Katie MarsalExtra details and benchmarks have surfaced for Nehalem, Intel's successor to the Xeon processor found in the Mac Pro. Meanwhile, Apple has launched cellphone and iPod recycling programs, and is forcing the Hymn DRM-stripping project to shut down. The electronics maker may also face legal roadblocks for the iPhone in Australia.
An unintentional leak (PDF) by Sun Microsystems on its public website has slipped details about Intel's Nehalem processor platform.
Portrayed as a direct successor to Harpertown — Intel's nickname for the processor platform found in today's Mac Pro, Xserve, and other workstations or servers — Nehalem is already known to offer a new point-to-point bus design (similar to the HyperTransport found in the PowerMac G5) as well as an on-chip memory controller and hyperthreading, which allows multiple instruction threads on one processor. However, the platform is now known to have three-channel DDR3 memory that should eliminate the bottlenecks for the current dual-channel Harpertown design.
Early benchmarks provided by Sun also suggest that Nehalem will double the floating-point math of the fastest Xeon available today, the 3.2GHz Xeon X5482. Simpler integer math will also jump in speed by more than 40 percent.
Nehalem is due at the end of 2008 and should be accompanied by Dunnington, a six-core Xeon design that replaces the ultra high-end Tigerton platform unused in any current Apple product.
Apple kicks off cellphone, iPod recycling plans
Apple on Monday quietly launched its first mail-in cellphone and iPod recyling program.
While the company has already been offering such a plan for computers and allows in-store iPod recycling, the new plan allows customers to receive either a package or a mailing label to send in as many iPods or cellphones as they like, which are recycled free of charge by the Cupertino-based company.
There are no limits to the age of the iPod, and cellphones can come from any manufacturer, Apple notes.
The move is part of the new environmental policy launched by Apple last year, which company chief Steve Jobs said would bring not just cleaner products but also more aggressive recycling programs.
Apple pressures anti-DRM Hymn Project to pull downloads
Operators of the longstanding Hymn Project revealed late last week that the group has been issued a "cease and desist" notice from Apple, asking them to remove all downloads of the digital rights management (DRM) removal tool from their website.
The team has been one of the most adamant opponents of Apple's FairPlay copy protection scheme for iTunes purchases and has routinely played a cat-and-mouse game with the California company. Hymn has regularly been updated to remove copy protection locks on some iTunes songs and videos, only to find Apple issuing iTunes updates that break Hymn or files modified by the unofficial software.
No specific reason has been given for the shutdown, though proponents of the software believe the release of Requiem, a more aggressive program that allegedly cracked FairPlay altogether, has prompted the Apple legal response.
Australian law could hinder iPhone release
An attempt by Apple to repeat its procedures for past iPhone launches in Australia could face legal roadblocks meant to encourage competition, according to a report by law professors at Queenland University.
While the American company has successfully landed exclusive contracts that make just one carrier the official iPhone host in France, Germany, the US, and the UK, a clause in Australia's Trade Practices Act against forced line bundles may prevent Apple from signing such a contract in the southern country. Whether this is necessary may depend on a review from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission before any deal can be approved.
Queenland researcher Dale Clapperton observes that a non-exclusive deal is unlikely but still desirable. A single-provider iPhone agreement is likened to limiting a car's choice of fuel to one oil company.
"If you fill your car up with fuel from BP the ignition system will detect that and shut down the car," he says.
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11 Comments
So... Australians are possibly getting screwed out of a great feature like Visual Voicemail because Apple can't work with a single provider? Ridiculous. The state always knows what's best for citizens? Adam Smith is rolling in his grave.
The Age, like SMH is now just a rag - whatever headline will grab a click gets front page, and they've done it again and AppleInsider is helping.
What is quoted in the article is the dubious opinion of one academic, and the article rightly points out that the 'petrol' example is unwarranted since it is "different to what currently exists in Australia, where mobile phone carriers can SIM-lock a phone to prevent its use on another network". The point is poorly worded (also a feature of smh and theage's online content), however it is true: many phones are sold here in Australia exclusively through a single carrier (usually Telstra, but occasionally Optus and Vofafone), and most carriers have some 'deals' that include 'sim locking'.
I suspect a lot of the 15%-25% of unlocked phones sold in the US are making there way here because I see them being used everywhere I go. So Australia is a logical market for Apple to approach. They are also opening their first store here later this year in Sydney, so that would be a logical thing to promote sometime around the same time.
Unfortunately for me it is likely that Telstra will be the only carrier in Australia likely to be interested in providing the service for it (since they are the only ones with a completely compatible network with the high speed packet access for mobile internet), I refuse to deal with Telstra since in my personal experience their billing systems are rubbish (I haven't had an account with them for over 5 years and I still get monthly bills of varying amounts, sometimes in credit sometimes in debit - I ignore them because next month it'll be different again).
Of course if there is a 3G iPhone by end of year (earliest I'd expect to see a launch) then one of the other carriers may (like O2 in the UK) see it as an opportunity to promote their network.
Do bear in mind that the benchmarks conducted on the Lynnfield/Beckton are most probably simulated, I think it was noted in the actual slides, and might be off with as much as 10%, in any direction. Also, I am certain that the desktop and mobile versions of the Nehalem microarchitecture will not have a QuickPath interconnect.
/Adrian
if only Apple to all environmental issues so seriously... WHY does the packing for third-party products (e.g. cases, headphones, software etc) have to be so excessive?
Does a rubber ipod case need to be contained in thick cardboard and plastic packaging yet the ipod itself comes in a tiny cardboard box?!
Apple has the power to dictate to the third party manufacturers (which it licenses) to ensure that they comply with Apple's own environmental policy. And if it doesn't comply, they shouldn't stock it.
I work in the Sydney Adventist Hospital and I know several staff members and Doctors who have an unlocked iPhone. I myself would love an iPhone but am not to keen on unlocking one and am patiently waiting for Apple to release them over here.
If they are wondering where all the unlocked iPhones have gone then they should have a look down under! I see people with them everywhere. If Apple wants to reach 10M iPhones sold by the end of this year then hurry up and release them in Australia!!