Intel Demonstrates Programmable 48-Core Chip [Processors]

The cores aren't terribly powerful (described as being like lower-end Atom processors) but hey...it's got 48 of them, and it's programmable.

Dubbed as the 'Single-chip Cloud Computer' (SCC), the 1.3-billion transistor processor one ups it's 80-core Polaris predecessor because it can run standard x86 software. So far, it has successfully booted Windows and Linux during demonstrations.
Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner explained what he envisions for the future of these superchips:

'The machine will be able of understanding the world around them much as humans do,' Rattner said. 'They will see and hear and probably speak and do a number of other things that resemble humanlike capabilities, and will demand as a result very (powerful) computing capability.'

Speaking of powerful computing, this development comes only a couple of weeks after physicists demonstrated their first programmable quantum processor.
[Gizmodo via Intel via CNET]

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100-Core Tilera TILE-Gx Processors Planned For 2011 [CPUs]

While Intel and AMD look to make a complete jump to 8-cores, Tilera (an MIT start-up) says its upcoming 100-core chip has 'at least four times the compute performance of an Intel Nehalem-Ex, while burning a third of the power.'
The 40-nanometer TILE-Gx will reportedly draw about 55W of power at full load, and though it's expected to cost between $400 and $1000 (depending on volume), it's more intended for use on Linux-based enterprise Web servers.
According to Wired, the chip isn't really geared for regular operating systems such as Windows 7—for that, you'll have to wait for Intel's 80-core processor which was demonstrated last year, and is expected in about 5 years.
[Gizmodo via Tilera via Wired]

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