Intel Core i7 launched worldwide

Based on a completely new architecture, the Core i7 processors are markedly different from their predecessors and have many advantages over them.

It is here; the Intel Core 17 processors have finally been launched worldwide. As part of the worldwide launch there was also a lavishly arranged function here in Mumbai at the Taj President on Tuesday.

Prakash Bagri, Director - Marketing, Intel South Asia said, "Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on Earth to the most demanding users on Earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music. When you couple, what is Intel's biggest leap in chip design, with other incredible innovations like Intel's solid state drives, the Core i7 processor has refined the computer of tomorrow".

Based on a completely new architecture, the Core i7 processors are markedly different from their predecessors and have many advantages over them. There is the increased parallelism with the processor being capable of executing 33% more concurrent micro-ops simultaneously.

There is also the faster unaligned cache access and faster synchronization primitives. Intel has also implemented a new 2nd level branch predictor to avoid situations when execution units stand idle. Yet another improvement is the cache sub-system that has been redesigned from scratch.

There is a 2nd level 512 entry translation look-aside buffer (TLB) in addition to the 1st level TLB to reduce the TLB miss rate. In addition to this, there is also three-level cache hierarchy: 64KB L1 (32KB for data and 32KB for instructions), 256 KB L2 cache per core, 8 MB L3 cache (2 MP per core) shared by all cores. This is different from what Intel used to do until now - all cache on the processor.

The Core i7 processor also marks an end of the legendary FSB (Front Side Bus). These processors feature the new Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) bus, which is Intel's answer to AMD's Hypertransport 3.0 and a three channel memory controller supporting 1066 MHz DDR3 memory is present on-chip.

Multi-threading technology (similar to hyper-threading of the NetBurst architecture processors) is also featured on these CPUs with SSE 4.2 instructions. These are capable of handling up to eight software threads on four processor cores. With a TDP rated at 130 W, these also have energy-saving features and you can shut down unwanted cores to reduce power consumption.

Turbo Boost technology allows the cores to bump up the clock speeds when deemed necessary. This quad-core chip is manufactured using the 45nm process, sporting 731 million transistors.

Combined with the Intel X58 chipset-based motherboards with LGA1366 socket, these are incompatible with older motherboards. Currently, these can only be used with motherboards based on the Intel X58 chipset.

Intel has released three different models of the Core i7 - all quad core variants with hyper-threading :

* Core i7 920 clocked at 2.66 GHz priced at $284 (approximately Rs.14,063),

* Core i7 940 clocked at 2.66 GHz priced at $562 (approximately Rs.27,830),

* Core i7 965 XE (Extreme Edition) clocked at 3.2 GHz priced at $999 (approximately Rs.49,470)

(Prices are per unit in lots of 1000)

Intel Core I7 Review

Introduction:

About this time last year Intel launched what was the fastest 45nm quad core CPU on the planet, the Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770. Well, guess what, Intel has done it again with the latest architectural achievement, the Core I7 Extreme 965. What the two have is common is that they both are based on Penryn cores, they both are 45 nanometer chips and they both run at a clock speed of 3.2GHz. After these things what you have is a whole new animal. Gone from this chip is the twelve megabytes of L2 cache, this is replaced by a third level of cache at 8MB. Slow and inefficient it is not. With the addition of an integrated memory controller, the memory bandwidth is expected to be huge by comparison to today's top of the line processors, somewhere close to two to three times the peak bandwidth. SMT (Simultaneous Multi Threading) has made a return on the Core I7 generation. This will enable the processor to run a total of eight threads at one time. Some other new features are Dynamic Energy Management, new SSE4 instructions, three level cache with a shared 8MB L3 cache and improved branch prediction. Many are interested in the new efficiencies and features, while many think this generation will be the Holy Grail of processors, Let's find out just how it performs. That's the question that is on everyone's mind.

Closer Look:

When you look at the Nehalem CPUs by themselves you have to wonder what makes them so much different than the previous generation. On the left is the I7 965 Extreme Edition that features a non turbo multiplier of 24 and is unlocked both up and down. Couple the 24 multiplier with the 133MHz base clock frequency and you end up at 3.20GHz. The I7 920 is at the other end of the spectrum and has a maximum non turbo clock multiplier of 20 for a base clock speed of 2.66GHz, in turbo mode this will jump as high as 22 for a turbo speed of 2.93GHz, the same base frequency of the I7 940. To accommodate this massive chip the socket pin count is up to 1366 from the Core 2 processors 775 pin count.

In the pictures above the increase in the size of the die is not readily apparent. The die size on the Nehalem processor core has increased to 263mm2 with a total of 731 million transistors. Comparing the size of the I7 965 to a socket 775 processor makes the size increase that much more dramatic.

While both the I7 965 and i7 920 are engineering samples, the I7 920 was shipped with a retail heatsink. The size increase of the processor die necessitated a larger cooling solution as well. The same concept is used to cool the Nehalem chips that was used on the socket 775 processors, just larger. The copper center slug is surrounded by an aluminum fin matrix to shed the heat generated by the processor. Big is good when it comes to cooling!

Processor? Check! Motherboard? Check! It's time to see just what these little bits of silicon will be paired with to generate some performance numbers.

India makes history, launches Tricolour on moon

India marked its presence on Moon tonight to be only the fourth nation to scale this historic milestone after a Moon Impact Probe with the national tri-colour painted successfully landed on the lunar surface after being detached from unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-1.

Joining the US, the erstwhile Soviet Union and the European Union, the 35-kg Moon Impact Probe(MIP) hit the moon exactly at 8.31 PM, about 25 minutes after the probe instrument descended from the satellite in what ISRO described as a "perfect operation".

Miniature Indian flags painted on four sides of the MIP signalled the country's symbolic entry into moon to coincide with the birth anniversary of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, observed as Children's Day.

"It will signify the entry of India on Moon," an ISRO official said. The MIP is one of the 11 scientific instruments (payloads) onboard Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned spacecraft mission to Moon launched on October 22 from Sriharikota spaceport.

Developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the primary objective of MIP is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon.

The probe will help qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. This apart, scientific exploration of the moon at close distance is also intended using MIP.

Talk face to face with Gmail voice and video chat

Voice and video chat

 

Gmail has launched New video chat. Let chat with ur friends and family with face to face..

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System requirements: Windows XP or later

• Chat more ways than ever from within Gmail
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Google analytics new features are now available in your account! Let's take a deeper look, starting with Motion Charts.

Google has analytics is available free for all google users in a new look and more features.

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New Pyramid Found in Egypt: 4,300-Year-Old Queen's Tomb

A new pyramid has been discovered deep beneath Egyptian sands, archaeologists announced today. The 4,300-year-old monument is believed to be the tomb of Queen Sesheshet, the mother of Pharaoh Teti, the founder ancient Egypt's 6th dynasty.

Once nearly five stories tall, the pyramid—or at least what remains of it—lay beneath 23 feet (7 meters) of sand as well as a small shrine and mud-brick walls from later periods.

The discovery is the third known "subsidiary" pyramid to the tomb of Teti. It's also the second pyramid discovered this year in Saqqara, an ancient royal burial complex near current-day Cairo.

 

More >>

 

Courtesy: National Geographic

Mars Lander Pronounced Dead, Despite "Lazarus Mode"

After five fruitful months, the Phoenix Mars Lander is believed to have sent its last dispatch to Earth, said NASA scientists who announced the end of the mission Monday.

There is a slight chance, though, that the lander's energy-saving "Lazarus mode" could allow Phoenix to be rise again after the long Martian winter, albeit in a limited capacity.

The craft might have lasted till December, but frigid temperatures and lack of sunlight, largely due to a dust storm, are draining the lander's solar-powered batteries, perhaps permanently.

Researchers haven't heard a peep from the craft since November 2.

"At this time, we're pretty convinced that the vehicle is no longer is available for us to use," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.

But Phoenix scientists are in no mood to brood.

Launched in August 2007, the Phoenix Mars Mission was designed to study the water history and potential for life in the ice-rich soil near Mars's north pole.

The mission accomplished "99 percent of what we proposed to do," said mission principle investigator Peter Smith off the University of Arizona.

The lander has exceeded expectations overall, he said. The mission was to last 90 sols, or Martian days, which are 24 hours and 39 minutes each. Phoenix stopped communicating after 150 sols.

"It's really an Irish wake, rather than a funeral," McCuistion said. "We should celebrate what Phoenix has done and what the team has done."

MORE >>

Courtesy: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

 

Browser Wars: Six Test Drives, Starting With Google's Chrome

Chrome, Google's shiny new Web browser, has some eye-catching features. (MCT HANDOUT / September 4, 2008)

We've had two months to try out Chrome, Google's foray into the world of Web browsers, and what's clear is that there's a full-fledged battle for the hearts and minds of Internet surfers. It's a high-stakes game, with losers often left as mere technological footnotes: Remember Netscape Navigator? We took six of the most popular free browsers for a test drive:

Chrome

We all know Google will eventually control the universe, and Chrome is the next stage in the quest.

Forward: The "incognito" mode, which prevents the browser from recording your searches, is handy for off-the-record browsing and helpfully pops open a distinct dark-blue-bordered window whenever it's in use. But be warned: It won't prevent your IT department from spying on you at work. Thumbnail images of your nine most-visited pages are displayed whenever you open a tab. (This technique was introduced to Web users with Opera's Speed Dial.) Users can also designate multiple pages to launch as tabs when the browser opens.

Stop: Chrome is in Beta testing, so it still has kinks: The browser freezes for several seconds frustratingly often. Some critics have concerns that Google is watching what Chrome users are searching for, but if you're someone who can't live without Gmail, odds are you'll want to Chrome up.

Firefox

Nearly four years after it showed the world that Internet Explorer wasn't the only way to browse, Mozilla's Firefox still provides an adaptive, innovative experience that's tough to top.

Forward: Mozilla encourages its users to create add-ons for Firefox, which are small pieces of software that expand functionality. Want a Speed Dial-type feature such as Opera's or Chrome's? A free add-on does it for you. Ever accidentally closed your browser with six tabs open? Firefox helpfully prompts you to save before doing this; the next time you open Firefox, you'll be back where you left off.

Stop: That last part about add-ons throw you off? Some users won't appreciate the change-it-yourself nature of Firefox, preferring a browser with the pre-loaded features of Chrome or Opera.

Flock

"The social web browser" is built from Firefox's template and caters to social networkers who want to access their various Web 2.0 accounts simultaneously.

Forward: For those deep into the Flickr-Twitter-Blogger- Facebook (Flitterblook?) community, Flock uses the left side of the browser window to display friend lists, status updates, e-mail and RSS feeds. The Flickr mini-bar occupies the top of the screen and displays photos posted by friends on any site you're signed in to. Flock's blogging tool lets users post entries from any browser window, so you don't have to navigate to the blog's home page.

Stop: When using all of the features, toolbars occupy more of the screen than regular Web content: It renders the information-gathering function of the Web an afterthought. If anything, Flock helps users procrastinate, with the constant distraction of media harming the browser's ability to make life on the Web easier.

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 7 was highly uninspiring; with Version 8, the makers of the world's most popular browser (in terms of market share) still have work to do.

Forward: Add-ons finally make an appearance in the IE universe, as Microsoft gives users room to innovate. Credit the developers for advancing the concept of tabbed browsing by automatically grouping tabs by subject. IE 8 also adds tools called Accelerators, which let users take information such as a business address from one page and enter it on another site, such as Mapquest, with a single click.

Stop: Like Chrome, IE 8 is in beta test mode; unlike Chrome, it feels like it. Many features, such as Web Slices — a tool designed to monitor specified sites for updates so users can track changes without having to visit the site — are difficult to configure and use. If the goal of a browser is to let people customize their Web experience, why does IE 8 pester users to enable certain features that were intentionally disabled?

Opera

This is the best browser that most people haven't heard of. It has all the functionality of its peers with none of the fanfare. There's even a mini version for mobile phones.

Forward: Opera's Speed Dial feature is difficult to live without; you select your favorite sites, and the browser catalogs thumbnails of them whenever you open a new tab. Veteran file sharers will love the built-in BitTorrent downloader, great for downloading media. And if you use Opera on multiple devices, Opera Link automatically syncs your Speed Dial choices, bookmarks and search history.

Stop: Because of Opera's relative obscurity, some popular Web sites don't completely work with it. For example, updating Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football rosters relies on a series of outdated pull-down menus that most other browsers have long outgrown.

Safari

Apple acolytes will love this; everyone else will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Forward: Apple has earned a reputation for making software that simply ... works. Safari is no exception. Pages seem to load slightly faster, on average, than with Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer, and the browser seems virtually crash-proof. It has a functional design that skips many of the perfunctory toolbars that clutter other browsers. Like Chrome, it offers a Private Browsing feature that keeps your searches off the record.

Stop: Perhaps Safari's best-selling point for casual users is that there's nothing particularly fancy about it. If you're overwhelmed by talk of add-ons and Speed Dials, Safari might be just your speed; if you want bells and whistles, it might be underwhelming.

PHP - Opensource, Tutorials, Sample programs

At w3dummies you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP. Our references cover all Web-building technologies, including W3C standards like HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML and other technologies like JavaScript, PHP, ASP, SQL and much more.

Obama races to victory, brings 'change' to America

Smashing through the country's "colour line", Barack Hussein Obama was Wednesday elected 44th president of the United States, a position that will vest unparalleled global power in the son of a Kenyan father and a white American mother.

He will take office on Jan 20 with his vice president-elect Joe Biden at a White House ceremony.

As the world watched in awe and admiration, Obama got an overwhelming mandate in the electoral college - 338 votes to Republican John McCain's 158 - exorcising the lingering ghosts of racism 145 years after the US abolished slavery.

"Change has come to America," the Democratic candidate said, addressing the country as the president-elect from an open blue stage before an ocean of people in his hometown of Chicago. "It's a long time coming, but because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America," he said to deafening roars from his supporters, many of whom, particularly blacks, wept at the achievement.

After an acrimonious campaign, Obama and McCain were gracious in their moments of victory and defeat. "He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine," Obama said of the Vietnam war veteran McCain and called him "brave and selfless".

McCain, in turn, praised his rival's inspirational and precedent-shattering campaign. "We have come to the end of a long journey," he told supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. "I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our goodwill."

Obama will assume the leadership of a nation facing a daunting economic crisis and mired in two wars - factors that pushed a nation looking for change away from the unpopular President George W. Bush's Republican Party.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," he said in a rousing speech that was heard by millions around the world.

The disenchantment with Bush gave the Democrats a majority in the Senate and the party has picked up almost a score of seats in the House of Representatives, boosting Obama's capacity to promote his agenda.

Obama's extraordinary feat a mere 43 years after the blacks won full civil rights - and a long 138 years after they got the vote - in a large measure stemmed from what the New York Times called his "improbable, unshakable conviction that America was ready to step across the colour line".

It was a realisation of the dream of the assassinated civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. Forty-five years ago, he had declared his dream that one day people would be "judged not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character".

Obama acknowledged Mahatma Gandhi's inspiration just as King had done. "In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodied the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things," Obama wrote in an article. "That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office; to remind me that real results will not just come from Washington, they will come from the people."

Obama said in a recent interview with IANS, that he believes that "India is a natural strategic partner for America in the 21st century and that the US should be working with India on a range of critical issues from preventing terrorism to promoting peace and stability in Asia."

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday congratulated Obama and said: "Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world."

News of Obama's win set off celebrations by supporters around the country and the world, from Times Square in New York to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, civil rights leader Martin Luther King's home church, and to New Delhi.

"Most Americans here that I spoke with expressed a sigh of relief," Sharon Lowen, an American danseuse who lives in India and practises Indian classical dance, said in New Delhi, where Indians joined Americans in celebration. "They were earlier shy to be branded as Americans - with Obama's victory we are proud now to be Americans."

African-Americans in the US wept and danced in the streets Tuesday night, declaring that a once-reluctant nation had finally lived up to its democratic promise.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and onetime presidential contender, joined the celebrations in Chicago, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night," said US Representaive John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights march in the 1960s.

Others exulted in small towns and big cities. And white voters marvelled at what they had wrought in turning a page on the country's bitter racial history, the Times said.

President Bush, whose long shadow loomed heavily on the McCain campaign with the election becoming a kind of referendum on his eight-year rule, too called Obama to congratulate him on his victory.

"I promise to make this a smooth transition," the president said to Obama. "You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself."

Obama became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to receive more than 50 percent of the popular vote, and made good on his pledge to transform the electoral map.

He overpowered McCain in Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania - four states that the campaign had spent months courting as the keys to victory.

The Democrat easily won most of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states that normally back Democrats, including New Hampshire, and ran strong in states that are normally solid for Republicans, such as Virginia, Indiana and Florida.

 

 

 

Windows Live Mail - Your inbox has a slightly new look

No big changes - more like a repainted room than a remodeled house. All your messages and contacts are still there. We've just made a few improvements to Hotmail based on feedback from customers like you. Here's what you'll see:

• A cleaner and more customizable look


• Up to 70% faster access to your e-mail1


• Easier access to your Windows Live Hotmail contacts

Additional improvements are in the works in the coming months including even bigger storage space (we'll automatically increase the capacity of your inbox as you need it2) and the ability to send instant messages from your inbox.
Learn more
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