The new Intel Reader released today, is a compact camera-computer that takes photos of text and converts them into MP3s that it reads aloud in a synthesized voice.

It uses an Atom processor, a 5-megapixel camera and Intel’s Linux-based Moblin OS, it converts text instantly when the picture is taken. Obviously it’s designed for the visually impaired, but can also assist those with severe Dyslexia.

The CPU market has been languishing with poor sales over the last year or so thanks to the poor global economy. As sales of computer systems decline, so do sales of CPUs and other computer components like GPUs.

Last quarter GPU sales increased slightly as OEMs and major computer makers restocked supplies. The same thing may now be happening for the CPU industry as Intel has increased its Q3 outlook for revenue.

With netbook sales booming, sales of other computers like ultra portables are feeling the pinch. The problem is that many ultraportables only offer marginally improved performance compared to netbooks and often cost significantly more.

DigiTimes reports that Asus is getting ready to unveil new ultra-thin computers using new 45nm Intel CPUs for power savings. The CPUs to be used are the 45nm Celeron 743 and the SU2300. The machines are said to be launching on September 7.

As NAND flash makers reduce the size of the build process they use a lot of good things happen. The products using the flash storage derived from the NAND products consumer less power, produce less heat, and can be mode for less money.

Intel has announced the industry’s first 34nm SSDs this week that reduce the price of the SSDs by up to 60% compared to the previous 50nm Intel SSDs. The new MLC X25-M SSD is intended for the laptop and desktop market and is available in 80GB and 160GB capacities.

Intel is the biggest CPU maker in the world and is routinely far ahead of AMD, its closest rival, in sales. The poor global economy has meant that PC sales are down and that means that Intel’s CPU sales are down as well.

Intel announced the financials for Q2 2009 and reported a net loss of $398. The quarter also reports the $1.45 billion fine by the European Commission. Intel has revenue in the quarter of $8 billion and without counting the EC fine. The company had an operating income of $1.4 billion and a net income of $1 billion.

One of the coolest things to read about for gadget and technology fans is the gear we will be using in the future. You only have to look at the huge interest that the iPhone 3G S generated before it was officially announced to see that future products are very popular.

Intel held its Research@Intel day yesterday and unveiled some of the projects that the chipmaker is working on in its labs. One of the things covered was the platform power manager, a key technology behind the Moorestown platform and an integral component of the Atom processor that will end up in MIDs and smartphones.

It’s no surprise that Intel unveiled a bunch of new processors at Computex. The T9900, P9700, P8800, SU2700 processors and GS40 chipset. The T9900 Core 2 Duo stands out from the crowd, clocked at a fast 3.06 GHz, which makes it the first Penryn-based Core 2 Duo chip to accomplish that. The P9700 and P8800 are “performance kickers” that pack a whole lot of super-fast cache memory.

The SU2700 is aimed at ultra-thin laptops, which is where Intel predicts a “boom” this year. Decent performance and low-power is the key here.

It’s hard to believe that with the popularity and adoption rate of netbooks today that the devices only hit the market at the end of 2007. At the beginning of the netbook revolution the machines lacked a purpose built CPU for their portable nature. However, it didn’t take long for Intel to offer a CPU just for the class with its Atom line.

Intel is celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the Atom processor by announcing a pair of new Atom parts. The high-end part is the Z550 and the bad boy runs at 2GHz and features Intel’s hyper threading technology. All of that performance is crammed into a power envelope of 3 watts so it shouldn’t be a battery killer.

It wasn’t so long ago that adding a SSD to your computer meant $1000 or more in additional costs. Buying a SSD to add as an upgrade was only marginally cheaper with even small capacity SSDs selling in the $800 range.

SSD prices are coming down quickly in part thanks to the technology getting cheaper and in part due to the poor global economy putting price pressure on manufacturers. Intel’s X25-M SSD can now be had on Newegg.com for under $370.

We all know the global economy is bad, consumers have less money to spend, fewer computers are sold, and thus less CPUs are needed putting Intel and other chipmakers in a bad spot. Intel has announced that it will begin measures that will help it face the challenging economy in America.

Intel says that it will consolidate its manufacturing operations by cutting its capacity to match the current economy. In other words, it’s cutting production and doing so by closing up some of its older tech manufacturing plants.

Intel and NVIDIA aren’t exactly the best of friends. Just when things were looking up in the relationship thanks to NVIDIA allowing SLI on the Intel X58 chipset, NVIDIA ousts Intel as the GPU of choice in the new MacBooks.

A rumor circulated around the Internet that claimed Intel may be looking to kill NVIDIA’s new Ion platform that combines the Intel Atom CPU with an NVIDIA 9400 GPU. The rumor had Intel only selling the Atom CPU with its 945 chipset.

There’s always the chance that someone may steal your laptop and enjoy a nice relaxing day of browsing through your digital life. The very idea sucks, but Ericsson and Intel are developing a solution. The two companies are working on a remote kill switch for laptops.

Outfitted with both HSPA and GPS, the laptop can be SMS disabled and also globally located if stolen. A disabled laptop cannot be booted while third party software can handle aspects of extra data encryption. A thief with some tech know-how may be able to get around some or all of these measures, but at least this would be a deterrent to theft.

A new CPU from Intel is big news around the PC enthusiast realm. Intel has introduced its latest Core i7 CPU that promises to deliver vastly superior performance compared to the previous generation of Intel processors.

According to Intel, the Core i7 parts deliver 40% more performance in processing intensive applications compared to the previous generation of processors. The CPU features Turbo Boost Technology that accelerates performance to match a computer user’s needs and the workload of the system at the time.

The SSD offers some nice benefits to the notebook users like increased battery life, faster boot times, and quieter operation. The catch is that at this time SSDs are significantly more expensive than comparable hard drives and the storage capacity of the typical SSD is low.

Intel has jumped into the SSD market with the introduction of a pair of SSDs aimed at consumers. The new SSDs include the X18-M and the X25-M. The X18-M is a 1.8-inch drive and the X25-M is a more traditional 2.5-inch size drive. Intel says that the improved performance of the SSD helps reduce bottlenecks between its CPUs and the storage system. This is the SSD used in the HP system claiming 24-hours of runtime.

The idea of putting notebook computers into the hands of kids around the world to allow them to improve their education is a noble thought. The field was pioneered by the OLPC with its XO Notebook and an early partner with the OLPC was Intel.

Once Intel caught a glimpse of what the market could be for ultra low cost notebooks it entered the fray with its own low cost notebook called the Classmate. Intel announced today that it has the second generation Classmate ready for use around the world.