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....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Canada Begins
BitTorrent
Broadcasting
The Great White North is
embracing the distribu-
tion protocol shunned
by its broadcasting
neighbors to the south,
matching an increased
European interest in
providing legal BitTor-
rents for popular televi-
sion programming. As of
March 24, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corpora-
tion began mirroring a
successful Norwegian
experiment by seeding
DRM-free versions of its
programming— Canada’s
Next Great Prime Minister ,
in this case—the day
after the program’s on-
TV airing.
The move comes on
the heels of a 15 million
euro investment by
the European Union to
jump-start development
of an upgraded version of
the BitTorrent protocol.
In conjunction with a 4
million euro donation
from 21 other telecom-
munications partners,
the EU wants BitTorrent
to become the techno-
logical basis for Europe’s
“next-generation Inter-
net television distribution
system.” —DMTom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor
for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for
Microprocessor Report.I
ntel’s new Atom processor is a momentous move
by the world’s biggest chipmaker. No other x
processor can match Atom’s combination of low
power consumption, small die size, modest manufac-
turing cost, and good performance.
Atom will carry the x86 where it has never gone
before—especially into new types of ultramobile sys-
tems with wireless Internet connectivity. (Intel calls
them “mobile Internet devices,” or MIDs.)
Two things stand out from my analysis of Atom.
First, it’s not crippled. It’s an up-to-date 64-bit x
architecture with the latest virtualization exten-
sions, Supplemental SSE media extensions, and
dual Hyper-Threading (some features, such as
Hyper-Threading, are optional). Intel decided that
100-percent x86 compatibility is more important than
saving power by simplifying the notoriously complex
x86 architecture.
Second, Intel slashed power consumption in
many little ways without seriously harming perfor-
mance. Without question, Atom is slower than exist-
ing PC processors. But it’s still capable of acceptably
running Windows Vista, even with Aero graphics,
while drawing signifi cantly less wattage than a typical
“low-power” notebook-PC processor. At Intel’s labs
in Austin, Texas, I saw production silicon running
Vista at a core voltage of just 0.875V while drawing
less than one watt. Performance is much better with
Linux, which will probably be more common on MIDs.
The design of the front-side bus is but one way
the Atom saves power. Normally, Intel processors
use Advanced Gunning Transceiver Logic (A/GTL+) to
drive this vital I/O interface. Atom uses CMOS logic.
It’s slower but draws power only during signal transi-
tions, not while idle. Although the CMOS transceivers
save less than half a watt, little things like this add
up. And Atom also has A/GTL+ transceivers, so Intel
can offer the chip either way.
My only reservation is whether full x86 compat-
ibility is really necessary in MIDs and the other
consumer-electronics products that Intel covets
for Atom. If full compatibility isn’t vital, Intel has
missed a chance to streamline the x86 architecture
for greater power effi ciency, yielding an advantage
to RISC processors. But if the market demands x
compatibility, Atom has a clear advantage that RISC
rivals can’t match.FAST FORWARDIntel’s Atom: the
Smallest x
TOM HALFHILLhttp://www.maximumpc.com | JUN 08 | MAXIMUMPC | 09
Apple Settles
Screen Suit
A simple side-by-side
comparison of a 6-bit and
an 8-bit LCD panel reveals
an obvious diff erence in
image quality. It’s the dif-
ference between 262,
and 16.7 million discrete
colors. And while 6-bit
panels typically use tech-
niques such as dithering
or frame-rate control to
simulate a larger palette,
their output still can’t
reach that of an 8-bit
screen—although many
manufacturers would like
you to believe otherwise.
This issue is at the
heart of a lawsuit two
plaintiff s brought against
Apple over the screens in
the company’s MacBook
and MacBook Pro note-
books. The plaintiff s, who
described their notebooks’
displays as “grainy” and
“sparkly” felt duped by
the “millions of colors”
Apple touted in its adver-
tising. That Apple recently
settled the suit suggests
they were right. —KS
Retailers Make
Good on
HD DVD
The news isn’t all bad
for HD DVD adopters.
Electronics retailers are
reaching out to owners of
the now-obsolete high-
def disc players with
various conciliatory of-
fers—in hopes of getting
their Blu-ray business, no
doubt. If you bought an
HD DVD player from Best
Buy prior to February 23,
the retailer will give you
a $50 gift certifi cate—you
don’t even need to return
the player! Best Buy is
also accepting used HD
DVD players purchased
from any retailer, in
exchange for a gift card
(the value depends on
the model). For its part,
Circuit City is allowing its
customers to return HD
DVD players within 90 of
purchase in exchange for
store credit. —KS