Intel

Intel on Sunday released a batch of new Core i5 and Core i7 Haswell processors for high-end laptops like Apple's MacBook Pro, each boasting the usual speed bumps when compared to prior versions.

The new chip lineup includes three Core i5 and four Core i7 CPUs ranging in clock speed from 2.2GHz to 3.0GHz, reports CPU World. Apple usually launches spec-bumped MacBook Pros twice a year and the latest Intel processors are prime candidates for the next update.

Intel has beefed up its open source single-board computer and cut its price in half.

The Minnowboard Max features an open hardware design and is targeted at software application development pros and enthusiasts who want to code for the "deeply embedded" market.

If standard gigabit Ethernet isn't cutting it for you, Intel will soon give you another option: this week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas, the company announced a new feature called "Thunderbolt Networking" that will soon be available to all PCs with Thunderbolt 2 controllers.

Intel's Haswell CPUs have been good to Ultrabook makers. Use them, and you get an essentially "free" battery life boost without sacrificing any performance. Most of the PC OEMs—Acer, Dell, Apple, and Lenovo among them—have simply dropped Haswell processors into lightly-modified versions of their Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks and called it a day.

Intel has announced an upgrade to its yet-to-launch Edison embedded computing platform which looks more like a ground-up rethink of the whole project, ditching the company's flagship Quark processor for tried-and-tested Atom and losing the tiny SD card form factor.

 Intel last week said it will ditch the venerable McAfee brand for its security products and services, and offer free mobile security software to customers running Android, iOS, and other operating systems on their smartphones and tablets.

The company announced both moves at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the massive trade show that ran last week in Las Vegas.

The PC industry isn't doing so well. Sales have dramatically slumped, despite the industry’s efforts to tempt consumers with Windows 8 tablets and transforming touchscreen laptops. But next week, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas may be the launching pad for a new push — a new brand of computer that runs both Windows and Android.

Intel officials reportedly will be showing off new wearable computing devices powered by the chip maker's Quark processing technology at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 this week.

Speaking to the Website Recode, CEO Brian Krzanich said the vendor at CES will announce its latest Quark chip and will demonstrate some wearable devices that Intel engineers have created. Krzanich didn't elaborate on what the devices will be, but is pushing the idea of the x86-based Quark technology being a driver of the burgeoning wearable computing trend.

Following up Yahoo and Apple on Monday, Intel has some mergers and acquisitions news to wrap up before the year is done too.

The processor giant buying Hacker League, a private organization that plans and organizes hackathons. Examples of previous events have not been limited to enterprise customers either.

Intel executives last month began to lay out the company's strategy around the Internet of Things, including growing its new family of Quark chips and extending the capabilities in some of its Atom products.

Now the giant chip maker is creating a new business unit specifically aimed at the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT Solutions Group will bring together Intel's Intelligent Systems Group and Wind River software business and will address all elements of the burgeoning IoT space, from hardware and software to services, according to the company.