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Intel Drops Thunderbolt 3 Royalty, Adds CPU Integration and Works Closely With Microsoft (windowscentral.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the get-with-the-program dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Windows Central: Over the last few days, Thunderbolt 3 has been a hot topic amongst Windows users especially with its notable absence with the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Part of the problem is adoption, integration, cost, and consumer confusion according to Microsoft. Intel is aware of the current roadblocks to Thunderbolt 3 implementation, which adds 40Gbps data transfers along with charging and display support for USB Type-C. Today, the company announced numerous changes to its roadmap to speed up its adoption, including: Dropping royalty fees for the Thunderbolt protocol specification starting next year; Integrating Thunderbolt 3 into future Intel CPUs. The good news here is that Intel is dropping many of the roadblocks with today's announcement. By subtracting the licensing costs for Thunderbolt 3 and integrating into the CPU, Intel can finally push mass adoption. Getting back to Microsoft, Intel noted that the two companies are already working closely together with the latest Creators Update bringing more OS support for the protocol. Roanne Sones, general manager, Strategy, and Ecosystem for Windows and Devices at Microsoft added that such cooperation would continue with even more OS-level integration coming down the road.

4 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Re:AMD has scared intel. by Guspaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    With the protocol now being royalty-free, what's stopping AMD from adding it to their CPUs?

  2. Re:Works closely with... by ckatko · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The NSA?

  3. Still DMA out the Side? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is this still architected so that anybody who can stick a cable in the side of your computer can suck down its memory contents?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. Re:Thunderbolt requires "active" cables - Fail by willy_me · · Score: 5, Interesting

    USB 3.1 - Type C also requires active cables when going over 10'. Then there are cables for Apple iDevices that also happen to be active without costing a mint. I do not think Thunderbolt 3 will require outrageously expensive cables in the long term. Right now? Sure, but that is because demand is still quite low.