Intel admits Apple 'helps shape' its roadmap, keeps foot lodged firmly in mouth

We knew Intel and Apple had a close working relationship when it came to developing Thunderbolt, but now an exec from Santa Clara has taken the declarations of mutual admiration to the next level. Tom Kilroy, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Sales and Marketing Group, told a Reuters tech summit that Apple isn't merely important to his company's plans, it actually "helps shape [Intel's] roadmap." Those are strong words coming from the world's biggest maker of processor chips, one that you wouldn't expect to be beholden to any hardware or software partner. Additionally, it marks the second time this week that Intel has indirectly slighted Microsoft, the first one being a damning analysis of Windows 8 on ARM by fellow Intel SVP Renee James. It'd be easy to conclude that we're seeing cracks developing in the old Wintel bond, but we reckon it's more likely that Chipzilla is simply finding the wrong words to express otherwise benign thoughts. Hit the source link for more from Mr. Kilroy.

Reuters

Microsoft rebuts Intel's claims about Windows 8, calls them 'factually inaccurate'

Bad Intel! Microsoft has issued a strongly worded response to comments this week from Intel SVP Renee James describing the future of Windows 8 on ARM as fragmented and backwards-incompatible. Those statements, says Microsoft, were "factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading," though we're left without clarification as to what specifically was untrue. James claimed that legacy x86 programs won't be running on the ARM architecture, requiring a re-write for developers and probably a re-purchase for users. She also went on to suggest that each of the four hardware suppliers for Windows 8 systems-on-chip will have a different code stack, incompatible with the rest, which sounds like a far worse allegation to us. Now the issue is to try and figure out which of those two big accusations Microsoft has taken offense to. The Redmond team had nothing more to say on the matter, offering only a reminder that Windows 8 is still at the tech demo stage and there's still a long way to go.

SlashGear

BusinessInsider

NVIDIA CEO disappointed by Android tablet sales, blames pricing and poor app selection

It won't have escaped your attention that just about every Honeycomb tablet shipping in the first half of this year features, or will feature, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 hardware. Unfortunately for NVIDIA, reception for the Android 3.0 slates has been a little underwhelming, and the company's Chief Eloquence Officer, Jen-Hsun Huang, has had a few words to say about it. He sees the relative paucity of tablet-optimized Android apps as a weakness, while also expressing the belief that cheaper WiFi-only models should've been the standard shipping config rather than fully fledged 3G / 4G variants as Motorola has been pushing with the Xoom. All in all, his is a very sane and accurate analysis, but Mr. Huang loves to look to the future as much as he enjoys talking about the present, and in his opinion all these major downsides have already been "largely addressed" by "a new wave" of Android tablets. He doesn't specify the devices that constitute said wave, but his emphasis on thinness and lightness leads us to believe he's talking up Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 models. Hit the source links to read more from the bronzed stallion in charge of NVIDIA.

CNET, ZDNet