Every current-gen iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini model available from the Apple store utilizes one of Intel’s second-generation Core processors (aka Sandy Bridge), this platform will be superseded by the Ivy Bridge platform and it makes no sense to release any new Apple desktop / MacBook models until Intel launch this new platform – we’ve now heard (from SlashGear) that Ivy Bridge chips won’t ship until June.

The new delay was confirmed by Sean Maloney (Intel’s vice-president and chairman of Intel China), he didn’t have a lot to say on the matter but suggested that the delay was not due to lack of demand, instead it was related to the manufacturing process which is undertaken when manufacturing these new smaller chips.

This has a direct affect on Apple’s 2012 release plans as Apple will want to give its next-gen products all the benefits which the Ivy Bridge platform brings (mainly lower power consumption and more processing power). In 2011 Apple refreshed its MacBook Pro (February 24), iMac (May 3), MacBook Air (July 20) and Mac mini (July 20) models with Sandy Bridge processors, therefore we half expected a similar release pattern this year, however now Apple has to wait longer than expected for Ivy Bridge processors to ship before they can manufacturer products which utilize them developers will have to optimize software and firmware to get the most out of the new platform.

Putting an exact date on Apple’s 2012 refreshes is impossible, however it will be worth the wait as Intel’s new 22nm process and 3D Tri-Gate transistors should ensure that next-gen models have processors which perform 37% faster than their predecessors whilst consuming up to 50% less power.

If you check out our previous article you can see a full spec sheet listing all the Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor offerings which we know about so far. It’s worth noting that the i3 options don’t boast the advanced Intel technologies or PCIe 3.0 support which the more expensive chips will offer, so take this into consideration if you plan on buying a system or building a PC with a Core i3 Ivy Bridge CPU.

Will you wait for an Ivy Bridge Mac, rather than but one within the next few months?

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The i3 chips have always been the lowest-end Intel Core offerings, therefore we aren’t surprised to hear that Intel has decided to make a few compromises in regards to features, thanks to a recent CPU-World article we have all the specifics to divulge to our readers.

There are three Ivy Bridge Core i3 processors which we can tell you about today, these are the Core i3-3240, the Core i3-3225 and the Core i3-3220, these have clock speeds of 3.40, 3.30 and 3.30GHz respectively. They all boast a 3MB Cache, two cores, four threads, support for 1600MHz and 1333MHz DDR3 RAM and TDP ratings of 55W. Also the i3-3240 and i3-3220 utilize Intel HD Graphics 2500, whilst the Core i3-3225 gives you Intel HD Graphics 4000.

As you can see things look promising, however there are some corners which have been cut, these include no support for Turbo Boost or PCIe generation 3.0. In regards to advanced Intel Technologies we can also reveal that there’s no Intel Vpro technology, Intel VT-d, Intel TXT or AES-NI.

If you check out this image on Softpedia you can see a full breakdown of Intel’s Ivy Bridge specifics – we think the lack of support for PCIe 3.0 may put a lot of people off, but let’s face it if you’re buying components for a gaming PC you probably wouldn’t have opted for a i3 chip anyway. If you want a graphics card which offers PCIe compatibility you’ll have to go for a Core i5 or Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor.

Has anything here put you off the upcoming Core i3 processors?

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Specs which we can confirm include a 4.5-inch display which outputs at 720p, a single-core 32nm Intel Atom Z2460 (1.6GHz) processor, an 8 megapixel camera on the rear and WCDMA HSPA+, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS connectivity. The K800 smartphones at CES 2012 all ran Android 2.3 Gingerbread and we’re not sure whether an update to Android 4.0 Ice Scream Sandwich is planned, all we do know is that Lenovo developers have heavily skinned the OS and bundled lots of pre-installed applications. Sometimes skinned’s versions of Android can adversely affect Android user friendliness, also third-party software can often be pretty lackluster, so we have some minor concerns about this aspect of the K800, that said the guys over at Engadget seemed to suggest that the skin didn’t take away from the Android-experience which millions of us now love.

Currently there is a big question-mark hovering over Intel Medfield performance and power consumption, sadly the sample at CES had no access to the Android market so benchmarking tools couldn’t be installed, however we are told that in SunSpider it slightly outperformed the Galaxy Nexus, if efficiency isn’t great we are glad to reveal that under the battery cover there’s a 1900mAh battery.

If you head over to LaptopMag’s blog you can see a brief hands-on video where we get to see the K800′s great multimedia capabilities, the single-core chip seems no slouch and when panning to different parts of a video there is no lag whatsoever. We also get to see a beautiful-looking gallery app where the user can see captured photos etc, sadly the video is less than two minutes long so there’s not much else on show.

In terms of design the K800 seems a little hit and miss, the soft comfortable finish is complemented by Engadget and so is its ‘noticeably light’ weight. On the top edge there’s a power button, speaker and 3.5mm jack, on the bottom edge there’s a microUSB port and a weird grill which almost looks like a vent for cooling (perhaps this is another speaker, we’re not sure what it is at present) you can see what we mean below.

As previously mentioned the Medfield processor is what people want to know more about, as the K800 is the ‘World’s first Intel-based smartphone’ we don’t yet know how it will compare to ARM, but we think that Mefield’s true potential will show once we see Medfield-based Android 4.0 and WP7 smartphones, also now that we have seen a single-core Intel processor for smartphones we’re sure that a multi-core offering isn’t too far away.

Sadly the K800 won’t arrive in the US, but it should hit China in Q2 2012, hopefully we will see a follow-up device in the near future with LTE connectivity, a multi-core Intel processor, a thinner design and a more up-to-date operating system – if so it could be a formidable smartphone.

Do you think Intel has a strong future in the smartphone market? Are you surprised to see Intel’s first-ever smartphone running Android rather than WP7 given Microsoft’s close relationship with Intel in the past? We sure are! You can see a full gallery of K800 photos here.

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At the show Intel linked an Ultrabook up to a steering wheel and projector during the demo and appeared to play Codemaster’s F1 2011 in DX11 mode, the game looked great but anyone who has ever used VLC media player will recognize that the control panel which pops up during the demo – so despite the fact that Intel’s General Manager of Intel’s PC group, Mooley Eden, appeared to be playing the game in real-time, we were in fact seeing a video.

We have embedded a video at the bottom of this post which showed exactly what happened, Intel has now admitted that a video was used during the Ivy Bridge demo, but they assure us that the video shown was recorded when playing the game using an Ivy Bridge processor. So why did they fake it? There’s two likely reasons for this, either Mooley sucked at the game and didn’t want to show his lack of skill to a live audience, or perhaps there’s some stability issues and Intel didn’t want to ‘biff’ such an important demo in front of so-many influential people – either way it’s pretty embarrassing!

The good news is that the guys over at BrightSideOfNews.com recently tried out the game on an Ivy Bridge-based Ultrabook and say that it looked great and ran smoothly with the resolution set to medium, check out their article for full details and a video showing the game running.

Do you think that measures should be put into place to ensure that what we see during press conferences is ‘real’?

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Motorola will be looking to launch their handset across both sides of the Atlantic while Lenovo will be focusing on a launch in China. Both smartphones will be running Google’s Android OS. Intel will be hoping to make an impact on the market as well as doing their best to compete with chipset rival company ARM, who are already enjoying success in the smartphone industry.

Intel’s Chief Executive Paul Ottelini is reported by The Telegraph to have stated that they already have ‘reference designs’ for tablets and phones which stick to standard features that are found in smartphones on the market today including fast graphics capabilities, speedy web browsing and a cameras of up to 16 megapixels, while emphasizing improved battery life. He also said that their relationship with Lenovo was just the beginning.

Both of the manufacturers’ smartphones will use the scaled down version of the processor Intel uses in its PCs known as the Intel Atom Chip. Motorola will be looking to launch in the months after the summer after gaining regulatory approval, while Lenovo’s device will be called the K800 and will launch in China during the second quarter of this year with the China Unicom network. The chip will also be used in one of Lenovo’s tablet devices.

Specs on both these smartphones are yet to be established but Intel will be hoping for an impressive start in the market in order to make an impact and to take on the might of other already well-established manufacturers in the same field. How much of an impact do you think Intel powered smartphones will have on the market?

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A detailed article over at ComputerWorld suggests that both LG and Samsung may unveil new Android smartphones next week at CES, what’s unique about these is that they may utilize one of Intel’s latest Atom chips, rather than an ARM-based microprocessor. CW says that ARM currently makes up for 95% of the processors in smartphones, so this is a very bold move. One analyst claims that Intel and Google have spent time together to optimize Android for Atom chips, there are also rumors that Intel-owned McAfee could perhaps be somehow integrated into the operating system to further-enhance security.

We recently suggested that Intel could perhaps be showing off an Android smartphone at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which further solidifies rumors of Atom chips being brought to smartphones in 2012 – it will be interesting to see how such chips compare to top-end offerings from Qualcomm and Nvidia. Maybe Intel could undercut its rivals to tempt smartphone manufacturers to move away from established mobile processor suppliers, either that or perhaps Intel feel confident that Atom chips will outperform chips such as the Tegra 3.

It makes sense for Intel to dabble in different markets as these days a lot of people use their smartphones and tablets for tasks which we once had to use desktop computers and laptops for, it looks certain that Windows 8 will run on ARM-based hardware when it arrives, therefore AMD may not be Intel’s biggest rivals in years to come – what do you think?

We can’t wait to see how Intel’s new Atom chips compare to Qualcomm and Nvidia offerings at CES 2012, however we do remain a little skeptical at present. Hopefully we will come across some useful benchmarks next week, when we do we will keep you posted.

More About: ARM, Intel, Intel Atom, NVIDIA, Qualcomm

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There’s nothing special to say about today’s Doodle, although on the printed circuit you can see Google taking pride of place. It’s a nice gesture for the biggest invention for electronics to be celebrated by one of the largest companies in the technology business.

Noyce co-invented the integrated circuit with friend Jack Kilby, Noyce also went on to be the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and then Intel Corporation. However, he was also tied to a number of other companies in an advisory role, as well as an investor to others.

It was when Robert Noyce left Fairchild Semiconductor that he co-founded Intel, which we have to be thankful for, where would we be now if there was no Intel? Noyce started something that we have seen the likes of Google follow, and that was to treat his workers as though they were family – not sure if Intel will still apply the same ethic now?

He had a great vision of how he would have liked to shape the US, and it all starts with the young. Preparing them for the future was very important to him, no matter what their background was. We would have liked to see him take up a position in today’s US government, maybe he could have taught the politician’s a thing or two about putting more in than you take out?

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CES 2012 will take place over three days next month, starting on January 10 and ending on January 13th. As with every year you can expect to see new smartphone debuts, but early rumors released recently claims that Samsung, Sprint and even Intel could all be lining up to unveil a brand new smartphone at the show.

First up is Samsung, as AndroidandMe is reporting that CES 2012 will see the company unveil a new Ice Cream Sandwich powered device, a device that could be powered by Intel and could be heading to the Sprint network.

Intel and Sprint are rumored to be having their own individual CES 2012 parties as well, as according to PC World, Intel apparently are in the final stages of selecting a manufacturer to build their device which would run on their Atom processor and would also be running on Android 4.0 ICS too.

Last but not least may see Sprint once again return to the limelight with a brand new smartphone, which again could be powered by Intel and Android 4.0 as reported from AllThingsD. Could Intel be the brand new player in 2012 that is set to give NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chip a run for its money? It certainly seems that way based on these rumors and more choice in the market is obviously a great thing from a consumers perspective.

What about the elusive Samsung Galaxy S III as well – is it too early to start thinking about a possible debut for this handset at CES? Either way, the event is definitely going to turn heads so we can’t wait to see what happens. Let us know your predictions for the event, and the possibility of Intel unveiling multiple Android 4.0 smartphones.

[via Phandroid]

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As recently noted over on the techshout.com website, the Dell Inspiron 13z comes with a 13.3-inch screen, while the Inspiron 14z model’s screen is slightly larger at 14-inches. Not only do these two laptops come with 720p HD displays and built-in SRS Premium Sound HD, they also come with an HDMI port that enables it to be connected to a large screen HDTV.

However, users also have the option of streaming HD content wirelessly, by using the Intel Wireless Display technology. Both models come with up to 8GB of memory, an HD webcam and a media card reader. Storage options for the Inspiron 13z model include 300GB or 500GB hard disk drives (HDD), or a 128GB solid state drive (SSD).

Meanwhile, the storage options for the 14z include 500GB, 640GB or 750GB hard disk drives. Both models come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, as well as USB 3.0 ports and an internal tray-load DVD combo. They also come equipped with the Dell Stage user interface, which allows users to manage their photos, music and videos with just one click.

According to a recent article at techgadgets.in, these slim and lightweight laptops come in Fire Red or Diamond Black LCD backs, smudge-resistant palm rests and matching keyboards. Both laptops also come with the SyncUP feature, which enables users to keep content and personal data synced to other Stage-enabled Dell PCs within the same Wi-Fi network.

As for availability and pricing, both models have been launched in various locations around the world. Although we know that the Inspiron 14z retails for $599.99, pricing for the 13z model has not yet been announced. Would you buy either of these laptops?

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As noted in a recent press release over on the Lenovo.com website, the latest all-in-one ThinkCentre M71z comes with a variety of performance features including a second-generation Intel Core processor, advanced video conferencing features and a fast boot up time. In fact, select models (with an optional SSD) will start up in as little as fifteen seconds.

Consumers have a choice of processor up to a 2nd generation Intel Core i5 and up to 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, as well as the option of up to 1TB hard drive space or an ultrafast 160GB solid-state drive. The ThinkCentre M71z comes with a 20-inch display, with the added option of a multi-touch screen. It also comes with a wireless mouse and wireless, spill-resistant keyboard.

The ThinkCentre M71z AIO comes with a variety of extra security and productivity features including six USB ports, a DVD burner, optional Wi-Fi, chassis intrusion switch and DisplayPort, which enables users to view digital video on a second monitor. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M71z also offers an optional 2-megapixel webcam and a digital array microphone.

Users will also have the ability to quickly adjust both microphone and camera settings during a call via the ThinkVantage Communications Utility. Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops not only use a significant amount of recycled content in their chassis materials, they also come with power supply units that surpass Energy Star 5.2 efficiency requirements.

As for pricing and availability, the ThinkCentre M71z all-in-one desktop PC will be available as from sometime in October, and will be priced at around $599. What are your impressions of the ThinkCentre M71z AIO?

More About: Intel, lenovo, windows 7

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