Intel had a rather lengthy presentation which seems to have turned into a defensive strategy session with the institutional brokers in the crowd. –
Renée James, SVP and GM of Intel’s software and services group spent some time on Intel’s well publicised relationship with Microsoft, saying that there will be several Windows 7 tablets running on Intel hardware tipping up by year’s end. James also mentioned that Intel has been working hand-in-hand with Microsoft to develop Windows 8 for system-on-chip (SoC) and standard PCs.
However Jones spent a lot longer promoting Linux-based alternatives and went further by saying that Intel got into the Linux game early, and he noted that the firm is a “key definer of Linux evolution”. James also mentioned that Intel is the second biggest contributor to Linux kernel development. Remember, this is Linux, the software that was likened to cancer by Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer.
So while a few analysts seem to be worried about Intel’s health following Microsoft’s launch of Windows 8 with ARM architecture support, Intel’s own forecasts show that Microsoft’s operating system market share will be on the slide. Jones displayed projections for the server market that show Linux adoption slowly eating into Microsoft’s market share and he made even bolder statements, claiming that most datacenters run Linux, that open source software leads the high performance computing market and that most embedded devices, such as smartphones, run Linux.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 4, 2009 – Intel Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wind River Systems Inc, under which Intel will acquire all outstanding Wind River common stock for $11.50 per share in cash, or approximately $884 million in the aggregate. Wind River is a leading software vendor in embedded devices, and will become part of Intel’s strategy to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server market segments into embedded systems and mobile handheld devices. Wind River will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and continue with its current business model of supplying leading-edge products and services to its customers worldwide.“This acquisition will bring us complementary, market-leading software assets and an incredibly talented group of people to help us continue to grow our embedded systems and mobile device capabilities,” said Renee James, Intel vice president and general manager of the company’s Software and Services Group. “Wind River has thousands of customers in a wide range of markets, and now both companies will be better positioned to meet growth opportunities in these areas.”
“Our combination of strengths will be of great benefit to Wind River’s existing and future customers,” said Ken Klein, Wind River Chairman, president and CEO. “As a wholly owned subsidiary, Wind River will more tightly align its software expertise to Intel’s platforms to speed the pace of progress and software innovation. We remain committed to continuing to provide leading solutions across multiple hardware architectures and delivering the same world-class support to which our customers have grown accustomed.”
So for a cool $880m Intel picks up one of the top dogs in the software optimization space. This makes the third move Intel has made to build an ecosystem in the embedded market. Not that they weren’t a strong player to begin with. But this acquisition expands their range quite a bit.
Not only that but WindRiver is an essential player in the handheld market. Something that I would not be surprised to see intel leverage to get their chipsets into that space. Up until now handhelds have been the province of SoC designs and custom chip builds. That will most likely change in the mid term.
About this I mean. I doubted that the top tier IT firms would have much to do about pending tax plans. How wrong I was as one of the biggest ones — Microsoft — rattles the tax saber. –
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.
“It makes U.S. jobs more expensive,” Ballmer said in an interview. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”
Obama on May 4 proposed outlawing or restricting about $190 billion in tax breaks for offshore companies over the next decade. Such business groups as the National Foreign Trade Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have denounced the proposed overhaul.
U.S. tax rules let companies defer paying corporate rates as high as 35 percent on most types of foreign profits as long as that money remains invested overseas. Obama says he wants to end such incentives to keep foreign profits tax-deferred so that companies would invest them in the U.S.
Microsoft reported an overall effective tax rate of 26 percent for 2008 in its last annual report. “Our effective tax rates are less than the statutory tax rate due to foreign earnings taxed at lower rates,” the report said.
Barry Bosworth, an economist in Washington at the Brookings Institution research center, said many software companies such as Microsoft have exploited tax and trade rules in the U.S. and other countries to achieve a low overall tax rate.
No Microsoft won’t go over lock, stock, and barrel but they will shift as much of their labor force as possible to sites other than US. Which means that if MS is thinking it, you can bet the CFO’s of ALL the top IT suppliers have been given the order by the CEO to run the numbers and make a recommendation.
Bottom line. If they up the tax, more jobs will be lost, the recession deepens and tax receipts fall. Obama, good move dude. If you wanted to destroy the economy of the US that is.
[Update]: The political blog HotAir give its tongue-in-cheek coveted ‘Louis Renault Award’ to Ballmer for his blatant shock of the implications of being a big Obama contributor. Link.
As the Boss related in a story below, Intel is branching out to Open Source as a new direction. That direction being Moblin. The first Alpha of Moblin2 is now open for inspection at the website. –
Moblin v2 Core Alpha Release Notes
The Moblin Project is happy to make the Moblin Core Alpha for Netbooks available for testing and taking the bits out for a ride.
Moblin is a community open source project, initially targeting Intel(r) Atom(tm) based Netbooks.
This Alpha release is the first chance for the larger community to start multiple-level testing of:
- The core Linux O/S, boot process, inter-process, and package interactions.
- The new “Fastboot” feature of Moblin, which fundamentally improves boot time and allows for unprecedented speed for a general purpose Linux.
- Connectivity and networking, using the new ConnMan connectivity manager.
- Kernel 2.6.29-rc2.
- The Moblin Core Components (first look at this), including Clutter and all other UI development tools.
- Xserver 1.6 (with DRI2).
- New Moblin Image Creator (MIC2) and installation tool.
System Requirements:
- CPU: Intel Atom or Intel(r) Core(tm) 2 CPU (support for SSSE3)
(Note: Moblin will not work on non-SSSE3 CPUs)- Graphics: Integrated Intel graphics (915/945/965)
- Network Adaptors:
- LAN/Wired:
- Intel e100/e1000/e1000e/iXGB
- PCNet32 (Vmware)
- RealTek 8139/8169
- SIS 900/190
- Broadcom ATL1/ATL2
- Wireless/Wifi:
- Intel 3945/4965/5000
- Atheros 5K/9K
- Broadcom 4300
- RealTek 8180/8187
- Ralink 2400/2500/61/73
Moblin also supports various external, USB-based Wifi devices.
Tested Platforms:
- Acer Aspire*One
- Asus eeePC* 901
- Dell Mini 9
What’s really nice is that the OS core is already wireless aware. Usually that is a chore left to the user. And a chore it can be from time to time. This alone is a excellent move.
If you want to play, don’t get too serious. This is just Alpha code after all. So anything can change without notice. But by all means do play! I intend to see if I can get the code working under Virtual Box.
Total bandwidth of 6.5MBPS at a cost of $500 per POP with a 60 mile range. That beats satellite service without the latency. While targeted at the third would, this level of service could be a real life changer for a large number of rural Americans.
Intel’s Rural Connectivity Platform (RCP) is designed to push traditional 802.11 wireless connections out to much greater distances than would normally be possible, thereby reducing the amount of cable that must be laid between any two points. Using the 802.11 standard means that spectrum availability is not usually an issue, and Intel’s RCP supports frequencies of 900MHz, 2.4GHz, and the 5.2-5.8GHz spectrum.
The idea of focusing and transmitting a wireless signal in order to boost its range is nothing new, but Intel’s RCP uses a modified TDMA (time division multiple access) system. A standard wireless system broadcasts a message and waits for a reply. If the reply is not acknowledged within a certain period of time, the station broadcasts again. Intel’s RCP TDMA system does away with the acknowledgment phase, and gives each radio a set block of time to send data and a set block of time to receive it. According to Jeff Galinovsky, a senior platform manager at Intel, removing the acknowledgment phase substantially increases the amount of bandwidth that’s available at any given point, thus increasing the wireless system’s range. Intel’s specifications for RCP deployment state that towers may be up to 60 miles (100km) apart. (Ars Technica)
We have posted previously that the low end market is about to explode, some 13m units projected. Well Intel evidently wants a piece of that pie and not just leave it to VIA to pick up the spoils. Intel has recoded a pending processor design as Atom. –
Get ready for a new brand in the already cluttered world of tech marketing. Intel has chosen Atom as the name for its super small low-power processor formerly known as Silverthorne, due to be launched during next month’s IDF in Shanghai.
Silverthorne – sorry, we mean Atom – is the child of a ground-up effort to create a new processor for the ultra-mobile market, ranging from UMPCs to mobile Internet devices. There’s even the chance it could pop up in a future generation of the iPhone.
Part of this package will be the development of a new platform design called Menlow which will utilize processors based on the Atom chip set. Running at 2.5w this will be a miserly user of power.
2008/2009 is going to be a very interesting year with many introductions of product not seen before at prices unheard of. Some of the big makers might see their fortunes flag a bit if they don’t adjust to the new paradigm.
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