Intel announces the new Intel Reader mobile handheld device designed to help individuals with reading-based disabilities such as dyslexia, low-vision, or those who are blind.

Approximately the size of a paperback book. the Atom-powered Intel Reader converts printed text into digital text and then reads the digital text aloud to the user. The unit essentially combines a 5 megapixel digital camera, OCR engine, and a text-to-speech engine into a single device that weighs approximately a little over a pounds (1.39 lbs).  Simply point, shoot, and listen to printed text with the Intel Reader.

The Intel Reader can also be used in conjunction with the Intel Portable Capture Station to capture large volumes of text such as a chapter or an entire book.

According to Louis Burns, VP and GM of Intel Digital Health Group:

“We are proud to offer the Intel Reader as a tool for people who have trouble reading standard print so they can more easily access the information many of us take for granted every day, such as reading a job offer letter or even the menu at a restaurant.”

The Intel Reader was originally conceived by Ben Foss, a researcher at Intel who was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. According to Foss:

“As someone who is part of this dyslexic community, I am thrilled to be able to help level the playing field for people who, like me, do not have easy access to the printed word.. Feelings of loneliness are often the experience of not being able to read easily. We hope to open the doors for people in these communities. The Intel Reader is a tool that can help give people with dyslexia, low-vision, blindness or other reading-based disabilities access to the resources they need to participate and be successful in school, work and life.”

We’ve seen “cool” devices through the years but the Intel Reader is actually a device that could radically impact the lives of millions of individuals around the world in a good way.

Of course there are many challenges in a device such as the Reader. It’s one thing to offer an accurate text-to-speech engine. It’s a completely different story when you combine that with an OCR engine which needs to accurately determine the piece of text being captured by the 5 megapixel camera. Other challenges include – the system needs to account for the orientation or rotation of the text; it needs to take into account any angle or tilt that the image might be captured in; then it needs to recognize the captured characters accurately for the text-to-speech engine; AND it needs to do this quickly.

For the spec folks – here is the specs to the Intel Reader:

• Intel Atom processor
• 4.3 inch 16:9 aspect ratio display
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with a focus range of 4 inches to 1.1 yards
• 4GB Intel Solid State Drive with 2GB for user data.
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• Stereo Audio Jack
• Integrated speakers and 1/8 inch audio jack
• Supports DAISY 2.02* (DAISY), NISO 2002* (z2002 or DAISY 3*), NISO 2005* (z2005 or DAISY 3), NIMAS 1.0/1.1*, MP3, WAV, ASCII text file formats
• Rechargeable 6 cell lithium ion battery
• 150 minute charging time
• Plays over 4 hours of text-to-speech or MP3 audio files
• 5 days standby
• Measures 6.5in. x 5.35in. x 1.3in. and weighs 1.3 pounds

The Intel Reader will be available in the U.S. through several resellers including CTL, Don Johnston Incorporated, GTSI, Howard Technology Solutions and HumanWare.

[Check it out]

[Check out the press release]

Technorati Tags: Intel Reader

Yes.. we’re finally back at work after a few days (more like a week-plus) of travel and volleyball.. and what better way to get this week going than with new processor and chipset announcements by Intel? That’s right.. the company announced a slew of new processors today – including new Nehalem based processors for the desktop and server market as well as a new chipset in the form of the Intel P55 Express Chipset. Without further ado – here’s a quick lowdown on the new announcements.

On the processor front, Intel announced the new Core i5 processor family, two new Core i7 processors, and a new Xeon Processor 3400 series.  The new processors also are the first Intel processors to integrate both a 16-lane PCI Express 2 graphics port and a two-channel memory controller – which also means the P55 Express Chipset is a single chip chipset.

Here’s a rundown of the new models:

• Core i7-870 processor; Base clock speed of 2.93 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.6GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $562 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Core i7-860 processor; Base clock speed of 2.80 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.46GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $284 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Core i7-750 processor; Base clock speed of 2.66 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.2GHz, 4 Cores/4 threads, 8MB cache, $196 at a 1K unit price, No HT, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon X3470 processor; Base clock speed of 2.93 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.6GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $589 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon X3460 processor; Base clock speed of 2.80 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.46GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $316 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon 3450 processor; Base clock speed of 2.66 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.2GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $241 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon 3440 processor; Base clock speed of 2.53 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 2.93GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $215 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon 3430 processor; Base clock speed of 2.40 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 2.8 GHz, 4 Cores/4 threads, 8MB cache, $189 at a 1K unit price, No HT, 95 watts TDP
• Xeon L3426 processor; Base clock speed of 1.86 GHz, Turbo Frequency of up to 3.2GHz, 4 Cores/8 threads, 8MB cache, $284 at a 1K unit price, HT enabled, 45 watts TDP

The new P55 Express Chipset supports 8 PCI Express 2.0 x1 Ports (2.5 GT/s), 6 SATA 3 Gb/s ports, RAID levels 0/1/5/10 via Intel Matrix Storage Technology, up to 14 USB 2.0 ports (using Intel USB 2.0 Rate Matching Hub), Intel HD Audio, and support for dual graphics cards in a “2×8” configuration.

So.. with new processor announcements comes.. reviews of course. Here’s a list of reviews from a variety of websites (along with blurbs).

Anandtech – “Core i7 870, i5 750”:

“Lynnfield shows us the beginning of how all microprocessors are going to be made in the future. Even AMD is embracing turbo, we’ll see it with Fusion in 2011. Extend turbo to its logical conclusion and you end up with something very exciting. Imagine a processor made up of many different cores, large and small, CPU and GPU. Each one turning on/off depending on the type of workload, and each running as fast as possible without dissipating more heat than your system can handle.”

TechReport – “Core i5-750 and Core i7-870 processors”

“The Lynnfield chips’ combination of price, performance, and power efficiency effectively clears the field in the desktop CPU market, leaving little room for competition from the Phenom II or older, cheaper Core 2 Quad processors—or even faster, pricier Core i7s.”

Tom’sHardware – “Core i5 and Core i7: Intel’s mainstream magnus opus”

“Alright, so the Core i5-750, specifically, is priced well. What is there to like about it? Reasonable power consumption, a base clock rate comparable to Intel’s Core i7-920, a more-aggressive Turbo Boost able to take the chip to 3.2 GHz in single-threaded workloads, CrossFire and SLI compatibility—it’s a pretty compelling list, actually.”

BenchmarkReviews.com – “Core i5-750 processor”

“Minor issues aside, the Core i5-750’s true strength lies in its Turbo Boost Technology. With it, the processor can automatically overclock all four of its cores independently to match the workload at hand. Down-clocking worked equally as well. Thanks to new power saving features, the Core i5-750 actually consumed the least amount of power out of all of the processors tested.”

Hardware Secrets – “Core i5-750 and Core i7-870 Processors Review”

“For the average user, Core i5 provides a better cost/benefit ratio than Core i7. It is true that Core i7 is faster than Core i5 even when we compare a Core i7 and a Core i5 running at the same clock rate as we did in our review, thanks to the Hyper-Threading technology that makes programs to “see” eight CPU cores instead of “only” four, but this difference in performance will be only worthwhile to professionals because a faster processing means more work done in less time, and thus more jobs for their clients and hence more money. We don’t see why a regular user would pay at least 45% more on a CPU that won’t give that much performance increase in return.”

Overclockers Club – “Intel Core i5 750 Core i7 870 Review”

PC Perspective – “Intel Lynnfield Core i7-870 and Core i5-750 Processor Review”

TweakTown – “Intel Lynnfield Core i5 750 and Core i7 870 Performance Testing”

Bjorn3D – “Intel i7 870 and i5 750 CPUs”

Enjoy!

I think it’s time for me to do a processor/system upgrade now…

Technorati Tags: Intel, Lynnsfield, Intel Core i5, Core i7

Scientists and Engineers are rock stars don’t you know?

At least they are to Intel. (Heck I’ve been telling that to my friends for years but no one seems to listen) That’s part of the message to a brand new advertising campaign for Intel corporation set to enhance and promote the Intel brand as opposed to any specific Intel product. Dubbed “Sponsors of Tomorrow”, the new campaign will officially launch on May 11th in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, with limited teaser ads appearing online as of today.

According to Deborah Conrad, Intel vice president and general manager, Corporate Marketing Group, “We’re hoping to convey that we’re not just a microprocessor company, but a move-society-forward-by-quantum-leaps company.”

This new campaign (which is expected to last between 3 to 5 years) also happens to be the first one from Venables Bell & Partners which was awarded the Intel master brand account back in January.

Check out www.sponsorsoftomorrow.com for a peek at the new campaign and make sure to check out the “videos” – they’re quite funny. My only complaint about the new site – it’s a bit flash heavy.. but then again so are many sites these days.

[Check it out]

[Check out the press release]

Technorati Tags: Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow

Sigh.. every time I hear or read the words “Intel Science Talent Search”, I can’t help but think back to my old high school days in New York City and how nearly every one of us felt compelled to enter the competition (which was known back then as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search). Of course most of us decided to go this route simply to prop up our extracurricular activities in the hopes of getting into a good college of some sort. I lasted all of 3 months in my HS research program before deciding that I’d rather play HS baseball than do some research project for a competition I didn’t think I had a chance of winning or even placing… Ahhh the memories.

Oh yes.. why am I even writing about the Talent Search you might ask? Intel officially announced the Science Talent Search 2009 winners today with the top prize (a $100,000 scholarship) going to Eric Larson of Eugene, Oregon, who won with a research project on “classifying mathematical objects called fusion categories” (um.. yeah ok).

The other top honors are as follows (via Intel press release):

“Second Place: William Sun, 17, of Chesterfield, Mo., received a $75,000 scholarship for his biochemistry project that studied the effects of a recently discovered molecule that could potentially help efforts to treat bacterial infections or prevent neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Third Place: Philip Streich, 18, of Platteville, Wis., received a $50,000 scholarship for his chemistry project on carbon nanotubes that may lead to the development of ultra-strong materials and ultra-fast nano-electronics. Philip’s work has resulted in five provisional patent filings.

Fourth Place: Narendra Tallapragada, 17, of Burke, Va., received a $25,000 scholarship for his project to find ways to simplify complex models of atomic and molecular interactions. His goal is to one day create “mini-computers” that can be used, for instance, to create automatic insulin pumps inside diabetic patients or intelligent clothing that responds to temperature.

Fifth Place: Chelsea Jurman, 17, of Roslyn, N.Y., received a $25,000 scholarship for studying underage drinking behavior and how it is tied to teen perceptions of parental drinking and parenting behaviors.

Sixth Place: Noah Arbesfeld, 17, of Lexington, Mass., received a $25,000 scholarship for his work seeking to understand a fundamental structure underlying all of algebra, with potential impact for string theory.

Seventh Place: Alexander Kim, 17, of Fairfax, Va., received a $20,000 scholarship for researching the variation and diversification in populations of the Giant American River Prawn, the largest freshwater invertebrate in North America. His research furthers understanding of how species evolve and has implications for the future of ecosystems.

Eighth Place: Preya Shah, 17, of Setauket, N.Y., received a $20,000 scholarship for designing and synthesizing a tumor-targeting drug for cancer treatment that represents a new approach to delivery of chemotherapy agents and possibly treatment of multi-drug resistant cancer without causing significant side effects.

Ninth Place: Nilesh Tripuraneni, 18, of Fresno, Calif., received a $20,000 scholarship for formulating a set of hydrodynamic equations that may provide a potential method to better understand the first movements of the universe and could aid in the development of a quantum theory of gravity.

Tenth Place: Gabriela Farfan, 18, of Madison, Wis., received a $20,000 scholarship for her project investigating Oregon Sunstones, which contain one of the most common rock forming minerals in the world. She determined that these sunstones have unique micro-inclusions that allow them to look one color from one angle and another from a different angle. “

30 other finalists each received $5000 scholarships as well as new laptop with an Intel Core 2 Duo on the inside. Not bad! Congrats to these kids – they’ve achieved a great thing and they’ve also sealed their tickets to some top 20 university as a result.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Intel Science Talent Search 2009

Just when we were all getting used to 45nm processors, Intel reveals that their next-generation 32nm processors are not far away. In fact, we might very well see the first 32nm processors for desktop and mobile systems as early as the fourth quarter of this year!

According to PC Magazine, the latest Intel roadmap reveals two new 32nm dual-core processors – Clarkdale for the desktop and Arrandale for the mobile platforms. These will be the first CPUs in the new “Westmere” family of processors – thereby replacing the 45nm “Nehalem” family which debuted as part of the Core i7 processor introduction. 45nm process technology was first introduced in “Penryn” family of processors which includes the current Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors.

Both Clarkdale and Arrandale are dual core processors – each with hyper-threading enabled. This means you’ll have two physical cores on the processor die and a total of four logical cores. These will also be the first processors with integrated graphics and memory controller on the chip. The graphics component on the processor die will be switchable allowing you to use discrete graphics instead within your system.

You can read more about the 32 nm process transition over at PC Magazine. Exciting times for the processor world – lower costs and smaller, faster, cooler processors. Great stuff.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Intel, 32nm processor, Clarkdale, Arrandale

What a day for the tech industry. I counted at least three separate postings on News.com about tech companies announcing layoffs after having a miserable fourth quarter. Here’s the quick rundown on these companies.

Sony will reportedly close two television factories and eliminate 2000 jobs in Japan – although when this will happen is unclear. This could be part of their previously announced job cuts or this could be something new. Nevertheless jobs are being eliminated.

After having a horrid fourth quarter, Intel announced details on how it was going to reduce fab output and streamline production to match market demand. The company plans on closing two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and one in Cavite, Philippines. Production will also halt at Fab 20 in Hillsboro, OR, and wafer production will end at the D2 fab in Santa Clara, CA. A total of 5,000 to 6,000 employees will be affected by these moves but not all of them will leave the company. Intel plans on offering other positions at the locations.

Sony Ericsson also had a pretty miserable fourth quarter as it saw a 31 percent drop in net profits year over year. The company announced that it would cut 5,000 jobs or about 6 percent of the work force. Ouch.

Not exactly the best way to start the new year…

Technorati Tags: Intel, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Job Cuts

Widgets are migrating from the web/PC desktop, to the mobile phone, and now to the TV set. Dubbed the “Connected TV” experience, Intel showcased several upcoming devices utilizing the new Intel Media Processor CE 3100 and enabling the new “Widget Channel” application framework.

Announced back in 2008 and developed by Intel and Yahoo, the “Widget Channel” delivers Internet content directly to your television set via devices such as Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and of course the TV set. TV Widgets from all sorts of content service providers have been developed since the launch of the Widget Channel including widgets from AP, CBS, CinemaNow, eBay, MySpace, and Yahoo! Here are several pictures of widget enabled devices from the Intel CES 2009 booth. We’ll show some of the vendor specific devices later on (including HDTV sets from Samsung, Toshiba and others).

The bottom is a Widget enabled Blu-ray player.

Here’s a set-top box with Widget Channel support

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Intel, Connected TV, CES 2009, Widget Channel

Ever wish you could have your own personal wireless network wherever you go? If the answer is yes then you’ll be interested in Intel’s newly announced wireless driver and software update for Centrino 2 processor technology-based laptops. Dubbed “My WiFi Technology”, the software enables the creation of WiFi Personal Area Networks (PAN) – allowing you to connect Wi-Fi certified consumer electronic devices such as photo frames, cameras, TV sets, or in this case, robots. The technology allows you to connect up to eight Wi-Fi certified devices without the need for cables or a wireless router.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Intel, My WiFi PAN, Personal Area Networks, CES 2009

The era of the Intel Core i7 architecture is finally here. Really.

Informally announced earlier this month, Intel officially rolled out the processor this afternoon in an event at San Francisco. The processor pricing for the Core i7 architecture is as follows:

• Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition processor running at 3.2 GHz is priced at $999
• Intel Core i7-940 processor running at 2.93 GHz is priced at $562
• Intel Core i7-920 processor running at 2.66 GHz is priced at $284

The Core i7 processor is the first member of the new Intel Nehalem processor family with server and mobile versions  coming out later. Check out our earlier posting with links to tons of reviews of the i7 architecture.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Intel Core i7

If you’re into computer animation, then you might want to check out Mass Animation – the “first collaborative, worldwide effort to produce a computer-generated animated short film for theatrical release.” Kicked off by Intel, Mass Animation allows you to animate shots of “Live Music” – a 5 minute CGI-animated short film produced and directed by Yair Landau, the former president of Sony Pictures Digital. The collaboration is made possible via an application built on the Facebook Platform and will run through January 30th. Anyone can work on the project now and community voting will take place starting on November 24th. To jazz things up a bit, Dell will be awarding a Dell Studio XPS desktop PC powered by the new Intel Core i7 processor to animators whose creation was rated the best by the community on a weekly basis. Check out the following press release for additional information.

(more…)

Technorati Tags: Intel, Computer Animation, Mass Animation, Facebook Platform