Even though Nvidia Corp. was quoted as saying that Intel Corp. only sells its Atom processors for netbooks and nettops bundled with its own core-logic sets, which is why none of device manufacturers were interested in Nvidia’s Ion platform powered by GeForce 9400M chipset, Intel Corp. denied that it blocks Nvidia from entering the market of ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs).

“We do sell Atom both bundled and as stand alone,” an Intel spokesperson told X-bit labs.

According to Intel officials, Nvidia does not need to obtain a separate license to make and sell chipsets compatible with Intel Atom processors aimed mostly at ULCPCs.

Nvidia recently introduced its GeForce 9400M is a single-chip core-logic for Intel Atom processors with DirectX 10-compatible GeForce 9-class graphics processor inside that also supports dual-channel DDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0 x16 and x4 links, Serial ATA, USB, Gigabit Ethernet and so on.

(Full article ‘Intel Claims It Does Not Force to Buy Intel Atom with Core-Logic’)

Toshiba Corp. on Wednesday became the industry’s first company to announce 512GB solid-state drive. In addition, the company said that its multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips will enable it to bring a plethora of new high-capacity products in small form-factors.

In addition to the 2.5”, 512GB drive, the family of SSDs powered by 43nm chips also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8” or 2.5” drive enclosures or as SSD fash modules. Toshiba declared 240MB/s sequential read speed and 200MB/s sequential write speed for the new family of solid state drives, which is very high performance compared to competing devices even based on more advanced single-level cell NAND flash.

(Full article ‘Toshiba First to Announce 512GB Solid State Drive, Promises to Launch in Q2 2009′)

Aiming to mass-produce a lithium battery for vehicles, 14 US companies with expertise in batteries and advanced materials have formed an alliance with a government laboratory, the lab said on Thursday.

The alliance, which includes battery industry giants such as 3M Co and Johnson Controls-Saft, intends to secure $1bn to $2bn in US government funding over the next five years to build a manufacturing facility with an ‘open foundry’ for the participants to pursue the goal of perfecting lithium-ion batteries for cars.

“It’s a huge deal for the nation, and for the lab,” said Mark Peters, who is in charge of transportation and battery research at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, which will advise the group.

China, Japan and South Korea are the current leaders in lithium-battery research, he said in a telephone interview.

“A small, fragmented [US] battery industry will not long survive in the face of determined Asian competition,” Ralph Brodd, a consultant to battery manufacturers, said in a statement released by Argonne.

“[Other] countries understand that he who makes the batteries will one day make the cars,” he said.

The best-selling hybrid vehicles such as Toyota Motor Corp’s Prius use a nickel metal hydride battery.

(Full article ‘Tech firms team up on lithium batteries for cars’)

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has given his last keynote address at Macworld in San Francisco.

The company announced on Tuesday afternoon that January’s Macworld would mark its last year participating at the show, which is run by publishing company IDG. In addition, Apple said Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, will deliver the keynote, usually handled by Jobs.

Apple representative Steve Dowling declined to comment on Jobs’s health, a prominent topic of discussion this year. Jobs’s keynote addresses at Macworld have become almost legendary events, launch pads for some of the company’s most important products and strategies. His absence may once again revive rumours that Jobs is ill.

“Phil is giving the keynote because this will be Apple’s last year at the show,” Dowling said.

(Full article ‘Jobs to skip Macworld stage as Apple exits show’)

What goes up, must go down: the popularity of flash memory in personal computers for storage is projected to decline in 2009 compared to previous years. Netbooks next year will utilize mostly traditional hard drives instead of NAND flash memory for storage, analysts from a memory market research company said on Wednesday.It is a bit ironic, but when the first ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs) hit the market in 2007, they featured specially-created solid-state drives (SSDs), previously an option for very expensive personal computers, instead of conventional hard disk drives (HDDs) in order to save several dollars.
(Full article ‘Solid-State Drives Set to Disappear from Low-Cost Netbooks, Mainstream Notebooks Unlikely to Adopt SSDs Soon – Analysts’)