yukon

Analyst: 'big 'bang' to hit PC and handset industry

A clash is brewing as PC and cell phone chip suppliers vie for new designs that fall outside traditional product categories, an analyst said in a research note Wednesday.

Doug Freedman, a chip analyst at AmTech Research, said the "line between cell phones and PCs is clearly blurring" and that consequently "PC and cell phone food chains will battle for market share in these new classes of devices." He calls this the "big bang between PCs and handsets."

This will happen as more tweener products emerge. "New product categories such as Netbooks, MIDs (… Read more

AMD: Netbooks? No thanks

Updated at 9:00 p.m. with additional comments on Netbooks at bottom.

In case you missed it, Advanced Micro Devices is passing on Netbooks. At least as Intel and its partners have defined the category.

In fact, a lot of the media outlets missed this point completely, insisting that AMD is going to go head-to-head with Intel on Netbook processors--apparently because it satisfies a journalistic boilerplate that AMD must, just must, have a direct response to Intel's Atom.

Just to set the record straight, here's what AMD Chief Executive Dirk Meyer said Thursday: "We're ignoring … Read more

AMD 'Yukon' looks beyond Netbooks

Updated at 3:20 p.m. PST throughout with clarification of Yukon and Congo technologies

An AMD-based Netbook? Maybe, maybe not.

On Thursday at an analyst meeting, AMD disclosed "Yukon" and "Congo"--the names that AMD is giving to its silicon technology, due in 2009, that will target the "ultraportable" market. (The meeting was streamed live from the event.)

The company is being very careful to parse this as a more full-featured ultraportable PC play not a strict Netbook play.

The ideal ultraportable form factor is a MacBook Air-style design: very thin with a … Read more

Photos: GM's 2-Mode 2008 Yukon Hybrid

Full hybrids have to date been almost synonymous with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system, which, in addition to being the technology behind all Toyota and Lexus hybrids, is licensed by Nissan for its Altima Hybrid and is used in a modified version by Ford in the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids. This hybrid monopoly is about to change, however, as GM readies its 2-Mode hybrid system for introduction later this year in the Yukon Hybrid and Tahoe Hybrid SUVs. Like HSD, GM's 2-Mode system enables cars to run just on electricity, just on gasoline, or a … Read more

Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon go hybrid

General Motors is banking on the increasing demand for fuel-efficient cars by launching hybrid versions of two of its full-size SUVs: the GMC Yukon and the Chevy Tahoe. And although the cars aren't slated to go on sale until this fall, GM is already busy building buzz.

The new models, available in both two- and four-wheel drive, use a "two-mode" powertrain designed jointly by GM with BMW and Daimler-Chrysler. This Hybrid Operating System (HOS) allows the car to operate either on electricity or gasoline, depending on the power needs of the car.

Allocation of electric power versus … Read more

Endangered: islands, not just birds and bees

The World Monuments Fund has issued a list of the 100 most endangered sites, and it says islands and ruins are being ruined. The northern-most and southern-most sites are both threatened by the effects of global warming, according to the organization. Many sites suffer from normal disintegration--or war, vandalism or heavy tourism. But changing weather patterns are a serious factor in trying to preserve the Fund's most endangered 100 sites.

Take Herschel Island, off the northern shore of Canada's Yukon Territory. And take it quick, it's going to disappear, experts predict. The island's permafrost is melting, and rising seas are eroding the low-lying land. … Read more