The usual Intel-ARM potshots continued at CES this year with ARM’s CEO, Warren East, responding to Intel’s new Medfield chip running on smartphones. East conceded that Intel would get a few design wins but added, “Are they ever going to be the leaders in power efficiency? No, of course not.”
In many ways, East was less concerned with Intel and much more focused on Microsoft. Microsoft will release its Windows 8 with ARM support soon, and East is eager to get ARM chips onto tablets and laptops running the Windows operating system. He’s also guarding against any possible Microsoft turnaround in mobile meaning Intel might have an opening in smartphones. More broadly, as more code moves to ARM architecture, the difficulty of putting ARM chips in data centers gets chipped away.
Read the rest of my columns and reports on GigaOM Pro’s Green IT section. I’ve also been following these stories today:
- The Department of Defense could generate 7 gigawatts of solar: The report was done by ICF International, a consulting firm, and it finds that bases in Colorado, Nevada and California have the available geographic area to generate a lot of solar power.
- Tax dollars backing some “risky” energy projects: CBS News has gone whole hog after the DOE’s loan guarantee program, highlighting loan guarantees made to Beacon Power, SunPower, and First Solar, and characterizing them as high risk and inadvisable.
- Comparing energy conversion of plants and solar cells: Researchers at the USDA are studying PV panels as a comparative model to see if it’s possible to increase the efficiency of plants and photosynthesis.

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