IBM tool helps companies cut costs and emissions

International Business Machines Corp unveiled a consulting tool on Thursday that allows companies to reduce both costs and carbon dioxide emissions in their supply chains.Built with IBM-branded software, SNOW helps clients review the number of distribution centers they need and decide whether to do manufacturing themselves or through a third party.

The offering -- which IBM calls the Supply Chain Network Optimization Workbench, or SNOW -- comes as companies are under pressure to both slash expenses amid a slumping global economy and reduce impact on the environment.In a test, Chinese shipper and logistics company COSCO Ltd used the system to reduce the number of distribution centers it uses to 40 from 100, lowering costs by 23 percent and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 15 percent, IBM said.

IBM Is Dead. Long Live IBM!

Company spokesman Doug Shelton says that "This profit improvement is the result of the transformation that IBM has undergone over the last 6 years." The Armonks moved out of low-margin businesses like PC systems and hard drives, are you any good at this stuff?) and into "higher value services markets." Nowadays, mainframes and pSeries servers just sing backup behind real stars like online services platform WebSphere and collaborative productivity suite Lotus.This puts a friendly, personal face on those stodgy old suits and ultimately gives IBM greater visibility of what users worldwide really want. It's a page ripped right out of Cisco's (Nasdaq: CSCO) very capable playbook. Today, IBM competes more directly with service swami Infosys (Nasdaq: INFY) than with server-happy Dell (Nasdaq: DELL). And that's a good thing.

IBM reported fourth-quarter earnings this week, with total sales dropping 6% year over year to $27 billion, but earnings per share expanding by 17% to $3.28. Adjust the results for currency exchange changes, and the revenue stays nearly flat at a 1% swoon. The hardware-hawking IBM of yesteryear would not have held up nearly that well. Importantly, it's the most profitable segments that are doing well.In the pursuit of new markets for these high-value products and services, IBM is aggressively selling to small businesses and local governments around the world. "We also reoriented our research organization to focus more heavily on our services business, having researchers work directly with services clients," says Mr. Shelton. Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) like to brag about multi-million-dollar deals, but an IBM press release is just as likely to talk about loosening up congested city traffic in Stockholm.

US firm files complaint about IBM

It accuses IBM, the world's largest technology services company, of "abusing its monopoly power in the mainframe industry"."As IBM has not seen any complaint it is inappropriate to comment on specifics relating thereto," a spokesman said.T3 also contends that IBM withheld patent licences and certain intellectual property.

"Only IBM now offers IBM-compatible mainframes and... controls over 99% of all existing IBM-compatible mainframes in use today," T3 said in a statement on its website.In 2007, US software firm Platform Solution filed a formal complain with the European Commission, accusing IBM of refusing to license third parties and refusing to supply interface information on mainframes.

AMD Will Launch Dual-core Neo CPU in 2009

AMD reps said it would cede the netbook market to Intel and focus on notebooks with more performance and functionality starting at around $600. EWeek reports that AMD's Phil Hughes wrote in an email that the dual-core Neo processor would be code named Conesus and will launch in the second half of 2009. No hints of a specific launch date or the performance of the chip was offered by Hughes.The Congo platform is reported to take advantage of the dual-core Neo and AMDs own RS780M chipset featuring the SB710 Southbridge. The thermal envelope for the single-core Neo is 15-watts and eWeek says AMD will stick to that thermal envelope when the dual-core Neo debuts. The HP system shown at CES was completely passive cooled to help keep noise and size to a minimum.

The single core version of the Neo in the aforementioned HP notebook runs at 1.6GHz. That may sound very similar to the Intel Atom N270, but AMD assures that the processor is capable of offering a premium computing experience, whereas the Atom is not. The Neo processors will find a home inside notebooks with screens ranging from 12 to 14-inches.AMD showed off a new platform at CES called Yukon that featured a new single-core Athlon Neo processor. The HP machine featuring the platform was very thin and looked fantastic. HP is set to begin shipping the notebook in 2009.

AMD to pair dual-core Neo with Congo platform later this year

Promising truly-portable systems that don't skimp on functionality, AMD hoped to have found a near-uncontested area of the market. Intel's Atom is ruling all in the sub-12in form factor, but at around 12-14in, there aren't many low-cost and low-power options. Unfortunately for AMD, Yukon - and its associated 1.6GHz Athlon Neo processor - won't hit the European market until April '09.AMD's taking a different approach to ultra-portable systems by offering ultra-thin 12in+ notebooks based on its Yukon platform - announced at CES '09 earlier this month.

In order to keep ahead, though, it'll need to combat Intel's low-power Core 2-derived parts with a dual-core derivative of its own, and that's now expected to arrive later in 2009 as part of AMD's Congo platform. According to eweek.com, AMD has for the first time confirmed that the expected dual-core successor to its yet-to-be-launched Athlon Neo processor will arrive later in the year.By then, there could be a steady wave of fierce competition. NVIDIA's ION platform appears to be the missing ingredient in Intel Atom systems, and its GeForce-based architecture could, we feel, easily provide the oomph required to strip Atom-based netbooks of their seemingly "limited functionality".

Intel slashes processor prices as AMD looms

Intel Corp is slashing prices on a number of its processors, including cuts of up to 40 percent on some of its higher-powered, faster quad-core chips, as the world's largest chip maker copes with weakening demand.Intel reduced the price of its Core 2 Quad Q9650 chip, which is used in desktop computers, to $316 from a $530 list-price in December. It lowered prices on other Core 2 Quad chips by 16 to 20 percent. Quad-core chips have four processors on one piece of silicon.The company, which called the changes part of regularly scheduled price moves, is confronting slumping demand brought on by the global economic slowdown, along with new, cheaper chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc.AMD recently launched its Phenom II quad-core chips, which have a top list price of $275.

Intel also cut prices on a number of other chips used in desktops, notebooks and servers. Prices on Pentium dual-core chips used in desktops were lowered by as much as 24 percent, while prices on its Celeron mobile processor were cut by as much as 48 percent. Prices on Intel's Xeon server chips were slashed by as much as 40 percent.Intel also introduced three new, more energy-efficient Core 2 Quad processors for use in desktops.the Santa Clara, California-based company reported a 23 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue. Intel said it expects margins to bounce back to "healthy" levels by the second half of 2009, but held back on giving detailed quarterly forecasts when it issued earnings, citing economic uncertainty.