Intel to ship 14nm laptop processors by end of year – up to 30% improvement in battery life

Intel-4th-gen-haswell-chipMore news out of the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel showed off an Ultrabook powered by a new “Broadwell” processor which utilizes a 14nm construction.

Known as a “die-shrink”, newer processors are refined and made smaller than their predecessors. This improves power management, which should reduce wasted electricity (also reducing wasted heat), and improve battery life. At some point however, we’ll be fighting physics as we wont be able to continue shrinking these parts forever.

While we might hit that manufacturing brick wall some day, that day is not today.

Intel recently released “Haswell” to the market, and its 22nm construction has already allowed for new tablet-like form factors for full-fledged PC’s from Sony, Lenovo, Asus, and other manufacturers.  Computers which run full versions of desktop operating systems and programs, but in form factors approaching consumer grade tablets. Intel is estimating that Broadwell based computers will see an almost 30% gain in battery life over current Haswell technology. We could be seeing Windows 8 tablets and hybrids approaching or surpassing iPad battery life by early next year.

Intel also discussed 14nm construction for their Atom line of low power chips used in phones. Those parts should be shipping in actual devices by the end of 2014.

Intel president Renée James also teased future development from the CPU developer, claiming “we have 14 nanometer working and we can see beyond that. I assure you it’s alive and well.” Exciting stuff, especially for future mobility products.

New ChromeBooks unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum sporting Haswell

chromebookPeople who track computer sales estimate that nearly a quarter of all computers sold under $300 are ChromeBooks. Google’s browser based cloud OS is eagerly chewing into the market formerly occupied by Windows based netbooks. It’s easy to see why, as ChromeOS runs smoother on lower powered hardware than stripped version of Windows.

Today at the Intel Developer Forum, new ChromeBooks took the stage featuring Intel’s newest processor architecture named Haswell. Haswell takes Intel a significant step forward in offering up powerful mobile solutions which use less power to get work done. They’re already being utilized in the new ultraportable Windows Hybrids from manufacturers Sony, Asus, and Lenovo. Now we’re set to see Haswell parts ship in Chromebooks from Acer, HP, Asus, and Toshiba.

This move should bring a performance boost to the ChromeOS ecosystem as previous ChromeBooks used more tablet-like hardware, but hopefully this increase in power wont come at the expense of battery life.

Hit the Google Chrome Blog for the full scoop!

Rumor: No surprise Microsoft MIGHT be working on a Surface 2. Gasp!

microsoft surface pro somegadgetguy

No really folks. Apparently we’re going to treat this rumor like it’s really hot news. Great.

Apparently Microsoft hasn’t been sitting around twiddling its collective thumbs since the release of the Surface Pro. Color me shocked, they MIGHT just be working on a follow up to their groundbreaking slate PC. Real facts here are slim, but there’s a lot we can glean without much effort.

See there’s this new lower-power processor out from Intel called Haswell. It wasn’t out when the original Surface Pro was released, but it’s popping up in all kinds of new laptops, and is proving very popular thanks to its improved power management. It sips way less juice, and is now the brains behind the new Asus Transformer Book T300 and Sony’s beautiful new Tap 11. Those two represent the closest direct competition to the idea which bore the Surface Pro. Taking laptop-grade hardware, and cramming it into a device little bigger than an iPad.

So here’s the hot scoop, Microsoft will use THAT processor in their follow up to the Surface Pro! Bam! I KNOW!

It’ll probably even have more RAM too! BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WITH TECH! IT GETS MORE RAM!

I mean seriously. These aren’t even “leaks”, they’re just obvious paths of improvement. How frustrating would it be if I acted all coy about the Samsung Galaxy S5 having a more powerful processor and a better camera. SHOCKING! But you heard it here first. EXCLUSIVE! HOT!

What no one really knows for certain is what a release schedule might look like. The original Surface RT was released in October of last year, with the Surface Pro held up until February of this year. Microsoft would do well to get ahead of this hardware cycle, as they have to play a little catch up with all the Haswell products hitting the market now.

We also know that Windows 8.1 will be released to consumers on October 17th, so the timing on a refreshed Surface could tie together really well.

If a refreshed Surface Pro even happens.

Because apparently people are surprised when major companies secretly work on improving products. And this is why I hate writing up rumor posts…