THE violence in Gaza over the last two weeks has been heartbreaking to watch. There have been numerous calls for a cease-fire — all ignored. Now, anti-Israel boycotts have been restarted. Strangely, one company has yet to feature prominently on boycott lists that single out firms such as Caterpillar and L’Oreal.
Intel is Israel’s largest private employer, with over 7,000 Israelis on its payroll. According to Wikipedia, in 2007, Intel Israel’s exports totaled $1.4 billion and represented roughly 8.5 percent of the total exports of Israel’s electronics and information industry. Such exports equaled about a quarter of Israel’s total industrial exports — the highest percentage for high tech anywhere in the world.
Intel has substantial R&D in Israel. The company also has its most advanced chip fabrication facilities there. In summer 2008, Intel opened a second semiconductor fab in Qiryat Gat. Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, has asserted that the Intel facilities at Qiryat Gat are built on land Israel confiscated from the Palestinian villages of Iraq Al-Manshiya. The latest fab, a high-volume 45 nanometer manufacturing factory, was a $3.5 billion investment.
According to The Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/245/1011245/intel-opens-fab-israel), “Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who oversaw the fab building process from its inception, noted that when he had met (Craig) Barrett, the Intel chairman had told him that if it had not been for Intel Israel and the R&D centers in Israel, Intel Corp worldwide would not have been able to exist. The PM quoted Barrett as having told him ‘we would have been finished were it not for the vision and dedication of the Israeli developers.’”
The report claims that the Israeli government has invested over a billion dollars in Intel Israel and that numerous Israelis have been promoted to management positions within the company. Olmert also noted that an Intel shipment from Israel has never been delayed due to terrorism or war.
In the past it might have been said that there was no choice but to buy Intel because computers depended on their microprocessors. Not anymore. For many computing requirements, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is a viable competitor to Intel. Its products are neither developed nor manufactured in Israel.
In the last few months, AMD has increased its activities in Saudi Arabia, promoting its Phenom X3 8000 series triple core processors through its local channel. Now AMD has released the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 Series, the company’s next generation series of notebook graphics processors, bringing leading gaming and multimedia technology from the desktop to notebooks. These feature-rich graphics processors redefine mobile gaming with advanced capabilities including support for the latest Microsoft DirectX 10.1 games, a home theater-quality HD multimedia experience, and energy-efficient features for long battery life to help users get the most out of their notebooks at work, at home or at play.
The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4800 series is a gaming superstar, with support for ATI CrossFireX technology to deliver up to one teraFLOP of performance power. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4600 series offers a balance of performance and energy efficiency. And optimal for thin and light notebooks, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4300 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4500 series provide exceptional battery life for anyone on the go.
Asus will be the first vendor to offer notebooks with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics in the ASUS N51Tp and N81Vp; and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics in the F81Se. MSI will be immediately offering the MSI EX625 notebook, with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4600 series graphics, and the GT725 notebook, with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4800 series graphics.
All ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series graphics processors feature powerful 3D engines derived from the popular ATI Radeon HD 4800 series architecture and are capable of up to twice the gaming performance of the predecessor ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 Series at their respective power levels. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4800 series graphics processors are the industry’s first to support GDDR5 memory technology, providing nearly twice the memory bandwidth of GDDR3 and GDDR4, contributing to improvements in game play and performance. Also featuring support for Microsoft DirectX 10.1, the entire ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series is ready to tackle the demands of next-generation game titles for crisp, detail-rich images and outstanding visual effects that deliver an unparalleled level of realism. Extreme gamers can push the boundaries of gaming performance with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 graphics processor delivering up to 1.8 times the performance compared to previous AMD discrete mobile graphics processors and with ATI CrossFireX technology, combine the performance of two ATI Mobility Radeon graphics processors to produce top of the line image quality in any of today’s demanding 3D games.
AMD is not just offering something special for gamers with the new graphics processors, home theater enthusiasts will be able to enjoy full 1080p HD viewing anywhere they want on HD-capable panels, monitors or televisions. Using AMD’s second generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD), the CPU is freed from other tasks so even when managing processor-intensive content such as Blu-ray movies, users can still instant message friends or conduct virus scans in the background without interruption. This also helps lower power consumption and reduces the need for high fan settings, enabling a quieter experience. DVD upscaling allows for enhanced picture quality when watching standard definition content on 1080p HDTV, while dynamic contrast adjusts the contrast and brightness during scenes to bring a crisp, vibrant picture to viewers.
Specifically designed for HD video enthusiasts, ATI Avivo HD, an advanced image and video processing display technology, is found throughout the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series and provides brilliant colors, sharp images, and smooth playback of Blu-ray and HD video content on HD-capable panels, monitors or televisions. In addition, selected ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series graphics processors models are also the first ever mobile graphics solution that has advanced hi-definition audio capabilities using HDMI with 7.1 digital surround sound and DisplayPort Audio to create an immersive, home theater-class experience. For more information visit http://www.amd.com/mobility/hd4000.
So the choice is yours. A PC based on AMD hardware is a powerful tool, as good as or better than one running on Intel. Consider the companies behind the hardware. AMD recently concluded a technology joint venture deal worth billions with a group of Abu Dhabi based investors. Intel invests billions with Israel, not with the Arab world. Intel is under investigation in both the EU and US for anticompetitive behavior. AMD alleges that it has been harmed by Intel’s tactics. Intel has some corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in the Arab world and more CSR programs in Israel. AMD’s CSR is much more limited globally.
Last year, my family decided to buy a new laptop. We have been very satisfied with our purchase of the HP Pavilion Entertainment PC running the AMD Turion X2 Ultra, and personally, I am delighted that we didn’t subsidize Intel.
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