Montevina: The NExT Centrino to be launched by Intel

Intel had been waiting for the right time to unravel it’s brand new mobile platform. Intel calls it the Montevina platform. Montevina is the fifth generation Centrino platform, on which you not only get integrated WiMAX capabilities, but also benefit from chip-level support for both the upcoming laser-disc technologies, Blu-Ray and HD DVD. This almost aggregates the ongoing “format war”, since dual support for the formats is being preferred by an increasing number of manufacturers. It is good for the consumers, but Sony will be disappointed as this is going to nullify their efforts to make Blu-Ray the monarch.

Displayed at the Intel Developer Forum for the first time, the Montevina mobile computing platform has been specially designed to take over the company’s highly successful Santa Rosa notebook architecture. Montevina will host the new 45nm Penryn processor architecture, which means integrated WiMAX capabilities but could not opt for one choice in the ongoing high definition format war. Consumers will win in the end with this approach, as they will be able to watch movies that are exclusive to either format, while Toshiba and Sony sit down, bubbling in a corner.

This is a very appreciable effort from the Intel factories, since it is a chip manufacturer and to offer such support for both disc formats is simply a burden as the two formats commonly share the same codecs: H.264, VC9, and MPEG-2. It is this onboard support for either of the two platform that makes system makers choose either HD DVD or Blu-ray capability, or even both.

Seen overall, this HD format hype shall be easily overtaken by the on-board WiMax support that Montevina caters to.

by Mitesh Ashar

Original Post

CMMI

“SOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS WITH CMM”
ABSTRACT
“Understanding how software works will help to know how it can fail”
Abhishesh Kumar Sharma (AKS)
There are always these three questions going in the mind of any software implementers [19]:
Why is it so expensive to support and maintain my software products?
What is the reliability of our product?
What is the average cost of one software bug?
Software development organizations do not respond well to the process improvement innovations related to software development. Fear surrounds the thought of trying something new; this fear is accentuated by constant pressure to produce the product on time and within budget. Until recently, the vast majority of software companies did not view software development process management and improvement to be of strategic importance to the future of the company. Process improvement and its relationship to software quality, cost, and ability to meet schedules were never considered to be either useful weapons or, very often, differentiating factors against the competition. Nonetheless, a well-managed software development process can be viewed as an iterative process of information exchange and allows software development organizations a clear view and understanding of available information, providing a foundation for analysis and management of the software process based on hard facts and not vague assumptions. To be able to withstand the pressure of competition, to save money, and to improve the quality of production software, a progressive software development organization needs to realize the necessity for implementing and managing an efficient and effective software development process [16].
This paper presents the conceptual model of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) which is being examined of multiple relationships between measurable process quantities and characteristics. The quality in software project management has evolved over a period of time and CMM has matured to a significant level that almost all software companies follows this model. The next big model used is the ISO for the quality but CMMI has upper hand in advancement of tools and techniques [22].
Although CMMI has matured to enormous level but still many short coming has been found while following the procedure mentioned in the CMMI technical specification. Lots of research has been done in this upcoming field but still there is lot of scope for improvement hence this paper is going to discuss the shortcomings of CMMI and will provide many new tools to help overcome these problems.
The concept of system thinking has been used so that the various ideas will focus on the relationships between the parts forming a purposeful whole [3, 6, 11]. The concept of system dynamics has been incorporated as that will give the continuous view of events. Feedback from the external environment has formed the integral part of the model development. Organizations will be able to design, build, and implement high-quality software products in spite of unexpected organizational and personnel changes, implementation of new technologies, or changes in customer requirements.

The Dilemma of a Computer or IT engineer.

When I say this, it comes with experience. Computer Engineering and IT engineering are the most sought after fields in engineering today. The highest cut offs are in these fields. The biggest rush is towards these fields. The core engineering fields - Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical etc have lost their charm. Most students go there as an after thought or because they cant get into telecom or computer or IT or electronics.

Lets come to the basic question. Why do you choose a field? Because of the opportunities? Because others influence you? Because of your personal inclination?

Most at the age of 18 dont decide for themselves. Its their parents decisions. But here's the problem. Very few follow their heart. Very few think what can I get out of this course. And today when engineers in India are a dime a dozen, its time to start thinking of your field and get the correct reasons to join one.

For example Computers and IT . The attraction level for these fields is at a big high. This is because of the attractive pay packages and the Indian IT companies that are making waves in the industry. But here is the dilemma. Does this degree help you in securing jobs into the IT companies? The answer is NO. the companies want engineers, be it mechanical or electronics or IT. This is because they are looking for aptitude and not computer/programming etc knowledge. All have a training course which helps you grasp various concepts and then you are put into the projects where you learn along the way. You are as good as your performance and nothign else. So whats the value of your degree when even a mechanical engineer can do your job? Wheres the job security? Where are your options? Can you do the job of a mechanical engineer? The answer is No. This is the cruel reality of these courses. Even though its attractive , its not value adding.

So what do you do? the best way is not to lock ur self by specialising. And frankly IT and computer engineering lock you to a domain. The bigger the base u have , the larger the number of domains you can capture. This does not mean that you do a basic engineering field, but this way you have more options for your future. But then again there is a question of personal liking. You wud be miserable doing what others say. So if your heart says Computers - do it, but do have a clear future in mind. Find various options available and differentate yourself from other engineers. Find your niche. and thats the way to plan a career.