Toshiba Starts Seeing Other Chips

Toshiba has ended its monogamous relationship with Intel and will now also offer laptops with processors made by Advanced Micro Devices, the computer maker confirmed Tuesday. Toshiba will reportedly put AMD chips in about 20 percent of its notebooks, giving the chipmaker a significant shot in the arm in its rivalry with Intel.

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TechNewsWorld | 05/29/07


Once a feisty competitor that beat Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. Latest News about Intel to market with processor innovations and lower costs, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) Latest News about AMD (AMD) has lately slumped a bit. That could change, as Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Latest News about Toshiba confirmed Tuesday it plans to use AMD processors in some of its laptops.

The deal would pull the plug on an arrangement under which the company is buying chips exclusively from Intel. While the AMD deal is unlikely to significantly alter Intel's status as the world's dominant processor manufacturer, the pact could be a much-needed shot of adrenaline for AMD.

"Any time you get an additional customer, it shines a positive light on the business," IDC analyst Richard Shim told TechNewsWorld. Major computer makers HP (NYSE: HPQ) Latest News about Hewlett-Packard and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) Latest News about Dell, he noted, recently agreed to install AMD chips in some of their units. Acer also offers a line of systems without Intel inside.

"AMD's mobile business has been somewhat behind in terms of market share," said Shim. "But gradually the dominoes are starting to fall ... a lot of these companies that had somewhat exclusively Intel product lines are starting to accept AMD chips now."

Small Chunk, Big Pie

Toshiba reportedly plans to install AMD processors in about 20 percent of the notebooks it sells in the United States and Europe. Toshiba, the world's fourth-largest computer maker, shipped 9.2 units worldwide in 2006, shim said.

The company will use AMD processors in some of its mid-range notebooks, according to reports. The move may allow Toshiba to reduce by at least 10 percent the cost of components.

In a 2005 lawsuit, AMD accused Intel of resorting to exclusionary business practices to monopolize the x86 processor market. The case is pending. In fact, AMD issued some subpoenas just last week.

AMD's image has changed over the years, Shim said, having gone from being viewed as a lower-cost alternative to Intel to its new status as a company that can make similarly priced chips that are equal to, or better, than the market leader. "In the past they have been viewed as a value play, but more recently that position has eroded as they've been able to improve their performance and offer a more complete product," he said.

Ground-Up Approach

Additionally, AMD has taken a grassroots approach to marketing Email Marketing Software - Free Demo that seems to be working. "AMD has done something different in terms of the way they go to the market," said the analyst. "In the past they used to go to the vendors and try to sell the vendors on using AMD chips. Now they go to retailers and tell them how AMD is able to help push volume through their channel. Then the retailers go to the vendors and try to get them to look into using AMD chips."

While the approach "has proven to be pretty successful," Shim said, he did not know if it was a factor in Toshiba's decision. Most manufacturers feel uncomfortable having just one manufacturer for system components, including processors, he added. "So I think this is a pretty natural move for Toshiba," said Shim. "Particularly as AMD improves their mobile chip product line."

Whether the deal will do much to narrow the gap between AMD and Intel is yet to be seen. "The question here is whether AMD is taking units away from Intel through the Toshiba relationship or is this kind of complementing what's already there," said Shim. "Is it additive or complementary?"

Astronomers' New Discoveries Increase Odds of Earth-Like Planets

"Some other solar systems may share features of ours, according to new research from a University of California-led team that discovered 28 new planets in the Milky Way. The planets increase the number of known planets outside our solar system -- called "exoplanets" -- to 236.

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E-San Jose Mercury News | 05/29/07


A University of California-led research team has discovered 28 new planets deep in the Milky Way, circling stars not unlike our own -- leading them to conclude that our solar system may not be so special after all.

"The sun and Earth is not a rarity," said Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy at UC-Berkeley, estimating that there may be at least 20 million to 30 million solar systems within the Milky Way galaxy. "A family of planets orbiting a single star is a very common occurrence."

If that is the case, then the likelihood of other Earth-like planets becomes greater.

Number of Exoplanets

The newly found planets, reported Monday at the semiannual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, increase to 236 the number of known planets outside our solar system, called "exoplanets."

Several of these exoplanets are members of multiple-planet systems.

The discovery of these planets suggests that some other solar systems may share some of the same features as ours. Like Venus, Earth and Mars, some planets have rocky interiors and watery surfaces. Close to the star, those planets are warm. Yet others, like Juniper, Saturn and Uranus, are cold gas giants, distant from the star.

"It is heartwarming that other planetary systems have an architecture that is very reminiscent of our solar system -- multiple planets, some with rocky cores and watery envelopes," Marcy said.

The hope, of course, is that someday an Earth-like planet will be found. Marcy and many other scientists are searching the cosmos for signs of radio or TV signals that would be clues of intelligent life.

However, unlike our solar system, most of the new systems have planetary orbits that are elongated, not circular. The resulting vast swings in temperature would not be conducive to a life form that could, for instance, write a piano concerto, build computers or send out signals of its existence, Marcy said.

Some Indirect Evidence

Scientists can't see a planet directly; rather, they infer its existence from the wobbling and dimming of a star as the planet passes by. However, this information can offer enough mathematical detail to create an accurate picture.

For example, the team also described new details about one specific exoplanet, discovered two years ago.

This planet, which circles the star Gliese 436, is thought to be half rock, half water. Its rocky core is surrounded by an amount of water compressed into a solid form at high pressures and low temperatures. It makes a short, 2.6-day orbit around Gliese 436. Based on its radius and density, scientists calculate that it has the mass of 22 Earths, making it slightly larger than Neptune.

"The profound conclusion is, here we've found yet another type of planet that is already represented in our solar system," Marcy said.

The Planet Search team is headed by Marcy; Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University; and Steve Vogt, professor of astronomy at UC-Santa Cruz. They worked with an Anglo-Australian Planet Search team.

The results were reported at the meeting by UC-Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Jason T. Wright and John Asher Johnson, who also has a doctorate.

Number Expected to Rise

As detection methods improve, Marcy said, the tally of planets will continue to climb, portraying a universe far vaster and more complex than Galileo ever imagined.

The teams' Doppler telescope is now sensitive to stellar wobbles of a meter per second, much less than the 10-meter per second limit the groups started out with 15 years ago.

The California and Carnegie Planet Search team uses telescopes at the University of California's Lick Observatory and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

The Anglo-Australian Planet Search team uses the Anglo-Australian Observatory. Together, these teams have discovered more than half of all known exoplanets.

At Lick Observatory, a new telescope is being built designed specifically to seek Earth-like planets.

The UC-lead team keeps track of all known exoplanets at the Web site of the California and Carnegie Planet Search, which hosts the only peer-reviewed catalog of information about exoplanets within 652 light-years of Earth.