Intel's Ivy Bridge purge continues as the Santa Clara-based company announced its plans to retire five more chips based on the aging architecture, the Core i3-3110M, i3-3120M, i3-3130M, i3-3217U, i3-3227U. These mobile CPUs were released between Q2 2013 and Q1 2013 and are set to 'survive' until Q2 2015 as May 22nd is the last day of shipments. Intel is still taking orders for these processors but that will stop November 21st.

Intel rolled out six new entry-level socket LGA1150 dual-core processors, based on the "Haswell" micro-architecture. These include four-each under the Pentium and Core i3 brands. Among the Pentium parts are the G3250 (3.20 GHz clocks, 1.10 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 53W TDP, 2c/2t); Pentium G3250T (2.80 GHz clocks, 1.10 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 35W TDP, 2c/2t); Pentium G3450T (2.90 GHz clocks, 1.10 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 35W TDP, 2c/2t); and Pentium G3460 (3.50 GHz clocks, 1.10 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 53W TDP, 2c/2t).

The HyperThreading-enabled Core i3 parts include the Core i3-4160 (3.60 GHz clocks, 1.15 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 54W TDP, 2c/4t); Core i3-4160T (3.10 GHz clocks, 1.15 GHz iGPU, 3 MB L3, 35W TDP, 2c/4t); Core i3-4360T (3.20 GHz clocks, 1.15 GHz iGPU, 4 MB L3, 34W TDP, 2c/4t); and the Core i3-4370 (3.80 GHz clocks, 1.15 GHz iGPU, 4 MB L3, 54W TDP, 2c/4t), which is the fastest dual-core CPU money can buy.

Acer America today continues its leadership position in the Chromebook space with the industry's first model using a 4th Generation Intel Core i3 processor. The award-winning Acer C720 Chromebook is now available in two models powered by the Intel Core i3 processor to provide customers even faster and more responsive performance for multi-tasking, while also providing long battery life of up to 8.5 hours.

These new Chromebooks expand Acer's line that has made the company the leading provider of Chromebooks with an impressive 46.7 percent market share in this category.

The Pentium brand is so important for Intel, that it continues to exist, and the company celebrated its 20th anniversary by launching a special edition dual-core socket LGA1150 Pentium chip that comes with unlocked multipliers. Trouble is, people who buy it would have to opt for expensive motherboards just to overclock it, and would rather balance their expenses with Core i3 and cheaper motherboards, instead. To address that, and bring a bottle to Intel's celebrations, ASRock launched the Anniversary series, with the ATX Z97 Anniversary, and the micro-ATX Z97M Anniversary. As their names suggest, the two are based on Intel's overclocking-ready Z97 Express chipset. The idea behind the two could be to combine the Z97 chipset with a basic VRM that's just about enough to push the Pentium Anniversary Edition chip to its limits.

The Z97 Anniversary is a highly space-optimized ATX motherboard. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin Molex power connectors. It uses a 5-phase VRM to condition power to the CPU, cooled by a heatsink. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and the lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI make for the rest of its expansion. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Networking is care of an Intel-made gigabit Ethernet controller. The onboard 6-channel HD audio is handled by an ALC887 CODEC, but backed by electrolytic capacitors. HDMI is its only display output.

Intel Corporation and other companies today introduced a new lineup of Chrome devices, including the first designs using Intel Celeron processors based on the Bay Trail-M system-on-chip (SoC). A new class of Chromebooks based on the 4th generation Intel Core i3 processor were also unveiled. The announcements were made at a press conference in San Francisco hosted by Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of Intel Mobile Client Platforms Group and Caesar Sengupta, vice president, product management, Chrome OS at Google as well as representatives from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG Electronics USA and Toshiba.

"Intel has grown to become the No. 1 microprocessor in Chrome systems," said Shenoy. "We've been working on five generations of Chrome and after Google, Intel is the largest contributor to the Chromium OS. Intel chips are the first and only to support 64-bit Chrome OS. This deep history and investment combined with our stellar Bay Trail and Haswell SoCs mean Intel can offer the best performing devices at every price point in the Chrome category. When people are shopping for Chrome devices, they should look for Intel Inside."

ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, will showcase its innovative series of NAS devices at Computex 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition to exhibiting the 6/3/2 series tower and rackmount models powered by Intel Atom dual core processors, ASUSTOR will also be introducing its new enterprise class 7 series rackmount devices (AS7009RD/AS7009RDX/AS7012RD/AS7012RDX), which feature Intel "Haswell" Xeon and Core i3 processors.

Also being introduced for the first time, will be an economical rackmount model, the AS-204RS and two other tower model devices powered by Intel Core i3 processors, the AS7008T and AS7010T. ASUSTOR's exhibition will feature live demonstrations of its intuitive ADM 2.2 operating system which features upgrades to core functions, the ASUSTOR Portal HDMI platform (integrating multimedia playback, web browsing, the ADM web interface, and surveillance feeds), and the newest in-house developed NAS and mobile apps from ASUSTOR. All users and interested parties are sincerely invited to visit ASUSTOR in order to experience the latest NAS technology and innovative concepts firsthand.

MSI announces the launch of the MSI ProBox23, the first model in its new generation of commercial oriented barebone PCs. These series use the latest Intel H81 chipset, and support the 4th Generation Intel Core processors with high performance and integrated GPU providing powerful graphics processing.

Furthermore, the MSI ProBox23 is equipped with a thin mini-itx motherboard and energy efficient CPU cooler. With a length and width of only 20cm and a height of just 5cm, this barebone PC is one of the smallest in its kind. Moreover, the MSI ProBox23 can easily be mounted behind a monitor, making it the best space-saving solution for commercial and entertainment applications. The MSI ProBox23 will be available worldwide per beginning of April 2014.

Intel is expected to launch its refreshed Core "Haswell" processor lineup in the second quarter of 2014 (between April and June), beating its Computex 2014 anticipated launch window. Motherboard vendors will launch their products based on Intel's new Z97 Express and H97 Express chipsets by the end of April. The products will have reached retail channels worldwide by May.

Intel will release as many as 20 new SKUs spanning its Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, and Pentium brands, including the Core i7-4790, Core i5-4690, Core i5-4590, Core i3-4360, Pentium G3450, and Celeron G1840. Among the low-power SKUs are the Core i7-4790S, Core i5-4590S, and Core i3-4150T. The overclockers among you may want to hold out until Computex (June), because it's only then that Intel is expected to launch the Core i7-4790K and Core i5-4690K, which come with unlocked base-clock multipliers. These chips should be compatible with current socket LGA1150 motherboards, with a BIOS update. Intel's Core i7 "Haswell-E" HEDT platform could also launch around that time. Q2~Q3 promises to be a hectic time of the year for motherboard makers once again.

At first glance maybe some would think that a Google Nexus Q found its way onto a table in Zotac's CES booth. But no, that black orb seen in the shots below is a new ZBOX mini PC.

Dubbed ZBOX 01520, the spherical-ish compact system is powered by a 1.7 GHz Core i3-4010U dual-core processor, and can be equipped with up to 16 GB of memory (SO-DIMM) and one 2.5-inch storage solution (the Plus version comes with 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB HDD), as well as with one mSATA solid state drive. Zotac's orb also features 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit LAN, a 4-in-1 card reader, four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, and an HDMI output. No word on pricing yet.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, now also offers models compatible with the fourth generation of Intel Core processors ("Haswell") for socket LGA 1150.

Shuttle provides high-quality, powerful cube-shaped PCs for all platforms of the Intel Core processor family. And Haswell is no different. With the XPC Barebone SH87R6 and XPC Barebone SZ87R6, the manufacturer presents two solutions based on this processor type that are suitable for a wide variety of applications. The Mini-PCs are not only intended to be used as powerful and energy-efficient desktop PCs, but also as high-performance workstations or mini-servers. Thanks to their compatibility with a wide range of removable graphics cards, gamers are also happy to use these machines as easy-to-carry gaming rigs.

Intel Corp. has recently revealed the discontinuance schedule for the 3.2 GHz Core i3-3210 and 3.3 GHz i3-3225 desktop CPUs and the 2.6 GHz Core i7-3720QM, 2.7 GHz i7-3820QM and 2.9 GHz i7-3920XM mobile chips. These are all Ivy Bridge-based models and have been introduced between Q2 2012 and Q1 2013. As usual, the reason for discontinuing the chips is market demand, which is shifting towards newer products.

According to Intel's plans, the boxed and tray versions of the processors will continue to be available for order up until March 28th, 2014, and will ship until September 5th, 2014.

MeMo Pad maker ASUS has today launched the VivoPC, a mini PC that measures 190 x 190 x 56.2 mm and weighs just 1.2 kg. Set to hit scores at the end of this month, the VivoPC will arrive in two main versions, one with a silver chassis and lower specs (VM40B) and one with a black casing and better hardware (VC60).

The VM40B packs a 1.5 GHz Celeron 1007U processor and 2 GB of RAM while the VC60 comes equipped with either a 2.4 GHz Core i3-3110M or a 3.1 GHz Core i5-3210M CPU and 4 GB of memory. Both models include a 500 GB hard drive, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 2-in-1 card reader, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectivity, and a 65 W power supply.

The VivoPC VM40B is set to cost 229 Euro. The VivoPC VC60 starts at 349 Euro and will go up to 519 Euro.

x86 heavyweight Intel Corp. has just updated its desktop processor offer with a bunch of new Haswell and Ivy Bridge models. Detailed below, this latest release wave includes the 3.5 GHz Core i7-4771, four Core i5 chips priced at $182 (two Haswell and two Ivy Bridge CPUs), Core i3s going from 2.9 GHz to 3.6 GHz, five Pentiums, plus a couple of Ivy Bridge-based Celerons. The processors cover a price range that starts at $42 (for the low-power Celeron G1620T) and tops $314 (for the Core i7-4771).

The business end of Intel's 4th generation Core desktop processor family, Core i3 and Pentium Dual-Core, are dressing up for work. Intel reportedly gave final touches to retail pricing of at least three new Core i3 parts, a mid-range Core i5 part, a high-end Core i7 part, and three Pentium ones. Intel's Core i3 "Haswell" desktop processor lineup begins with the Core i3-4130 dual-core processor, featuring 3.40 GHz clock speed, no Turbo Boost, HyperThreading, and 3 MB of shared L3 cache, priced at US $136.85. It is followed by the Core i3-4330, which ups clock speed to 3.50 GHz, shared L3 cache to 4 MB; and a $154.75 price-tag. The Core i3 "Haswell" family is led by the Core i3-4340, with its 3.60 GHz clock speed, and 4 MB of L3 cache.

Intel also plans a mid-range quad-core Core i5 part, the i5-4440, which features 3.10 GHz clocks, 3.40 GHz Turbo Boost, no HyperThreading, and 6 MB of shared L3 cache. It is priced at $197.26. Intel also rectified its high-end Core i7 lineup with the new Core i7-4771, which features 3.50 GHz clocks, 3.90 GHz Turbo Boost, HyperThreading, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache. This part, as reported earlier, is designed to displace the Core i7-4770 (non-K), and is priced at $333.77 a piece.

Dell unveiled its newest line of Ultrabooks, the Latitude 7000 series, which includes the 12.5-inch E7240, and 14-inch E7440. Both feature otherwise similar specs, which should narrow your search down to how big your Ultrabook should really be. Both are about 20 mm thick, feature 1366 x 768 pixels resolution with their displays, Core i3 "Haswell" 1.70 GHz dual-core processors, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD storage on the E7240, and 320 GB HDD storage on the E7440. The Latitude E7240 is priced at US $1,169, while the E7440 goes for $1,049.

Intel is planning to drop the "Atom" brand name, as it's sounding synonymous with "entry-level" or "cheap." The brand could be actually affecting popularity of Intel's "Clover Trail+" mobile SoCs, which are intended by Intel to compete with high-performance SoCs, under the Qualcomm Snapdragon and NVIDIA Tegra brands. Given how Atom makes up the slowest CPUs Intel has to offer, on the desktop and notebook platforms, its popularity in other emerging platforms could take a hit. Intel could brand Atom successors in its roadmaps to some of its more reputable brands, such as Celeron or Pentium. In the coming few years, Intel will have transitioned entry-level CPUs from its Celeron, Pentium, and even Core i3 brands to BGA (ball-grid array) packages, which could reduce their board footprint to nearly as much as today's Atom CPUs.

ZOTAC International, a global innovator and manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards, mini-PCs and accessories, today infuses the small ZBOX nano with 3rd Generation Intel Core processors for desktop-class performance. The new ZOTAC ZBOX nano with Intel Core processors injects the palm-sized nano form factor with an extra dose of CPU and GPU performance that delivers an excellent mini-PC computing experience.

"Our engineers have done a phenomenal job combining the raw CPU power of Intel Core processors and Intel HD Graphics 4000 into our tiny ZBOX nano platform. The performance and customizability available in these palm-sized ZBOX nano is unmatched by any of our competitors," says Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International.

Given that Intel's 4th generation Core "Haswell" family is based on existing 22 nm manufacturing processes, a market-scale transition between 3rd generation Core "Ivy Bridge" and it, is not as cumbersome as transition between two generations spanning across different processes. Intel plans to retire some of its best selling Core and Pentium LGA1155 parts by the end of September, to make room for Core and Pentium "Ivy Bridge" and "Haswell" parts in their place.

To begin with, a large number of Pentium and Celeron parts, namely G860, G645, G645T, G550T, G555, G645, G630, G620, G622, G870, G860T, G640, G630T, G640T, G550, G540T, G460, G530, and G530T, will be marked "EOL" (end of life), and will no longer be available to distributors and OEMs. From its Core i3 "Sandy Bridge" lineup, Core i3-2100, i3-2125, i3-2130, i3-2120T, and i3-2102 get the axe. From its Core i5 "Sandy Bridge" series, the i5-2390T gets marked EOL.

We know from older reports that Intel will refresh its socket LGA2011 HEDT (high-end desktop) product family with three new parts, based on the new 22 nm "Ivy Bridge-E" silicon. A table detailing their clock speeds was leaked to the web. In addition, we got details of what Intel's entry-level Core i3 "Haswell" line of dual-core processors would look like, specs-wise. The Ivy Bridge-E silicon, is to a large part an optical shrink of the Sandy Bridge-E silicon, with a few improvements. The chip is fabricated on Intel's 22 nm node with tri-gate transistors, the IMC natively supports DDR3-1866 MHz, the PCI-Express root complex is gen 3.0 certified, and the CPUID features the new RdRAND instruction set. Aside from these clock speeds are increased across the board, although TDP isn't lowered from the previous 130W.

Leading the Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" pack is the Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition, with its 3.60 GHz core, 4.00 GHz maximum Turbo Boost, unlocked base-clock multiplier, and 15 MB L3 cache. This six-core chip will command a four-figure price. Next up, is the Core i7-4930K, with 3.40 GHz core, 3.90 GHz maximum Turbo Boost, unlocked base-clock multiplier, and 12 MB L3 cache. This chip could be 30-40 percent cheaper than the i7-4960X. The cheapest of the lot, though, is the Core i7-4820K. This quad-core part, interestingly, features unlocked base-clock multiplier, unlike its predecessor, the i7-3820. Perhaps Intel didn't want a repeat of Core i7-3770K cannibalizing the i7-3820. The i7-4820K features 3.70 GHz core, 3.90 GHz Turbo Boost, and 10 MB of L3 cache. The chip may be priced in the same range as the i7-4770K. All three parts feature quad-channel DDR3 integrated memory controllers, with native support for DDR3-1866.

Lenovo announced that customers can place orders for the IdeaPad Yoga 11S beginning today on www.lenovo.com or pre-order on www.bestbuy.com. The acclaimed 360° flip and fold Yoga 11S premiered in January at the International Consumer Electronics Show, following its popular predecessor, the IdeaPad Yoga 13.

Sized well for mobility in a thin, 11.6-inch design, the Yoga 11S Ultrabook convertible comes with choices of a powerful third generation Core i3, i5 or i7 Intel processor giving consumers the ability to create high-performance content and presentations and seamless graphics that make it a great entertainment device.

With its 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors, Intel is putting in a serious effort to improve integrated graphics (IGP) performance to catch up with AMD's Radeon HD 8600 series on its latest APUs. There are three classes of Intel IGPs for Haswell, the GT1, which features 10 execution units (EUs), and will feature on entry-thru-mainstream Pentium, Core i3, and Core i5 chips; GT2, which features 20 EUs, featuring on mainstream-thru-performance Core i5 and Core i7 chips; and GT3, a large 40-EU IGP, which uses an L4 eDRAM cache. Chips with GT3 graphics are multi-chip modules (MCMs) of the CPU die and this eDRAM due, as detailed earlier. It was earlier believed that Haswell chips with GT3 graphics cores will be confined to notebook and Ultrabook-specific CPU models, but it turns out that it will make an appearance on the desktop platform as well.

Giada Technology, a world famous manufacturer of compact desktop PCs, has announced the launch of compact barebones-system: The D300. The D300 family is based on the 3rd generation of Intel Core processors. The D300 systems are designed for builders of home assembly or all-purpose, unique compact PCs and multimedia systems with a wide range of applications. In addition, support for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) which provides extensive security with high levels of data encryption, allows the use of D300-based systems in various applications in IT departments of large enterprises.

The D300 system is also ideal for industrial control applications, smart traffic control systems, security and surveillance systems, commercial terminals and other similar applications which require small size, wide choice of interfaces, simplicity and reliability of use.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, expands its range of All-in-One PCs with integrated monitors and adds a 46.7 cm (18.5") version to its original 39.5 cm (15.6") machines.

As well as offering a larger display, the new Shuttle All-in-One Barebone X70S also provides significantly more power. For the first time conventional Intel desktop processors can be used for the LGA1155 socket, e.g. Intel Core i3/i5/i7 (up to 65 W TDP, heatpipe-cooled). DDR3 RAM up to a total of 16 GB can be installed in the two SO-DIMM slots. The 5.7 x 46.8 x 36.4 cm (DWH) chassis of the X70S also has space for a 2.5" drive (SSD/HDD) as well as expansions via the Mini-PCIe slot, which can be fitted, for example, with an mSATA module.

MSI rolled out the S30 13.3-inch notebook, which misses Ultrabook fame by, well, a centimeter (thickness). Measuring 324 x 227 x 22.8 mm (LxWxH), it weighs 1.4 kg. Its 13.3-inch screen packs 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. Under its hood is an Intel Core i3/i5 "Ivy Bridge" dual-core processor (various options), up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory (options), and Intel HD graphics. A 500 GB HDD is standard issue, but a 64 GB mSATA SSD can also be opted for. Connectivity includes USB 3.0, HD web-cam, THX TruStudio Pro audio, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, SD/MMC card reader, and HDMI display output. Windows 8 comes pre-installed. The S30 is expected to occupy a sub-$700 price-point.

Toshiba joined industry-wide efforts to bring the Ultrabook down to mainstream prices, by launching the Satellite U845t. The 14-incher features a lean feature-set to achieve its $799 price-point. It features 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, a Core i3 dual-core processor, up to 6 GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD-based storage with a 32 GB cache-SSD to speed things up, and connectivity that includes USB 3.0, HDMI, and SDXC. The Satellite U845t will be released to market on March 10th.