyal to you. Even within a SOFTWARE NICHE there are sub or micro NICHES which you can exploit provided it is sustainable. For example, a SOFTWARE NICHE is keeping track of salaries given to employees of an organization. SUB SOFTWARE NICHE of this will be keeping track of savings and expenditure of the employees. Most of the time customers feel so amazed by micro niches, as they were not expecting it, that they always depend on you for their specific needs. After dominating main SOFTWARE NICHES and sub SOFTWARE NICHES’ market, you will have a reputation and a brand name. All your future software products will be sold easily just by brand name and face value. A creative market segmentation strategy can really help you survive in financial meltdowns.
SOFTWARE NICHE MARKET is more dependent on choosing, planning and marketing a product rather than financial resources.Specialization always earns greater profits.
RECENTLY MANY MAINSTREAM SOFTWARE COMPANIES ARE ENTERING SOFTWARE NICHE MARKET TO UNLOCK ITS ADVANTAGES.