Intel plans four-core microprocessors

Intel Corp. plans to begin shipping microprocessors that have four computing engines on a single chip — products that analysts say will help it win back market share from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

The first chip, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor, will be available in November. Intel says it will deliver a 70 percent performance improvement over Intel’s current chips, which have one or two computing cores. The new chip is aimed at gamers, programmers and other people with heavy-duty computing needs.

For general consumers, Intel will ship a quad-core chip starting in the first quarter of 2007. For businesses, Intel will begin shipping four-core server chips later this year. A low-energy, quad chip for servers will be launched early next year, the company said Tuesday.

Offering high performance while maintaining energy efficiency is the name of the game in chip industry, CEO Paul Otellini said at the Intel Developer Forum.

“The industry is going through the most profound shift in decades, moving to an era where performance and energy efficiency are critical in all market segments and all aspects of computing,” he said. “The solution begins with the transistor and extends to the chip and platform levels.”

Otellini said the Santa Clara-based company’s chips would deliver a 300 percent improvement in performance per watt over the next four years.

•Google services were slow or inaccessible to some users Tuesday.

The cause of the glitch was not immediately known, nor were any details available on how widespread it was.

Brief outages of leading Internet sites are not uncommon. A software glitch delayed AOL.com e-mail for millions of users in June, while the video-sharing site YouTube.com was inaccessible for hours in mid-August.

Besides running the Internet’s leading search engine, Google offers e-mail, chat, news aggregation and other services.

•Procter & Gamble Co. sold its Sure deodorant line Tuesday, saying the 33-year-old brand no longer fits the company’s strategy of focusing on products with a global reach.

Sure joins Jif peanut butter, Comet cleanser and Crisco shortening on the list of brands jettisoned by P&G since A.G. Lafley took over as CEO six years ago.

Innovative Brands LLC, established by Phoenix-based private equity firm Najafi Cos., said buying Sure is part of its plan to acquire and build consumer brands that larger corporations no longer want.