While the Intel Atom line of chips may reign supreme in the netbook space, I’ve become a pretty big fan of Intel’s CULV chipset over the last few months. These low power chips show up in thin and light computers including a number I’ve recently reviewed such as the Asus UL20A, Dell Inspiron 11z, and Acer Aspire 1410. While they cost more and use more power than Atom chips, they also provide significantly better performance and tend to come with higher performance graphics as well.

So far, most of Intel’s CULV-based chips have been based on older chipsets such as the Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual Core, and Celeron lines. But CNET reports that Intel will start pumping out ULV chips based on the new Core i mobile processors early in February.

These chips, including the Core i5-520UM and Core i7-640UM use less energy than their more powerful siblings. While the 18 watt total power draw looks significantly higher than 10 watt TDP on older CULV chips like the Core 2 Duo SU7300, the key difference is that the Core i-based chips incorporate graphics functions, so the TDP combines CPU and GPU functions. In other words, the new chips shouldn’t actually take much more of a toll on battery life than existing CULV options. I suspect they’ll still be a bit pricier at launch though.

Manufacturers of MIDs, portable media players, e-readers, and tablets will be soon able to reap the benefits of Marvell’s new ARMADA 610 chipset.

The new design incorporates a gigahertz-class ARM v7 compatible CPU, 3D graphics (including Open GL ES 1.1/2.0 and Open VG support), as well as  full 1080p processing. On top of that, ARMADA 610 supports HDMI and USB 2.0 and up to 4 simultaneous displays at resolutions up to 2000×2000.

Marvell is also providing a reference platform called Bonnell which combines the 610 with wifi and cellular connectivity options. The chipset is compatible with Linux (including Android), Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded CE.

Early samples are have been provided to manufacturers, but there’s no telling when we’ll see the first devices on retail shelves – or even what form they’ll take.

You can check out the full press release from Marvell over at their official site.

via Slashgear

Fudzilla has gotten their hands on a few more details about Intel’s upcoming Pine Trail platform. Most noteworthy is the news that there will be an estimated 20% reduction in power consumption.

Some blogs have asked whether this will translate to 20% longer battery life. Not likely, since the power savings here only refers to the Pine Trail core components. All the other netbook energy drains – display, hard drive, etc – will still be sucking life from your battery as before.

The change will help, of course, if only a little. Savings is savings, though, and netbook users will appreciate any tech which leads to a few more minutes of outlet-free, wireless computing.

Fudzilla is also careful to note that the reduced manufacturing cost won’t necessarily translate into lower-priced netbooks. That’s how things generally go, however, so I’d fully expect to see prices come down a at least little by the time Pine Trail hits the shelves. Whether the two things are related is another story…

Intel could begin phasing out the Atom N280 chip and GN40 graphics chipset. Digitimes reports the move is  due to low demand. The Intel Atom N280 CPU runs at 1.66GHz, which is only moderately faster than the 1.6GHz clock speed of the older Atom N270 CPU. The N280 also has faster bus speed and the GN40 chipset is designed to offer somewhat better graphics performance. But while, Acer, Asus, and a few other companies have opted to use the newer chips in their latest mini-laptops, many other companies continue to pump out machines with the older Intel Atom N270/945GSE chipset. 

That’s not to say that Intel won’t eventually replace the Atom N270. The Atom N280 was actually an off-roadmap chip that was designed to help fill the demand for netbook processors while Intel prepared its next generation Pineview processors and Tiger Point chipsets, which are due out this fall. This new chipset will feature a faster processor and GPU while using even less power than current chips.

DigiTimes also reports that Intel has put together a netbook reference design for white-box vendors. It has an 8.9 inch display, Intel Atom N270 CPU, 945GSE chipset, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB or 16GB of flash storage. In other words, the only thing that really sets it apart from every other 8.9 inch min-laptop on the market today is the fact that it will run on Moblin Linux. This white-box netbook could go for as little as $256.

The Asus Eee PC 1004DN is one of the first netbooks to sport an optical disc drive. But that’s not its only claim to fame. It’s also the first available mini-laptop to utilize the new Intel GN40 chipset. When paired with an Intel Atom N280 CPU, this chipset is designed to offer better graphics performance than you’ll get from Intel 945GSE chipset found on most netbooks. But how well does it hold up under real world conditions? HKEPC managed to pick up an Eee PC 1004DN in Hong Kong and put it through its paces.

The GN40 chipset supports DirectX 10, H.264 and VC-1 video decoding, and Shader Model 4.0 specifications. When HKEPC pitted the 1004DN against an Asus Eee PC 1000H and 1000HE, the 1004DN came out ahead in most benchmarks – but not by a huge margin. The GN40 chipset gives the new model an edge in most video and graphics tests. But some of the hardware video encoding features simply don’t work in Windows XP. The drivers aren’t available. You’ll need to use Windows Vista or Windows 7 to get the most out of this chipset.

The GN40 chipset is also more expensive than the Intel 945GSE chipset. And an Intel Atom N280/GN40 combo has a TDP of over 16 watts, compared with a TDP of about 8W for an Atom N280/945GSE pairing. All of which is to say, the GN40 chipset might not be all it’s cracked up to be. It might offer marginally better performance than you get from today’s netbooks. But that performance will come at a cost: Netbooks with this chipset could easily run $30 to $50 more than today’s mini-laptops, and the chipset will take a toll on battery life.

via Fudzilla

Right, so apparently Intel is not putting and end to  NVIDIA’s plans to bundle a GeForce 9400M GPU with the Intel Atom CPU and sell the chipset to netbook and laptop makers.

The other day DigiTimes reported that Intel refused to sell the Atom processor separately from the Intel 945GSE and 945GC chipsets, which would have made it difficult for NVIDIA to move ahead with the ION platform. But the folks at InternetNews received word from Intel that the company is plenty happy to sell the Atom CPU as a standalone processor.

NVIDIA says its ION platform would seriously boost the graphics performance of low cost mini-laptops without taking a serious hit on battery life or the price of netbooks.

You know how NVIDIA recently announced plans for a platform that would combine the Intel Atom low power CPU with an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU to provide enhanced video performance on netbooks and low power notebooks? Yeah, apparently they forgot to run that whole thing by Intel before unveiling the plan publicly.

DigiTimes reports that Intel currently bundles the Intel Atom CPU with the Intel 945GSE and 945GC chipset. The company apparently has no plans to work with NVIDIA to validate the NVIDIA chipset on Atom computers. And Intel also plans to continue selling the chips bundled with the chipset, which would make NVIDIA’s planned ION platform both more expensive and more difficult to assemble.

Update: Intel denies the DigiTimes report, and says it’s plenty happy to sell the Atom chip as a standalone CPU.

via Eee PC News

VIA has released updted drivers for the CN896 chipset and Chrome9 integrated graphics. There are new drivers for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. HP 2133 Guide decided to see how the updated drivers affected performance on the HP Mini-Note.