A former Intel Corp. engineer has been charged with stealing trade secrets worth $1 billion from the chip maker while he worked for its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts alleged this week in a five-count indictment that Biswamohan Pani, 33, illegally downloaded more than a dozen confidential documents from Intel’s computer system in California during a four-day stretch in June. He had already resigned from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, but remained on the payroll and still had access to the company’s computers while he burned unused vacation days.

What Pani’s supervisors didn’t know then is that instead of taking the time to investigate a hedge fund job Pani claimed he was considering, he had actually started working for AMD and for a brief period was on both companies’ payrolls.

Prosecutors say AMD had no knowledge of Pani’s actions and did not benefit. But they say the information Pani downloaded was worth more than $1 billion in research and development costs, and included details about methods for designing microprocessors.

The indictment alleges that Pani “planned to use this information to advance his career at AMD or elsewhere by drawing on it when the opportunity arose, whether with his employer’s knowledge or not.”

Source: AP – Read more…

Today, expect more reviews on the new Intel Core i7 processors according to CNet.com.

Core i7 processors expected to launch later this month include 2.66GHz (Core i7-920) and 3.20GHz (Core i7-965) versions. Prices will range roughly between $285 and just under $1,000.

The Nehalem/Core i7 architecture will scale from two to eight processor cores, have faster chip-to-chip communication (Intel calls this technology QuickPath), do a better job of adjusting performance levels to suit power needs, and have a higher level of integration (more logic will be built directly onto the processor die).

Other salient features include more scalable memory (each processor will have its own dedicated memory), the ability to do more stuff simultaneously (up to 16 threads with simultaneous multi-threading), and new instructions to increase efficiency (called SSE4.2 instructions).

And who’s going to buy i7 systems initially? Here’s what CNET Reviews editor Rich Brown says: “We don’t expect mainstream users will adopt Core i7…at first, at least until the motherboard prices come down.”

Brown continues: “In the short term, it will benefit gamers and digital media types. The initial systems will be gaming oriented.”

Source: CNet

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will announce Tuesday it is spinning off its manufacturing operations as part of its cost saving strategy, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sunnyvale-based AMD said it will make a “significant corporate announcement” and hold a conference call with industry analyst Tuesday hosted by Chief Executive Dirk Meyer. It did not give details on the announcement.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the chip maker will say it is spinning off its manufacturing operations into a new joint venture that will make chips for AMD, as well as other companies.

With funding from investment groups associated with the government of Abu Dhabi, the new venture will take over AMD manufacturing facilities, including large plants in Germany, the Journal reported.

Last year, the Abu Dhabi government’s investment arm, the Mubadala Development Co., took an 8.1 percent stake in AMD.

Intel implemented a new process by building the chips without fire-retardant halogen which can pollute the environment. The new Xeon 5400 processors use transistors made from a Hafnium-based, high-k metal gate formula. The older silicon dioxide gates, running between chip substrates and just a few atoms thick, leaked current causing heat gain and additional power to overcome the losses. The new gates are more than a 100 times better in voltage leak terms, which makes the chip run cooler and need less power.

There are three chips in the 5400 line: X5492 running on 150 watts at 3.4GHz; X5470 needing 120 watts and cycling at 3.5GHz; and the X5430 needing just 50 watts to cycle at 2.66GHz. Intel is also bringing out a new dual-core X5270 with an 80 watt power draw and 3.5GHz cycle rate.

The X5470 has recorded a record Spec _rate 2006 score of 150.

Intel reckons workstation, high-performance, blade and mainstream servers will use these chips, made by Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Gigabyte, HP, IBM, Microstar, NEC, Quanta, Rackable Systems, Sun Microsystems, Supermicro, Tyan and Verari Systems. The new 5400 series processors are available now, while the X5270 will be available this fall.

This would be a good move, but it’s far from the truth. AMD is dealing with poor earnings and preparing for major changes. With the recent news about AMD’s CEO, the embattled Ruiz stepping down, what’s AMD planning to do to get out of this deep financial hole?

AMD’s recent downfall has certainly benefited Intel in a big way, not that Intel needs any help.

One of his biggest jobs will be to help craft AMD’s strategy for slashing its manufacturing expenses, a major concern for any semiconductor company but one of particular importance for AMD as it burns through cash and struggles in a fierce battle with Intel.

Replacing the top may not be the best thing for AMD to come out of this downward slide. They’re replacing Ruiz with Dirk Meyer, 46, an engineer and chip designer who has been helping Ruiz run the company since 2006. That means he knows AMD’s operations intimately but also shares some of the responsibility for the company’s financial distress.

I don’t see this move helping AMD. AMD should have searched for someone with a flawless track record from an established hardware company. This would have brought in fresh blood with a different vision and possibly a better chance of survival against Intel.

ADV MICRO DEVICES
(NYSE: AMD) 4.61 Down 0.69 (13.02%) 12:59PM ET 7/2008

What are your thoughts? Do you think AMD will turn it around under Meyer?