Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

Interview With Rajesh Gupta, Director - Sales and Marketing Group, INTEL SOUTH ASIA

09 Sep, 2010, 4:27 pm IST | Dushyant Khilnani

Rajesh Gupta of Intel, answers your queries.

Our Interview With Rajesh Gupta, Director - Sales and Marketing Group, INTEL SOUTH ASIA, had quite a few questions and Mr. Gupta has taken the time to answer as many as possible. Here are the addressed queries.

1. When can we expect the brain-reading device to be ready & will it be used by all the governments? What about the accuracy in results expected from this device?—Dakshay Desai

We are unaware of such a products device being developed by Intel or some other vendor so can’t comment on this.

2. Intel was part of the Rs 10,000 PC initiative. We have heard nothing about that for a while. When are you planning to launch it?—Amit Khosla

Intel participated in several initiatives with different vendors in India to get a value Computer made available in the market. There was a joint initiative with HCL and BSNL on a WiMax enabled PC , We also worked with channel community in making an Atom processor based desktop made available widely across markets for Rs 10990 onwards. Intel will continue to work collaboratlively with our ecosystem partners in bringing good low cost and value systems in the market for appropriate user segments in future also, besides best in class mainstream PCs and high end systems.

3. How soon can we expect products based on Light Peak technology? Also, can you brief us on the advantages that it will bring & the applications/sectors that will benefit the most from it. How will it affect the power consumption & the heat generated? Can you throw some light on the things to come in the future.—Kartik Kotadia

Light Peak is the code-name for a new high-speed optical cable technology designed to connect your electronic devices to each other. Light Peak delivers high bandwidth starting at 10Gb/s with the potential ability to scale to 100Gb/s over the next decade. At 10Gb/s, you could transfer a full-length Blu-Ray movie in less than 30 seconds. Optical technology also allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible. Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more.
Existing electrical cable technology in mainstream computing devices is approaching practical limits for speed and length, due to electro-magnetic interference (EMI) and other issues. However, optical technology, used extensively in data centers and telecom communications, does not have these limitations since it transmits data using light instead of electricity. Light Peak brings this optical technology to mainstream computing and consumer electronic devices in a cost-effective manner.

We expect that the components will be ready to ship in 2010. Over time, the optical components, designed to be small, easy to manufacture and affordable, are expected to enjoy the economies of scale that other components have in the computing and consumer electronics industries.
Intel is working with the optical component manufacturers to make Light Peak components ready to ship in 2010, and will work with the industry to determine the best way to make this new technology a standard to accelerate its adoption on a plethora of devices including PCs, handheld devices, workstations, consumer electronic devices and more. Light Peak is complementary to existing I/O technologies, as it enables them to run together on a single cable at higher speeds. The Light Peak initiative builds on Intel’s commitment in working with the industry on existing I/O standards, and provides a path to continued progress into the future.

4. While the wireless display is amazing, I see only few family of processors do support this. What are the system requirements?—Thanigai

With Intel� Wireless Display you can quickly connect your laptop to your TV using the Intel� Centrino� wireless solution that is already built into your laptop. Because it’s based on Wi-Fi, there are no cables between the laptop and TV, and no USB keys that can easily get misplaced. Best of all, you control your experience from your laptop using the simple and intuitive software interface in Intel Wireless Display i.e. there is no need for a remote control.

Intel Wireless Display requires a compatible laptop and TV adapter. Laptops powered by select 2010 Intel� Core™ will support Intel� Wireless Display.

Systems requirements are as follows:
Processor: ONE of the following: Intel� Core™ i7-620M, Intel Core i5-540M, Intel Core i5-520M, Intel Core i5-430M, Intel� Core™ i3-350M, Intel Core i3-330M
Graphics: Intel� HD Graphics Wireless; ONE of the following: Intel� Centrino� Advanced-N 6200, Intel� Centrino� Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250, Intel� Centrino�� Ultimate-N 6300 Software
Intel� My WiFi Technology and Intel Wireless Display must be pre-installed and enabled
OS: Windows 7 64-bit, Home Premium, Ultimate or Professional

5. When will fast processors, like the Intel Core i5 be affordable for the masses providing bang for the buck? Intel makes a new socket for its every upcoming line of processors (losing backward compatibility) while AMD brings new range on the same socket thus making up-gradation easier and affordable. So Intel is losing to AMD on that front. Are there any future plans laid out by INTEL regarding this aspect?—Sahil Bansai

Intel Core i5 processor is a mainstream segment processor available at mainstream price point. Essential segment which is the volume segment now, has Intel Core 2 Duo E7000 series processor is getting replaced with new architecture and high performing Intel Core i3 processors. LGA 775 socket was first introduced in 2004 and it is still continuing. As per the aggressive roadmap, to provide feature rich, high performing and also power efficient it is required to change the socket in the all new 2010 Core series processor family.

6. Processors for mobile phones are a fast-growing market, what plans does Intel have to stay with the race?—Kapila

Personal computing is expanding beyond the PC to nearly every kind of electronic device, transforming Intel and the industry in the process. Mobile phones are one such segment where Intel� architecture is making in-roads. Benefitting from the company's power-saving architecture, transistor and circuit design expertise, plus unique manufacturing process techniques, Intel Corporation recently launched its newest Intel� Atom™ processor-based platform (formerly "Moorestown"). The technology package provides significantly lower power consumption and prepares the company to target a range of computing devices, including high-end smartphones, tablets and other mobile handheld products. Through "Moorestown," Intel is scaling the benefits of IA while significantly reducing the power, cost and footprint to better address handheld market segments. This processor offers higher performance at significantly lower power to show what's possible as handheld devices become small, powerful mobile computers."

7. When is Intel planning to launch Sandy Bridge in the market and how much better is its performance in comparison with the current Core series of CPUs?—Mayank Sareen

By continuing to lead in manufacturing technology Intel is able to innovate and integrate new features and functions into its processors. Intel's 32nm process is now certified and Westmere processor wafers are well-ramped. Following the move to 32nm Intel will subsequently introduce Sandy Bridge, Intel's next new microarchitecture. Sandy Bridge will feature a sixth generation graphics core on the same die as the processor core and includes AVX instructions for floating point, media, and processor intensive software.
Sandy Bridge will launch early next year. While we are unable to share specific performance data, it will definitely provide consumers with a faster and better computing experience than ever before.

8. Why does Intel keep changing its CPU socket with every new generation of processers while the competition keeps the new CPU backward compatible due to which it is more economical for consumers to upgrade their PC? It's one of the reason I am thinking about moving away from Intel. And I came to know that Sandy Bridge is coming with CPU+CPU on a single die and all the future CPUs will be like this..well as a enthusiast, I would prefer a dedicated high-end graphics card and a powerful CPU on my PC rather than mediocre CPU and entry-level GPU on the same die...It's like the Jack of all trades and master of none.— Mayank Sareen

LGA 775 socket was first introduced in 2004 and it is still continuing. As per the aggressive roadmap, to provide feature rich, high performing and also power efficient it is required to change the socket in the all new 2010 Core series processor family. Sandy bridge is the 2nd generation Core processor family series processor. We have the CPU + GPU combination in our current generation (code named Clarksdale) Intel Core i3 / Intel Core i5 (select SKUs) itself. This is targeted towards majority of the customers who use the mainstream applications with Integrated graphics. For any general purpose applications, playback of HD movies this Integrated GPU is more than enough. Enthusiast is completely a niche segment, who needs performance, overclocking� and various other high end features, for this segment recommendation is a discreet graphics solution. Processors with Integrated graphics are for addressing the general purpose customers.

9. Can we see a price cut in Intel CPU so that most of us can buy them to have greater performance and can we see more CPU which can be over-clocked?—Sriyans Sharma
Overclocking is feature requirement for Enthusiast Segment. For addressing this segment we have recently launched “Unlocked” Processors penetrating up to the main stream segment. Earlier OC features were available only in the Extreme segment. In the current lineup, we have Core i7-980X in the extreme, Core i7-875K in Mainstream 3 and Core i5- 655K in the mainstream 2 segments.

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Tags: Interview , Rajesh Gupta , Intel