News Bits: Intel "Montevina" News, Toshiba Core 2 Duo Updates, Foxconn to Make Apple MacBooks

Intel Santa Rosa Platform to be followed by 'Montevina'

Although Intel has not yet shipped the next-generation Centrino platform, Santa Rosa, it is already working on its successor, codenamed 'Montevina'.

The new platform is due to ship in 2008, and will support the new 'Penryn' 45nm processors, which are die shrinks of the current Core 2 Duo CPUs. Penryn will appear in late 2007, and initialize the changeover to 45nm. In 2008, Intel will follow with the 'Nehalem' 45nm processors, the next major architecture revision.

Penryn is supposed to consume 29W of power, compared to the Merom's 35W. It will also introduce SSE 4, which adds 50 new instructions.

The Montevina platform as a whole will include the 'Cantiga' chipset, along with a new wireless module, 'Shiloh'. The new chipset supports a 1,067MHz FSB and probably 800MHz DDR3 RAM. The platform's integrated graphics chip will have 10 pixel shaders and a 475MHz core clock.

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Toshiba announces Core 2 Duo notebooks

October 10^th - Toshiba has announced three notebooks featuring the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor - the ultraportable Satellite U205, the 14.1" Satellite M115, and the desktop replacement Satellite P105. All three notebooks are available with the new entry-level Core 2 Duo T5200 processor, which has a 1.6GHz clockspeed, 2MB L2 cache, and 533MHz FSB.

The Satellite P105 is Toshiba's 17" desktop replacement notebook, and features the latest technology that comes with Intel's Centrino Duo platform. The new models are the P105-S6124 and the S6134, with estimated retail prices of $1,499.99 and $1,549.99 respectively. Both feature the Intel Core 2 Duo T5200, external TV tuners, and a new Onyx Metallic Blue color. The Satellite P105-S6114 has a similar configuration sans the TV tuner, and is available for $1,399.99.

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The 14.1" Satellite M115 offers portable power in a thin-and-light form factor. The new model is the M115-S3144, which features the Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 processor and a new Onyx Blue Metallic color. The estimated retail price is $1,249.

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Toshiba's Satellite U205 ultraportable notebook features a 12.1" display and weighs only 4.1 lbs. The new models include the U205-S5034 and S5044, which are expected to retail for $1,299.99 and $1,599.99 respectively.

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Devon IT announces Safebook

October 10^th - Devon IT has announced SafeBook, the thin client notebook which has features businesses expect from a thin client terminal, including a low purchase price and total cost of ownership savings. President of Devon IT, Joe Makoid, said in a statement:

"The business imperative for thin client computing has never been greater. Security, manageability and lower total cost of ownership are demonstrated benefits of implementing thin clients in an enterprise IT environment. But what has been missing until now is a cost-effective solution that offers thin client security combined with notebook-style mobility.”

The SafeBook is a thin client notebook and does not have a hard drive; no data or applications are stored on the client. Remote access to applications is provided through Citrix ICA or Microsoft RDP protocols. The battery life of the SafeBook is over six hours, and can run anywhere on wireless, Ethernet, or 3G Broadband connections. The SafeBook starts at $799.

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Foxconn secures Apple notebook orders

Foxconn has received notebook orders from Apple Computer, and will start volume shipments of the new MacBook to Apple by the end of 2006. Asustek Computer could see its Apple notebook orders cut by one-third in 2007 in comparison to the amount it received this year.

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OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 released

October 10 ^th - OpenOffice.org today released version 2.0.4 of its productivity suite, which fixes numerous bugs - you can find the release notes here. A download link can be found here. OpenOffice.org provides a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and is the most popular non-Microsoft office suite.

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Novatel Wireless announces first HSDPA ExpressCard

October 11^th - Novatel Wireless today announced that it has started commercial shipments of its Merlin XU870 ExpressCard to HSDPA and UMTS carriers worldwide. It is the first commercially available HSDPA ExpressCard. It fits in both /34 and /54 slots, and is a tri-band HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band EDGE/GPRS product. The XU870 is initially configured for 3.6Mbps data speeds, and a software utility will be available to upgrade the card to 7.2Mbps data speeds once mobile operaters start providing 7.2Mbps service.

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