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Intel Unveils the New 11th Gen Tiger Lake-H Processors for Gamers and Content Creators

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After the successful launch of the 11th Gen Intel Core H35 series, Intel has just launched its new series of Mobile Processors for the gaming geeks, business professionals and content creators. The company launched the 11th Generation Intel Core H-series, also known as the “Tiger Lake-H”, on Tuesday, claiming that the chip delivers the highest performance in laptops.

The 11th Gen H-series mobile processors include Core i9-11980HK, Core i9-11980H, Core i7-11800H, Core i5-11400H, Core i5-11260H. The processors are based on the Xe architecture, but the company is not in favour of branding them as Xe.

What’s New?

Intel’s new upgraded 11th Gen core Tiger Lake-H is a 10nm processor based on SuperFin process technology, specifically built to support high-end gaming and professional laptops. According to the company, the new processors are built on three eight-core chips and two six-core chips. The newly launched processors can access the high-speed GDDR6 memory directly and hence render a higher frame rate with lower latency. These are also capable of loading large textures faster. Compared to Intel’s 10th Gen H-series processors, the 11th Gen offers 2.5 times the total PCIe bandwidth to the CPU.

“These new H-series processors are an exciting extension of our 11th Gen mobile family with double-digit single-core and multi-core performance improvements, leading game play, direct-attached storage and 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes for true enthusiast-level platform bandwidth,” said Chris Walker, the corporate VP and GM of the Mobile Client Platforms Group at Intel.

Along with the 11th Gen processors, the company also unveiled new Intel vPro H-series processors, the eight-core and 16-thread Intel Core i9-11950H, and the Intel Xeon W-11000 series mobile processors.

The Comparison

Intel revealed that the Core i9-11980HK processor is the most powerful among all Intel processors and is best suited for gamers and boasts a 5GHz speed. Intel claimed that the processor is a better version of its Comet Lake processor and took AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX for comparison and claimed that core Tiger Lake-H provides 15 per cent higher performance than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX.

During the keynote, Intel displayed a chart of games, including Hitman 3, War Thunder, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry New Dawn, etc., to compare the performances of the Tiger Lake-H and the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX. The company also compared how better the former handles the heavy apps like Adobe Video Creation Workflow than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX. And it turned out to be 18 per cent better at app handling and 24 per cent better in photo processing than the AMD processor.

Laptops to Get the H-series processors

Along with the launch of the new processor, Intel also revealed that in the coming months, more than 80 devices are going to include the newly launched Intel H-series processor. Since the processor has been developed to fulfil the needs of gamers, business professionals and content creators, many laptop companies, including Asus, Dell and Lenovo, have already announced new laptops built on this processor.

Asus is all set to bring the Zephyrus series laptops, and according to the company, these laptops will boast Intel’s 11th gen Intel Core H-series chips. In the same league, Lenovo has also revealed that the Legion 7i and 5i Pro laptops from the company will also include the new Intel 11th Generation Intel Core H-series. These laptops are gaming laptops and will hit the market in the coming June and July months.

The mobile workstations, ZBook Fury G8, the ZBook Power G8, and the ZBook Studio G8 from HP are also to be powered by the newly launched chip. These are the gaming laptops and support Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU. Other than these companies, Dell is also going to update its upcoming series of laptops, i.e., Alienware M15, Dell G15, Alienware X-Series, XPS 15 and XPS 17 laptops, with the H-series processors by Intel. 

Chip shortage

Chip shortage to persist for two more years, says Intel CEO.

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The damage caused by the pandemic will take a couple of years to cope up within the silicon industry. During the onset of the pandemic, a miscalculation has caused such a heavy shortage of chips as the demand was unexpected. These chips especially the display drivers are not only used in mobiles or laptops but also in automobiles and smart home devices. So, production and sales of both the tech industry and the automobile industry are coming down or getting negatively affected due to the chip crisis. Because without these chips, the final products will be incomplete.

Intel Corporation’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has said that the semiconductor shortage that is having its impact all over the world is not likely to end for a few more years. The company is trying its best to push the workers and increase the production of chips in some of their plants. But even if these plants work at full capacity it will take months before the crisis in the semiconductor industry followed by other industries starts to ease up. Currently, Intel is increasing chip production to address and meet the crisis in the automobile industry.

Increase in Demand and Chip Crisis

Pat Gelsinger has further mentioned that the company and the entire semiconductor industry as a whole will still need a couple of years if it has to meet the demand for chips across every industry. The pandemic followed by the lockdown is the main reason why the demand for chips skyrocketed all of a sudden. With people locked up in their homes, they wanted to buy gadgets like mobile phones, laptops, game consoles, etc to help them cope up with this hard time. Some of us bought good-performing laptops as work from home became the new normal while others bought good televisions and gaming laptops to enhance their source of entertainment.

Chip shortage
Image Source: marketwatch.com

But meeting the rising demand amidst the pandemic was very tough and the main reason is shuttered plants. There were also difficulties in transportation during the pandemic and other logistic shortcomings. The companies are trying their best to boost up the production but with the incoming second wave of COVID-19, it will still take more time to get the chip production back to normal condition.

The Political Agenda

The shortage of chip production is affecting many industries and due to this price of many appliances is increasing. Let alone the companies are trying to recover from the drastic crisis, they have become the center of many political agendas. The Biden administration has informed the companies that he will provide bipartisan support so that government funding is received to address this shortage.

Addressing the shortage, Pat also mentioned that chip manufacturing in the US was 37 percent a quarter of a century ago and now it is 12 percent of the world’s total semiconductor production. Today, Intel is the only company that produces cutting-edge high-end chips on American soil. There should be more semiconductor companies in the US as it will create more jobs and will have control over the industry for the long term.

Impact in other Industries

The shortage of chips has let to a decrease in production and thus lower revenue in other industries especially tech and automobile. Ford has announced that the shortage in chips will lead to a decrease in production by 1.1million vehicles in 2021. The others on the list are Volvo, Jaguar, and Mitsubishi. In the tech industry, Apple has confirmed the strain in supply has impacted the sales of iPads and Macs.

On the other hand, Mark Liu, Chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., has told CBS that the company has tried its best to squeeze as many chips as possible especially for the car companies. He also mentioned within the next two months the company will be able to catch up and fulfill the minimum requirements of the customers.

The main reason that the shortage in the chip industry was amplified because along with the demand for electronics, the demand for cars also increased. After the lockdown was suspended, the covid situation made people nervous about public transport. So, the demand for personal vehicles started increasing.

Surface Laptop 4

Surface Laptop 4 introduced by Microsoft with Intel and AMD options.

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It has been a decade the Surface laptops have successfully enhanced user experience by bridging the gap between people and technology in a frictionless manner. Surface laptops provide premium design, top-class performance, immersive touchscreen display technologies, and many more. The series of Surface laptops target broad customers from students to professionals meeting individual needs. Currently, Surface Laptop have the highest customer satisfaction rating in its class.

The requirements for every user are unique and till today Surface laptops have served them well. In the journey to provide a better experience to the people so that they can connect in a better way to the world and to their work through technology, Microsoft introduces Surface Laptop 4. The users are free to choose color, size, and price starting from $999.99 and can be currently ordered from the US, Japan, and Canada. In the US, whoever will order before 15th April will receive free Surface Earbuds as a gift.

Price of Surface Laptop 4

The price of 13.5″ laptops starts from $999 (Rs 75,196 approx) for the Ryzen 5 variants. The same size laptops for Core i5 variants are priced at $1299 (Rs 97,778 approx). The i7 variants will be available at a price of $1699 (Rs 1,27,887 approx). For the Intel processor, customers will have four color choices while in the case of AMD, the model will be only available in grey color. For the 15″ laptops, Intel processor Surface Laptop 4 is starting at $1699 (i7 variant) and Ryzen 7 models are starting from $1299.

Specifications of Surface Laptop 4

The new Surface Laptop 4 is optimized for Microsoft experiences. It will retain the same iconic design and the materials used in the previous versions of Surface laptops. The laptop will have a 3:2 PixelSense touchscreen which will come in 13.5″ and 15″ models. There will also be a number of choices for colors which includes a new option, Ice Blue finish. The built-in front-facing camera in the laptop is full HD that can work magnificently in low light.

Surface Laptop 4
Image Source: blogs.windows.com

Surface Laptop 4 has a studio microphone array that will ensure high-quality audio in meetings. It also has Dolby Atmos Omnisonic speakers to enhance your cinematic experience. One of the best features about this new laptop is it will provide you options between 11th Generation Intel Core and AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon Graphics Microsoft Surface Edition (8 cores). For both the processors, you will experience a very highly efficient laptop pioneering your multitasking demand.

Comfortable Multitasking

Surface Laptop 4 will make you feel that the product is exclusively designed for you with its multitasking capabilities. From office workers to students, from gaming enthusiasts to content creators, you can do some serious multitasking on this laptop without the fear of compromised performance. Moreover, you can work with this laptop from anywhere and attend meetings as this product can perform well even in low light. So, no matter if you are spending a vacation inside a deep forest or camping up in the mountains, this laptop will always have your back. Surface Laptop 4 also provides brilliant typing comfort and large trackpads. This is very advantageous for content creators and bloggers.

Surface Laptop 4 has the advanced feature of face sign-in which saves your time and you can start working from right where you left. The laptop also has all-day battery life hence it will not interrupt your workflow. You can backup all your work-related files and other documents in the cloud with integrated OneDrive storage. Surface Laptop 4 also gives you a choice of memory capability of 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB LPDDR4x RAM. This option for RAM is especially helpful for developers who need extremely high capabilities. The 13.5″ laptops have comparatively more battery life in the case of both Intel and AMD Ryzen.

Surveys say that most of the employees even after the end of the pandemic prefer remote work culture. To make their working efficiency better, Microsoft is introducing Surface headphones which will provide a better experience when attending a meeting. Customers already love the technology, design, and performance of Surface laptops and Microsoft is striving to improve the existing system along with Windows.

Netra.AI

India to Reduce the Risk of Vision Loss for the Diabetic Patients with Intel-powered Netra.AI

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AI and machine learning have pushed every limit in making things simpler for humans, and now these two together will be reading the human retina to identify retinal conditions to reduce the risk of partial or complete blindness in diabetic patients. Sankara Eye Foundation (Indian branch) and Leben Care (Singapore) have developed a new AI and machine learning-based software-as-a-service platform that would be assessing the retinal risk and help diagnose any issues. The platform is making use of AI and deep learning and is powered by Intel. The platform is called Netra.AI and is specifically built for India.

What is Netra.AI?

Netra.AI is a cloud-based platform and is designed to detect diabetic retinopathy (DR) in very little time, that too, with complete accuracy. DR is a retinal condition that can lead to blindness. And India, which is the largest diabetic population in the world, needed such technology to help reduce the risk of vision loss in diabetic patients. This can also be a great step in reducing the burden on the vitreoretinal surgeons as Netea.AI will help in identifying such conditions in time so that a favorable step is taken to avoid the risk.

“With Netra.AI, Sankara Eye Foundation and Leben Care have leveraged the power of Intel Xeon Scalable processors and built-in Intel Deep Learning (DL) Boost to accurately detect DR and enable timely treatment to effectively combat avoidable vision impairment and blindness in diabetic patients,” the Vice President and the Managing Director of Sales, Marketing and Communications Group at Intel India, Prakash Mallya, said in a statement.

How Netra.AI Works

The Netra.AI platform includes a cloud-based web portal, which is responsible for providing immediate DR grading results. Portable and technician-operated camera devices are used to take pictures of the human retina, which then are analyzed by the Intel-powered Netra.AI. With the fundus images taken, Netra.AI detects any type of damage based on pixel density. On the basis of this analysis, the system generates quick results for that retina with bio identifiers. These results also include the various stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the result is out only in two minutes.

Netra.AI
Image Source: biospectrumasia.com

Netra.AI works on some powerful algorithms based on a four-step deep convolutional neural network (a class of deep neural networks). The founders of Netra.AI have collaborated with retina experts around the world to make the system work with absolute accuracy.

Benefits for India

India has the largest diabetic population, and in the rural area, people with diabetes suffer the most, as there are no retinal specialists available, and the asymptomatic patients only find out their condition at the later stages. According to the reports, the estimated number of diabetic patients will reach 98 million by 2030, causing loss of vision and blindness in adults. The country needed a solution such as Netra.AI, as detecting retinal conditions in the early stages can help in reducing the number of diabetic patients and the risk of further damage in the existing patients.

“Technology and AI are democratizing healthcare access, especially in screening for ailments. Our team at Sankara Eye Foundation has focused on our vision to eliminate needless blindness from India. The current solution, Netra.AI, where we had a key role in the design and development with Leben Care uses robust AI-enabled platforms from Intel. It is an example of how like-minded collaborators can create meaningful and impactful solutions for various challenges that face humanity,” said Dr. Kaushik Murali, the president of Medical Administration, Quality & Education at Sankara Eye Foundation in India.

Source: newsroom.intel.com

Other than DR

Other than DR, Netra.AI will also be able to detect other retinal conditions like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and other retinal pathologies. For now, according to the company, Netra.AI has already screened 3,093 patients, among which it has found that 25 percent of the total screened patients were already at risk.

RealSense ID

Intel launches the RealSense ID Facial Recognition System using depth-sensing cameras

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Intel introduced the RealSense ID facial recognition system advancing in the depth-sense technology to help users unlock at a glance. The company introduced the Intel RealSense ID on Wednesday which will be available to most countries at the end of Q1 2021. The active depth sensors used in the RealSense cameras provide a touch-free unlocking solution. Intel claims that this new design will deliver absolutely secure and accurate facial recognition authentication. The Intel RealSense ID can be used in ATMs, smart locks, access control, etc.

How does the RealSense ID work?

RealSense ID is built on the company’s depth-sensing technology. The dept sensors in the camera use a neural network to identify faces. It is a dedicated system-on-a-chip development that has a secure element to encrypt and process user data. The advanced Artificial Intelligence used in these sensors eventually helps the device to learn and adapt to a face over time. It studies all the facial features thoroughly from facial hair to a variety of skin tones. Rigorous testing of the Intel RealSense ID has been done on faces from different nationalities on every continent. This is done to eliminate the chances of false positives or negatives. The camera will also work if the person is putting a mask on which is a common observation since the outbreak of COVID-19.Intel claims that it provides a one-in-a-million false acceptance rate.

RealSense ID
Image Source: theverge.com

Intel RealSense ID is not expected to be used on a laptop or a phone. This module is designed to ensure more safety and security thus can be spotted in places like ATMs or entrance gates. Intel RealSense ID can either be integrated into other products or work as a standalone after plugged into a computer. Intel has made a great attempt to get its camera business on track but this time towards creating a safer and secure environment. Though the company elaborated about where this device can be used but didn’t mention if it can be used in government agencies for tracking and profiling people.

Price and availability of Intel RealSense ID

There is more than one module of RealSense ID that will be launched in the market. The price of Intel RealSense ID F455 Peripheral is $99 whereas the Intel RealSense ID F450 module is priced at $750. You can preorder these modules right now but the products will be shipped during the first week of March. The products will be shipped to India as well as per the official website.

The future of RealSense

Intel is working on the potential of RealSense ID especially as it trained the camera using a diverse sample of faces. Intel told VentureBeat in a press briefing that the device was trained using an extensive data collection as samples belonged to Asia, Europe, and Middle East Africa. Though the false acceptance rate is very low they will now wait for the outside researchers to test it and comment on it.

Apart from the Intel RealSense ID that is designed exclusively for facial recognition, the company has also announced RealSense Touchless Control Software (TCS). This software also used Intel’s RealSense depth camera to allow interaction with a touch screen only by hovering your finger rather than actually touching the screen. This is impressive software especially when we are fighting a pandemic. TCS can be a great deployment in crowded public places like shopping malls, restaurants, automated teller machines, retailers, etc. The software mainly transforms touch-based to touchless interactions in a cost-effective way.

TCS is combined with an Intel RealSense Depth Camera D435 to convert into a touchless system without changing anything in the core software. TCS can be easily incorporated into new and existing systems to establish a safer communication way in public places.

Advancements in the facial recognition system

A facial recognition system is a common development that took place after the advent of AI. But, most of the recognition system shows a higher possibility of false positives. Sometimes the camera is unable to distinguish between genders or fails to identify faces with darker skin tones. One of the reasons for this failure might be that when the device was tested a diverse sample was not used to train the system. For example, Rekognition, the facial recognition software by Amazon faces difficulties identifying faces with dark complexion than a fairer skin tone.

Intel

Intel Announces New Iris Xe Max GPU with AI and Encoding Performance Boost

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Intel recently announced that its 11th Gen Tiger Lake Core CPUs would be the first to feature its Xe graphics. The new integrated graphics model and architecture will be a revolutionary technology, helping computers render more realistic images. While laptops powered by the new CPU go on sale around the world, Intel has more exciting news to share. The tech giant announced on Saturday that some of these laptops would also feature the Intel Iris Xe Max.  The company’s first discrete GPU, the Xe Max comes with some advanced features. Let us take a look at why this announcement has sent ripples through the tech world.

Surprise Announcements by Intel

Through a surprise announcement, Intel disclosed details regarding its first discrete GPU. The model can integrate with several laptops and help them improve their performance. Furthermore, Xe GPUs help accelerates graphics performance and other AI-based tasks. Enthusiasts first got word of the new model when Intel included it as a part of its brand overhaul way back in September. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the product and its specifications. Furthermore, the GPU also showed up in the specifications list put up by other laptop manufacturers, including Acer. 

New GPU Specs

The Iris Xe Max takes a lot of inspiration from the Xe-LP GPU, the integrated GPUs which power the 11th-Gen Tiger Lake processors. The product targets thin laptops that are light and work well in conjunction with the laptop’s built-in GPU. Such integration is possible due to Intel’s software, dubbed Deep Link. Some of the primary capabilities that can receive a boost due to such integration include AI inferencing and video encoding. The software titled Deep Link can manage the thermal headroom and power requirements of the GPU and CPU. Intel claims that it leads to a 20% improvement in CPU performance, similar to how the AMD SmartShift feature works.

Intel
Image Source: newsbreak.com

Furthermore, Intel promises AI-based content formulation that is seven-times faster than previous models. The combination of the 11th Gen Core i7 with the Xe Max can hence be a revolution. This new integration performs much better than the older sequence of a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU. Also, the latest gear achieves 1.7 times better results when it comes to media encoding capabilities.

Xe Max GPU Tech

The Iris Xe Max has around 96 execution units which most top-end GPUs nowadays have. However, the model has a higher max clock speed that reaches up to 1.65GHz. The Xe Max also leverages Intel’s SuperFin transistor tech to derive its faster processing speeds. As a result, the GPU can reach PCIe 4.0 speed to establish a connection with a CPU. The model also features a 4GB LPDDR4X memory that has a bandwidth of 68GBps. Making use of its outlets, the model can run up to four displays simultaneously. The outlet ports of the same will feature a DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0B, and internal eDP. The model also supports both variable-rate shading and adaptive sync.

Gaming Capabilities of the Xe Max

When it comes to gaming performance, the Iris Xe Max compares to Nvidia GeForce MX350. Hence, gamers can run relatively modern games with ease at frame rates greater than 30 fps at 1080p at either medium or low settings. Also, Dell, Acer, and Asus have announced a line of laptops that will feature the new GPU. Here’s a quick look at the latest laptops that will feature the Iris Xe Max and will go on sale in November.

  1. Acer Swift 3X
  2. Asus VivoBook TP470
  3. Dell Inspiron 15 7000 

Intel had promised to launch such a discrete GPU this year. The move came as a way to overhaul its discrete graphics power and capabilities. To make this dream a reality, Intel took the help of Raja Koduri, who served as AMD’s head of Radeon graphics. Furthermore, the company revealed plans to release a high-end gaming GPU that supports hardware ray tracing. The future of gaming is here, and Intel is planning to do everything in its power to stay on top!