Intel released its new 6-core Gulftown CPUs earlier this month with high-end versions going for over $1000. AMD is set to launch its own 6-core processors with the code name Thuban.

The Thuban parts will be officially called the AMD Phenom II X6 processors. Pricing on a couple of the CPUs has been revealed today. The Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition will sell for $295. The processor operates at 3.2GHz and has a 9MB cache.

The price of SSDs are starting to come down where many computer users might be considering buying one. You can now get a few low capacity SSDs for around $100. The catch to these cheap SSDs is that they don’t offer much storage making them really only useful for boot drives.

Intel has unveiled its new X25-V SSD with 40GB of storage space. The SSD sells for $125 in quantities of 1000 and is aimed at notebooks, netbooks, and desktop computers looking for a fast boot drive for the OS and critical applications.

Intel has pulled the wraps off many new technologies over the years. The world’s largest processor maker today unveiled its latest Xeon processors calling the new parts the most secure ever. The new Xeon 5600 series includes multiple CPU models.

Intel says the key to the secure nature of the CPUs is the new Intel Advanced Encryption Standards New Instructions and Intel Trusted Execution Technology. This tech works together to make encryption and decryption faster and more secure.

The tablet market is going to be hot this year with a glut of new tablets coming to fight the iPad. Many of the tablets will be appealing to users looking for a computer and an eReader since they can be used as both. The OpenTablet 7 device was unveiled at MWC today.

The tablet has a 7-inch multi touch TFT LCD with LED backlighting. The tablet also offers WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular connectivity, HDMI output, and dual cameras for taking still shots and HD video. The tablet also has a microSD card slot for storage and a USB port.

Nokia and Intel have teamed up to create MeeGo, a new open source software platform for use on mobile devices. The new platform will be a combination of the best features from the two companies existing platforms and will not target just smartphones but also tablet PC’s, netbooks and even connected television devices.

This announcement comes shortly after Nokia announced that the Symbian platform was going open source and hot on the heals of Google and their newly popular Android mobile software platform, in a clear chase to regain some of their market share. Nokia says the plans for the Symbian platform have not changed but will be used on less expensive smartphones, with the more expensive devices running MeeGo.

For most computer makers a simple processor update isn’t a big deal to consumers. If Dell tosses a recently announced CPU in a notebook, most people don’t think much about it. When Apple changes something though, the hoards of fans get very excited.

Some Apple fans are probably giddy right now after an email from Intel sent to members of the Intel Retail Edge program was sent out showing a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i5 CPU up for grabs. The email invited the members to enter to win one of two new MacBook Pro notebooks with the Core i5 processor.

An e-mail sent to members of Intel’s Retail Edge promotional program highlight an upcoming MacBook Pro from Apple with a new Core i5 processor. The promotion was included in an e-mail sent to members of the Intel Retail Edge Program. It reads: “January Prize Draw: Win a MacBook Pro. Pass this month’s trainings for 2 chances to win one of 2 MacBook Pro laptops with the accelerated response of an Intel Core i5 processor.”

Right now, the top MacBook Pro has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Last week at CES, Intel formally introduced the new line of processors, which included the new Core i3, i5 and i7 chips. The mobile Core i5 has been considered a likely candidate for a MacBook Pro refresh.

[Appleinsider]

You don’t have to look hard to figure out that apps are a huge business. Apple was the first to make huge money from its App Store for the iPhone and the company has now had 3 billion downloads from the store.

Intel and several major computer makers have teamed up to develop and offer apps for netbook users via an Intel app store called AppUp. The store will offer apps that are free and those that are paid for download.

The hazard of being among the first to apply updates and new firmware to your gear is that you are also among the first to realize there might be a problem. A while back Intel offered a new firmware update for its X25-M and X18-M SSDs and users found a big problem when applied to SSDs with Windows 7.

The big problem was that the firmware update killed Windows 7 installs, which is a big issue considering the operating system is required and all. Intel removed the firmware from its website after the problem arose. Intel has now announced that it is trying again and has a new firmware on its site to add TRIM back to the SSDs.

I have been looking out the windows trying to spot flying pigs since I read this. After years of fighting in courts, Intel and AMD have settled all antitrust and IP disputes. Intel got out of the thing paying only $1.25 billion to AMD.

That is a lot of money, but it’s not that much considering how bad things could have been. The two companies have also agreed to a 5-year cross-licensing agreement and Intel has agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions.

Here’s a notebook for some extreme multi-tasking. Intel’s latest laptop outdoes them all with a large primary display, along with three sub-displays above the keyboard. These little OLED touchscreens will be able to display video, music playlists, whatever your wandering attention span desires.

They can work as a single screen or as one continuous surface (the “albums” in the video spill across multiple screens). It’s mainly a proof of concept intended to show that they’re working on these kinds of displays for their laptops.

Today marked the official unveil of the new Intel Core i5 CPUs. Typically when a new CPU is announced that means you can expect new mainboards and RAM to go along with the CPUs. Kingston has announced that it is the first company to ship speedy RAM for the new Core i5 platform.

Kingston has shipped new RAM kits that run at 2133MHz at 1.65 volts for the LGA1156 Core i5 and Core i7 systems. The RAM is available in 4GB dual channel kits aimed at enthusiasts and overclockers looking for better performance.

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.