Chip manufacturer Intel is debuting very small processors that have a wide variety of uses from wearable devices to medical and industrial applications. Some have criticized the company for not entering the smartphone market fast enough, but with Quark, Intel plans to pursue embedded computing technologies emerging in wearable devices and the Internet of Things. Intel will have to address the expected low price of these chips, along with increased competition from other chip makers. Continue reading Intel Creates Ultrasmall Quark Chips for Wearable Computing

Samsung Electronics announced on Monday that it will phase out its unprofitable desktop PC business and allocate its resources to connected and portable devices including tablet computers and all-in-one laptops. “Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung’s current focus. Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants,” explained a Samsung official. Continue reading Samsung Announces Plans to Shutter Desktop PC Business

Microsoft announced this week that it has scheduled a special Xbox event to be held May 21 at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company is expected to unveil its next-generation Xbox videogame console during the event, and is believed to be prepping the new console for a holiday release to compete with Sony’s anticipated PlayStation 4. Continue reading Microsoft Plans Event to Unveil Next-Gen Xbox Console

Hewlett-Packard’s “Generation 2” Project Moonshot server is now available, based on the Intel Atom Series 1200 chip — also known as the Intel 64-bit Centerton chip. Project Moonshot’s overarching goal is to create compact, energy-efficient servers able to run workloads at a mere fraction of the cost of currently available hardware. Other versions that run chips from Calxeda, AMD, Applied Micro and Texas Instruments will follow. Continue reading Project Moonshot Intends to Create Energy Efficient Servers

Microsoft is planning to reveal the details of its new Xbox gaming console during an event on May 21, several weeks before the E3 video game conference. The console, code-named Durango, reportedly features a processor from chipmaker AMD along with new graphics enhancements. As part of its initiative to make the Xbox a hub for all entertainment, the company plans to sell its Mediaroom IPTV business to Ericsson. Continue reading Details for New Xbox to be Revealed at Microsoft Event

“The launch of two new features into the Open Compute hardware specifications on Wednesday has managed to do what Facebook has been threatening to do since it began building its vanity-free hardware back in 2010,” writes GigaOM. These new features mean Facebook has “blown up the server,” says the article, adding that the server has been reduced “to interchangeable components.” Continue reading Facebook Features Could Lead To End Of The Server Business