Intel’s first 65nm desktop chip will ship in Q1 2006 alongside its 65nm Pentium M, it has been claimed. According to Taiwanese motherboard-maker sources cited by DigiTimes, the desktop chip is codenamed ‘Presler’, and will launch at 3.6GHz. There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip, of course, so we expect that roadmapped launch window to be tentative at this stage. However, Intel has claimed on a number of occasions that it’s 65nm process is on schedule. That process will result limited numbers of ‘Yonah’, the first dual-core Pentium M and the chip giant’s...

Working with the basic material of computer chips, Intel Corp. researchers have constructed an all-silicon laser that could lead to computers one day harnessing light waves rather than electrical currents to shuttle data swiftly. Today, lasers that power fast optical networks require exotic — and expensive — materials and are mainly used in vast communications networks. With everyday silicon, the capacity and efficiency of light waves could be used cheaply in much smaller environments. As a result, the movement of data within computers would keep up with the ever-increasing speed of...