Returning to the printed

In our blog, we write a lot about Intel products and solutions. Both those and others do not stand still - they correct the flaws, add new functionality. It turns out that after a while the information in the blog becomes outdated, and the new does not appear - there is no reason. This situation seems wrong to us; To correct the situation, we decided to periodically publish update digests - what's new in a particular area since the last post about it was published. In Soviet newspapers, this format was called “returning to the printed”. In the same digest we will add short articles on various news topics.
In this release: “work on the bugs” in the Mint communicator, the new processor for microservers, the update of VTune Amplifier and WiDi technology, the withdrawal of Intel from the market of PC motherboards.

MegaFon Mint: work on the bugs

The Intel blog covered the August launch of the first Russian communicator with the Intel Atom processor - MegaFon SP-A20i Mint. The community’s response to this event was ambiguous, which is not surprising: as is usually the case with the pioneers, the model was not without flaws. The main ones did not directly relate to the device, but still negatively affected its rating: the high cost (at the time of launch - 18 thousand rubles) and the outdated version of Android (originally - 2.3).
With a feeling of deep satisfaction, we inform you that in a relatively short period of time both deficiencies have been eliminated, and as of now the update to Android 4.0 is available for the communicator, and its cost is 9,900 rubles. Eh, like this from the very beginning - it would be a hit of sales. By the way, the moment of the appearance of Mint was announced by a few more communicators on the updated Intel platform , although, again, this is not for the Russian market. Well, for now we will be glad that Intel keeps its word and is actively moving forward in the development of mobile processors.

Microservers received a new processor

In December, Intel held an official presentation of the processor family, and more specifically, the SoC, for Intel Atom S1200 micro servers (S1220, S1240 and S1260). As we see, Diane Bryant (Diane Bryant), the head of the group on data centers and connected systems, does not hide his joy about what happened. We are also pleased that the concept of micro servers, in general, is beautiful and promising, gradually acquires flesh and blood.


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In addition to the dual core CPU with a frequency of 1.6 or 2.0 GHz, the single-channel DDR3 memory controller, USB 2.0 and PCIe controllers (8 lines) found their place in the new systems on the chip. The 64-bit instruction set, Hyper-Threading and Intel Virtualization (VT-x) technologies are supported. A distinctive feature of the S1200 line is extremely low power consumption, from 6 to 8.5 watts. As we remember, it is economical with regard to computing power and the occupied place is the main asset of micro servers, and in this sense, new products are of fundamental importance.
New SoC, in addition to micro servers, will find their application in network devices and storage systems.

WiDi features enhanced

WiDi is an example of technology ahead of its time. Or carts that are in front of the horse - as you like. Be that as it may, WiDi for some time hung in a vacuum of space: the technology was, and its support was absent as a class. Now this time, fortunately, is over - there is now plenty of compatible hardware. Recently, having entered a small electronics store in a small town - a regional center, I was surprised to find a console in the window, among other things WiDi - the solution is in demand even in the outback.
Since WiDi has moved from the category of theoretical technologies to the category of very practical, it will probably be useful to point out that it has recently acquired a new version and new functionality. Now the list of its main features is as follows:

• Support Full HD video (1080p);
• Playing DVD and Blu-Ray;
• Support for Intel Insider (high definition video streaming);
• 5.1 sound transmission;
• Support for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast;
• USB device support.

At the last IDF forum, the gaming capabilities of the new WiDi were also demonstrated - it’s better to see it once .

Intel leaves motherboard market

Even the harsh, bearded admins will probably find it difficult to remember when the first Intel motherboard was released - that was a long time ago. To whom it is very interesting I can tell - it happened in 1993. However, everything sooner or later comes to an end, and now at the end of February, Intel announced a gradual withdrawal from the market of desktop motherboards. The reasons for this decision are obvious: the traditional PC market continues to shrink, over the past year it has decreased by another 3%. There is less space left on it, and there are still plenty of players.


First Intel motherboard

Another well-marked trend is the growing popularity of mobile devices of various kinds, for which motherboards are also required. It is there that the staff of closed units will direct their efforts, so large-scale reductions are not expected. Not expected cataclysms in the field of chipsets . Thus, inside the Intel PC has been registered for a long time, well, a change of priorities promises us the appearance of interesting mobile products from Intel Inside. So let's not be discouraged: the end of one era means only the beginning of another.
Here you can read about the most interesting motherboards in the history of Intel.

New version of Intel VTune Amplifier XE

Updated useful tool for developers - a tool for in-depth analysis of the performance of Intel VTune Amplifier software. Here is a short list of pleasant changes:
• Support for a new 4th generation Intel Core processor codenamed Haswell (including analysis of processor events and memory subsystem throughput).
• Collecting a General Exploration profile for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor on Linux.
• Processor event analysis for OpenCL applications on the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor on Linux.
• Frame analysis for parallel regions of OpenMP applications.
• Support for joining Java processes for analyzing processor events.
• Ubuntu 12.10 support.
Unpleasant changes, as you probably already guessed, are simply not there.