City-based start up Metis Learning has partnered with chip maker Intel to launch an educational tablet 'Eddy', aimed at children aged from 2-10 years.

The tablet, priced at Rs 9,999 will be available exclusively on eCommerce firm Amazon's India website for about a month, after which it will be available across leading electronics and toy stores.
"We had earlier launched a beta version and it got a tremendous response. We have made improvements and partnered Intel to power the device. We are confident of doing well across cities as parents are looking for solutions to help their kids learn in a fun way," Metis Learning Solution co-founder Bharat Gulia told PTI.

The device is priced at Rs 9,999 and will come with discounts and offers worth Rs 4,500 for a limited time as an inaugural offer. We conducted studies and found children in India are now increasingly spending a lot of time playing games on parent’s smartphones, who are often concerned about the content. Eddy provides a responsible and safe technology alternative for introducing kids to the digital age. Parents can easily control the content and the time the child has access to the device. Besides, Eddy’s screen ensures UV ray protection and lower eyestrain compared to other screens. It also comes with high quality drop-safe bumper made of food grade silicone bumper to prevent damage from falls," Gulia said.

Powered by Intel's Atom processor, the tablet comes pre-loaded with over 160 learning apps selected by Metis' educators and content experts to accelerate a child's social, emotional and cognitive development, he added.  The tablet features a seven-inch screen, 16GB memory (expandable upto 32GB), 1GB RAM, 2MP front and rear cameras, 2800 mAH battery and 3G connectivity via dongles.


Gulia said the company has received queries from other countries like Portugal for the product, but it is yet to take a decision on exporting the tablet. "Educational tablets may be a niche category but it is definitely growing. In markets like the US, the numbers are bigger but in India too, it is estimated to be about 10 per cent of the tablets

This is the first time I can remember that PC gaming was mentioned at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) without me having to remind an exec that we existed. Unprompted, Intel's Kirk Skaugen took to the stage in the main keynote proclaiming “desktop is alive and well. It's innovating, whether it's small form factors, all-in-ones, portable all-in-ones or extreme gaming. There are 711 million PC gamers in the world today, that's one in ten people on the planet,” he enthused.

Skaugen was talking up their new Broadwell processors, coming our way early next year. They're Intel's first 14nm product based on the Haswell microarchitecture. Simply put,” he said, “this 14nm technology is the most advanced silicon manufacturing technology in the world.”
But it's not simply the die-shrink that's going to be important for Broadwell as Intel is really pushing forward the processor graphics of its next CPUs.

That's interesting because, for the first time, Intel is going to be slotting their top Iris Pro GPU component into a socketed processor. That means you should be able to buy an Iris Pro-based processor and drop it into a cheapo mini-ITX H97 motherboard to make an affordable mini gaming PC. Of course you can already get a small form factor PC with the likes of the NUC and Gigabyte's Brix Pro, but those are super-expensive products. I'm hoping that Intel shifts the Iris Pro down into the more affordable i5 processor ranges, but they are not able to say yet what from those chips are going to take.

Unfortunately it's likely to remain a differentiator for Intel's K-series processors, even down at the Core i5 level. That still means potential for a far more affordable, teensy 1080p gaming PC than ever before.

“We're really focused around PC gaming and enthusiasts. This is the one area of PCs that has kept growing,” Intel's Lisa Graff told me at the show. “These are out most loyal customers: PC gamers. They want as much performance as we can throw at them. We're going to bring Intel's best technologies to bear for PC gaming.”

ASUS Chromebox is 12 cm X 12 cm sized fast, compact home or office computer that runs on Chrome OS. It has the latest Haswell processors and supports 4K ultra high definition video playback. The Chromebox works right out of the box with apps for work, play and communicating online or offline. It comes with virus protection built in and updates automatically. It starts up in seconds and gives you quick access to all your favorite websites and apps. It also houses a processor powerful enough for ultrafast multitasking performance in Chrome OS and the connectivity options to choose your own screen size, connect to multiple displays at once and even attach to any VESA-mountable monitor or HD TV. Starting at Rs. 21000/- in India, ASUS Chromebox is an attractive new proposition for those looking for a space saving desktop solution.

About the launch of the new product, Mr. Vinay Shetty - Country Head - Component Business, ASUS (India) said, "We're excited to launch the Chromebox in India. There's been an increase in demand for small form factor mini PCs / HTPCs and the Chromebox would be a great alternative for such applications. With Intel's latest Haswell processors and 4K ultra high definition video playback and running Google's Chrome OS, the Chromebox is a great new device for customers looking for a mini PC."


The ASUS Chromebox boots up in a flash and instantly syncs with Chrome across all your devices so you can bring your bookmarks, preferences and extensions with you. With 100GB of free Google Drive space free for two years you can access all your data and files in the cloud by logging into your Google account. The compact Chrome box is big on connectivity. It comes with high performance 802.11 b/g/n dual-band wireless, four USB 3.0 ports for fast data transfer, HDMI and DisplayPort for connecting to the latest displays and HDTVs, including support for dual displays and an SD card reader for easily accessing stored photos and documents.

The ASUS Chromebox also supports up to 4K UHD playback, letting you enjoy the best quality content from the web. Kick back and relax as you browse the web or view photos from your SD card and with a wide assortment of offline apps, ASUS Chromebox lets you edit documents, play games and use other popular apps without an internet connection.

The Chromebox is easy to use and share. Everyone can have separate accounts where all of their stuff is kept safe, or use guest mode and you can also easily switch between accounts. Parents can also ensure a safe and family-friendly web surfing environment by setting up supervised user profiles. ASUS Chromebox comes with a specially designed high-quality ASUS keyboard and mouse.

Some additional details about the product:
ASUS Chromebox CN60 (Celeron) - Rs. 21000/-
ASUS Chromebox CN60 (Core i3) - Rs. 36500/-
ASUS Chromebox CN60 (Core i7) - Rs. 58000/-

Intel continues to plod away in the PC segment and has now tied up with retailer Croma for two new Windows 8.1 running devices. Croma has launched a 10.1-inch 2-in-1 PC, that has a keyboard attachment, while the Windows tablet will feature an 8-inch display. The eight-inch Croma 1179 tablet is priced at Rs 13,990, while the 2-in-1 has a price tag of Rs 21,990.

Both devices will be powered by Intel Atom Z3735D 1.33 GHz processors, which is the Bay Trail T chipset. While the smaller one is a Wi-Fi-only affair, the 2-in-1 gets a SIM slot for 3G connectivity. Besides both devices can take in data dongles for connectivity on the go. Internally, you will find 32GB storage, and there’s a microSD card slot too for expansion.

The 8-inch tablet will come with 2MP cameras in the front and rear and sports a healthy 2GB of RAM, along with 32GB of flash storage, and a microSD card slot It will have a 5000 mAh, that sounds quite good given the other specs. The display has a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, which sounds like a good option given the screen size.

The 10.1-inch PC will be the lowest priced 2-in-1 to hit India and will have Microsoft Office 365 pre-loaded. Microsoft and Croma are positioning this one as a solution for those working on the move, since it does have a SIM slot. The devices will initially be available only in Croma brick-and-mortar stores as well as its online retail site.

Microsoft has teamed up with Intel and hardware maker CircuitCo to design the $300 "Sharks Cove," now available for pre-order. Described as a "development board that you can use to develop hardware and drivers for Windows and Android," it contains an Intel Atom Z3735G, a quad-core chip with speeds of 1.33GHz to 1.83GHz. It has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage, and a MicroSD slot.
Microsoft made its pitch in a blog post this past weekend:

This “Windows compatible hardware development board” is designed to facilitate development of software and drivers for mobile devices that run Windows, such as phones, tablets, and similar System on a Chip (SoC) platforms.
At $299, this is a board that we believe will find a home with Independent Hardware Vendors (IHVs) and hardware enthusiasts alike. That price not only covers the cost of the hardware but also includes a Windows 8.1 image and the utilities necessary to apply it to the Sharks Cove. When you additionally consider that the Windows Driver Kit 8.1 can pair with Visual Studio Express and are both free with a valid MSDN account, the initial outlay for Windows driver developers is a lot less cost prohibitive than it once was.

"The Intel Sharks Cove board supports development of devices and drivers that use a variety of interfaces, including GPIO, I2C, I2S, UART, SDIO, USB, and MIPI for Display and Camera," the Sharks Cove site says. (See full specs here.)
At $300, Sharks Cove is significantly more expensive than non-Windows alternatives. Hobbyists will probably be more inclined to buy the ARM-based Raspberry Pi, which is just $35, or the $55 BeagleBone Black. Even the Intel-based MinnowBoard, which is compatible with Linux and Android, starts at just $99. CircuitCo also makes both the BeagleBone Black and MinnowBoard.
Microsoft noted that Sharks Cove is a "is a fully functional PC so you can install desktop and Windows Store apps to facilitate your development and testing and even your general enjoyment of the device." The company said it is also interested in bringing Windows to cheaper devices like the $80 Intel Galileo.

Apple has officially announced refreshed MacBook Air laptops now running on the faster and more power efficient 4th Gen Intel Haswell processors.  The new range comes loaded with the new processors, flash storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, up to 12 hours of battery life and Apple’s iLife and iWork apps.

Apple claims that the new Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors work in combination with OS X Mavericks to give the 13-inch MacBook Air up to 12 hours of battery life and the 11-inch MacBook Air up to 9 hours of battery life. iTunes movie playback times increase to 12 hours on the 13-inch notebook and 9 hours on the 11-inch notebook.

The new MacBook Air is officially available through Apple Authorised Resellers. The 11-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.4 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and is available with 128GB of flash storage starting at Rs. 65,900 inc VAT (Rs. 62,642.59 ex VAT), and 256GB of flash storage starting at Rs. 79,900 inc VAT (Rs. 75,950.57 ex VAT). The 13-inch MacBook Air comes with a 1.4 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 4GB of memory and is available with 128GB of flash storage starting at Rs. 72,900 inc VAT (Rs. 69,296.58 ex VAT), and 256GB of flash storage starting at Rs. 86,900 inc VAT (Rs. 82,604.56 ex VAT). Configure-to-order options include a 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, up to 8GB of memory and up to 512GB flash storage.

“With MacBook Air starting at Rs. 65,900, there’s no reason to settle for anything less than a Mac,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

Intel revealed a new next-generation Atom processor for low-cost mobile devices at its developers conference in Shenzen, China. The company also revealed a new 64-bit Android KitKat 4.4.2 kernel.
The latest system-on-a-chip (SoC) is being developed for entry-level devices and is touted to replace Bay Trail processors. Braswell will have a 14nm architecture as compared to 22nm manufacturing process on Bay Trail. The reduction in size will offer better power efficiency and boosts in performance. The new SoC will also make use fo Intel's latest graphics technology, Iris.

Intel claims that the new Braswell chip is ideal for major upcoming Chromebooks running Google's Chrome OS with a price of under $400. Despite making all the announcements, Intel hasn't given an official date of Braswell's release which means the company may still be working on it.The company also released a 64-bit kernel for Android as well. "Intel is the first in the industry to deliver a 64-bit kernel for Android. We're bringing that to the market." Skaugen said. Intel has set up a resource site where developers interested in working on the new kernel can download even though it is supported on limited systems as of now.

Intel has announced new processors for those looking for ultra-high performance for the coming year. The leader among PC chipset manufacturers unveiled a new 8-core, 16-thread Intel Core processor Extreme Edition at a media event held at the ongoing Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The processor will be available in the second half of this year.

The new Extreme Edition processor will support the new DDR4 memory standard and also the best performance when it comes to gaming, video editing, 3-D content and other high-end uses. Intel also showcased a new 4th gen Intel Core processor code named "Devil's Canyon". The new processor  will give enhanced performance and more overclocking capabilities to high-end users. The new chip, which is due in mid-2014 includes improved thermal interface and CPU packaging materials. The company also announced plans of launching more upcoming processors such as Intel Pentium processor Anniversary Edition and a 5th gen Intel Core processor which will come with Iris Pro graphics. The Pentium processor will be a commemoration of more than 20 years of its Pentium lineup. The 5th gen Intel processor is code named "Broadwell."

Intel demonstrated a portable AIO PC reference design called “Black Brook,” a thin and light system incorporating exciting new capabilities that enable compelling new user experiences anywhere in the home. Black Brook has been built for the purpose of enabling new technologies in the industry and includes an integrated Intel RealSense 3-D camera, a quad microphone array, premium audio and a full HD display. With these announcements, Intel wants to show that despite the high growth of mobile technology, PCs should not be sidelined especially when it comes to raw performance.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich used the stage at his first CES keynote address to announce the company's new smart product lines, and in addition revealed Intel Edison -- a 400MHz computer board that fits into an SD card.

The Edison chip supports Linux and includes a dual-core CPU, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE (low energy) and an integrated app store. It will be available in "the middle of 2014" according to Krzanich, and will allow creators of hardware products to enhance the functionality of their existing or new systems by incorporating Edison's processing power.

Edison powers the system and connects it to other Edison-powered devices in the home, such as a "smart milk bottle". If the system detects the baby has woken up for feeding, it will alert the milk bottle and begin warming it ready for use.




It will cost $199 in the US (about £120) and includes three onesies, a Turtle and a device that functions as a charging station.

Intel has announced its new Atom processors, aimed for use in smartphones and tablets, at MWC in Barcelona.

The company launched the Intel Atom Z3480 processor codenamed "Merrifield" which is clocked at 2.13GHz. It is a 64-bit ready SoC and Intel claims that the chip delivers best-in-class compute performance for the mainstream and performance segments. It is based on Intel's 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture and features a PowerVR Series 6 Graphics IP core. It is also the company's first SoC to feature the new Intel Integrated Sensor Solution.

Intel also disclosed new details on its next-generation 64-bit Intel Atom processor, the Intel XMM 7260 code named "Moorefield." The 7260 will feature the same Merrifield feature set but adds two additional Intel architecture (IA) cores for up to 2.3GHz of compute performance, an enhanced GPU and support for faster memory. The 7260 is optimized for Intel's 2014 LTE platform. It is also certified to run on 70 percent of LTE networks globally and provides speeds of up to 300Mbps downlink and 50Mbps uplink.

We have already started seeing it and now here is the confirmation from the horse’s mouth. Intel has officially said that their processors will work on dual-boot computers that run both Android and Windows OS. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich recently said at the CES 2014 that Intel is now the first microprocessor company to support devices that support the dual-boot OS feature.

Consumers using such systems will be able to switch between Windows and Android with just a press of a button. We did see this feature earlier on the Asus Transformer Book Trio which was launched in India last month. The convertible tablet can dual boot on Windows 8 and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

This is a welcoming feature no doubt, but the success of these devices is still dodgy. Consumers will definitely love the access to both the OS on a single device, but a lot depends on the functionality as well as flexibility. Just recently, Micromax announced a new tablet called the Canvas Lap Tab which dual boots on Windows 8 and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

A hacking attack on the servers of South Korean broadcasters and banks originated from an IP address based in China, officials in Seoul said, raising suspicions the intrusion came from North Korea. An unnamed official from South Korea's presidential office was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying the discovery of the IP address indicated Pyongyang was responsible for the attack. 

The attack brought down the network servers of television broadcasters YTN, MBC and KBS as well as two major commercial banks, Shinhan Bank and NongHyup Bank. South Korea raised its alert levels in response.   


"We've identified that a Chinese IP is connected to the organizations affected," a spokesman for South Korea's Communications Commission told a press conference.  It took the banks hours to restore operations. Damage to the servers of the TV networks was believed to be more severe, although broadcasts were not affected.

About 32,000 computers at the six organizations were affected, according to the South's state-run Korea Internet Security Agency, adding it would take up to five days to fully restore their functions. North Korea has in the past targeted South Korea's conservative newspapers, banks and government institutions.  The biggest hacking effort attributed to Pyongyang was a 10-day denial of service attack in 2011 that antivirus firm McAfee, part of Intel, dubbed "Ten Days of Rain". It said that attack was a bid to probe the South's computer defenses in the event of a real conflict.  

• Windows 7 (64-bit): 55.55%
• Windows 7 (32- bit): 14.18%
• Windows XP (32-bit): 9.66%
• Windows 8 (64-bit): 8.04%

• Intel: 73.11%
• AMD: 26.88%

• Intel HD 3000: 4.27%
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti: 2.73%
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti: 2.42%
• The highest ranked AMD Radeon card is the HD 5770 at eighth place with 1.71% of users

Other components:

• Most popular RAM set up: 4 GB (22.21%)
• Most popular processor set-up: Dual-core (48.78%)
• Most popular single monitor resolution: 1920×1080 pixels (28.9%)
• Most popular multi-display resolution: 3840×1080 pixels ( 19.64%)
• Most popular hard drive capacity: 250GB to 499GB (34.86%)

• Innovated with high-K, metal-gate and 3D Tri-gate transistors improving the efficiency of Intel processors
• Acquired security firm McAfee
• Introduced Ultrabooks category
• Delivered the first set of smartphones sporting an Intel Medfield SoC
• Grew the vast network of cloud-based computing built on Intel products

Intel is launching its next-generation Clover Trail platform. The new Intel Z2760 is a dual-core, quad-threaded device clocked at up to 1.8GHz, with support for up to 2GB of RAM and graphics provided courtesy of a single PowerVR SGX545 core. Chipzilla expects to see wide adoption from multiple partners, with a host of tablets expected to launch simultaneously with Windows 8.





The new SoC is closely related to Medfield, Intel’s 32nm smartphone platform that we reviewed earlier this year, but there are a few differences between the two. Certain subsystems have been improved, and the new SoC incorporates advanced power states and is capable of fine-grained power management beyond what we’ve seen in other Intel chips to date.