Low Testosterone linked to Poor Sleep; Beneficial Effects of Testosterone for Frailty

Poor Sleep in Aging Men Linked to Lower Testosterone

When men reach age 30, testosterone levels begin to drop by 1 to 2 percent annually, researchers say. Coincidentally, many men begin to complainat around age 40 about the quality of their sleep. Are the two linked?

Yes, one new study concludes.

The research revealed a link between testosterone levels in men over 50 and the amount of deep sleep they report.

"Deep sleep is when the recuperation of body and mind is optimal,"said study leader Zoran Sekerovic, a graduate student from theUniversity of Montreal Department of Psychology.

In young men, deep sleep represents 10 to 20 percent of total sleep, Sekerovic explained in a statement. By age 50, it decreases to as little as 5 percent. For menover 60, it can disappear altogether, the study found.

The study didn't find any correlation with other parts of the sleep cycle: falling asleep, light sleep, or paradoxical sleep, when most dreams occur. Men in their 20s don't have such a correlation, because their neuronal circuits are intact, the thinking goes.

"With age, there is neuronal loss and the synchronization ofcerebral activity isn't as good, which is why there is a loss of deep sleep," Sekerovic explained. "Low levels of testosterone intensify the lack of synchronization and can explain 20 percent of men's inability to experience deep sleep."

Sekerovic suggests dwindling testosterone levels are what impact sleep,not vice-versa, as other studies have suggested. He adds previous investigations measured daily fluctuations in testosterone levels,which are higher in the morning.

If his findings are true, there could be treatment options.

"The loss of deep sleep is a serious problem that could be treated with testosterone. That would be tremendous progress," he said. "But hormone therapy can have secondary effects.Therefore, it will be essential to better understand the mechanisms leading to the loss of deep sleep."

Other scientists have suggested, however, that older people need less sleep.

This study, announced Friday, was supervised by Julie Carrier, aprofessor of psychology at the University of Montreal. The findingswere presented at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).

By LiveScience Staff
 Source: Newscribe : get free news in real time 

• 5 Things You Must Know About Sleep
• Top 10 Spooky Sleep Disorders
• How Much Sleep Do I Need?

Beneficial Effects of Testosterone for Frailty in Older Men Are Short-Lived, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2010) — The beneficial effects of six months of testosterone treatment on muscle mass, strength and quality of life in frail elderly men are not maintained at six months post-treatment, according to a study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

---

Frailty is an age-related state of physical limitation caused by the loss of muscle mass and function and can lead to adverse clinical outcomes such as dependency, institutionalization and death. Testosterone levels naturally decline with aging and testosterone replacement is a common therapy. Short-term testosterone treatment in frail elderly men has been shown to improve muscle mass and strength, but until now it has been unclear whether these effects could be maintained post-treatment.

"Since the use of testosterone in elderly men raises concerns regarding adverse effects on the prostate and cardiovascular system, it's important to determine if short-term treatment can lead to prolonged benefits beyond the duration of testosterone exposure," said Frederick Wu, MD, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study. "Our findings suggest it may not be possible to break or interrupt the cycle of decline in physical function in frailty by short-term anabolic pharmacological intervention using testosterone supplementation for six months."

In this study, researchers evaluated 274 intermediate-frail and frail elderly men aged 65-90 years with low testosterone levels. Study participants received either a testosterone gel or placebo for six months. 
Assessments were carried out at baseline, the end of treatment and six months after treatment cessation. Researchers found that the increased lean body mass, muscle strength and quality of life after six months of testosterone treatment were not maintained six months after treatment.

"At present, the optimal duration of anabolic hormonal intervention to produce sustained benefits in treating frailty in older men is unknown," said Wu. "To best interrupt the downward spiral into frailty a greater emphasis should be placed on a multi-disciplinary interventional approach including resistance exercise, diet and other lifestyle options, in conjunction with pharmacological agents."

Other researchers working on the study include: Matthew O'Connell, Steven Roberts, Upendram Srinivas-Shankar, Abdelouahid Tajar, Judith Adams and Jackie Oldham of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom; and Martin Connolly of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

The article, "Do the Effects of Testosterone on Muscle Strength, Physical Function, Body Composition and Quality of Life Persist Six Months Post-treatment in Intermediate-Frail and Frail Elderly Men," will appear in the February 2011 issue of JCEM.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Newscribe : get free news in real time

See Also:

Health & Medicine

• Men's Health
• Fitness
• Prostate Cancer
• Prostate Health
• Personalized Medicine
• Elder Care

Reference

• Testosterone
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Baldness treatments
• Androgen

Breakthrough in tissue engineering: 'Bio-Legos'

MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology researchers produced tube-shaped tissue by grouping cells into polymer 'bricks' that hardened when illuminated.

(Credit: Javier Gomez-Fernandez/MIT)

 

Researchers have been working on the problem of tissue engineering for years because the payoff would be so great. The ability to construct new organs would mean that patients won't necessarily have to wait for transplants.

But growing cells in lab dishes that are three-dimensional instead of flat has proved to be incredibly tricky. One group, however, claims to have made a major breakthrough.

The solution, according to a team at the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), could be as simple (but incredibly elegant) as building the equivalent of biological Legos, whose structures far more closely resemble real, complex tissue.

The new technique, which they're calling "micromasonry," is showcased this May in the journal Advanced Materials.

Javier Gomez-Fernandez

(Credit: MIT)

 

According to former HST postdoctoral associate Javier Gomez-Fernandez, obtaining single cells to engineer tissue requires breaking tissue apart via enzymes that digest the material that holds cells together. Once those cells are free they don't easily (or quickly) reassemble into structures that mimic natural tissue architecture.

So the HST team built what it's dubbing "biological Legos," coating the freed cells with a liquid version of polyethylene glycol (PEG), which acts as a glue and also hardens when illuminated. Once coated, they could be arranged into cubes and exposed to light to hold that shape.

The team then coated those cubes with the PEG polymer again to glue the cubes together and squeeze them onto a scaffold surface, and illuminated the cubes a second time so that they would harden into this tube-like shape, a three-dimensional structure that could function as capillaries and transport blood to organs.

The breakthrough is not only that they are creating 3D structures, but that they can place cells in any position they want to make specific shapes. "So it's not just that it's a scaffold, it's that you can arrange them into very specific shapes through specific distributions of cells," Gomez-Fernandez says.

This isn't the first time complex tissue architecture has been created in a lab; other researchers have developed a technique called organ printing to accomplish this, but it requires new (read: expensive) equipment. Micromasonry, on the other hand, does not. "You can reproduce this in any lab," Gomez-Fernandez says in the MIT news release. "It's very simple."

To make micromasonry clinically useful, the team is investigating different cellular structures as well as different polymers that might provide more control over cell placement than PEG currently allows.

 

Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 

 

Newscribe : get free news in real time

Schoolgirl Jessica Watson due home after solo round-the-world sail

Celebrations and just a hint of controversy await 16-year-old Australian as she sails into Sydney after seven months at sea

Jessica Watson's yacht, the Pink Lady, rounds the southern tip of Tasmania in the closing stages of her solo round-the-world trip. Photograph: Rex Features

A crowd of thousands will line the quayside while hundreds of boats will form a "nautical red carpet". The celebrations in Sydney on Saturday promise to rival those of its spectacular new year displays as Australia welcomes home Jessica Watson, at 16 the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe single-handed.

Or is she? As the Queensland teenager's yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, sails into Sydney harbour after an epic seven-month voyage, the TV helicopters hovering above will not be the only thing clouding blue skies. Controversy hangs in the air.

Experienced old salts have queried whether Watson, who arrives back three days shy of her 17th birthday, has sailed far enough, claiming her route falls some 2000 nautical miles short of a true circumnavigation according to the rules set by the global authority, the World Sailing Speed Record Council. She didn't travel far enough north of the equator, they have calculated.

So she has failed, they declare, in her stated aim to beat the 1999 record of fellow Aussie Jesse Martin, which he set over 328 days at the age of 18.

It's a moot point. Following the furore over allowing ever younger sailors to undertake such a risky endeavour, sparked when the Dutch courts intervened last year to prevent Laura Dekker, 13, from setting sail solo, the WSSRC no longer recognises the category of "the youngest".

So Watson will claim no record. But at stake are the millions she could, potentially, earn as a result of her highly-publicised venture. One of Rupert Murdoch's Australian papers has bought her exclusive story for a reported A$700,000 (£430,000), and a TV station has exclusive live rights. Watson, who has been sailing since she was eight, will step off her yacht and into a whirlwind nationwide "Meet Jessica" tour. A book is due out in July.

Meanwhile her website is doing brisk trade in baseball hats, wall charts and other sailing paraphernalia. It boasts 14 major sponsors, and the apple growers Pink Lady Australian hope she will become the company's poster girl.

According to navigation experts at the respected Sail-world.com magazine, Watson will have travelled 18,265 nautical miles, but a valid circumnavigation requires 21,600.

That is not to detract from her otherwise remarkable achievement and raw guts, the magazine said.

But it added that, though her log may show she has travelled 23,000 nautical miles, as claimed by her PR team, this includes "tacking and gybing", and not the straight line distances required.

Their claims have led to ill-tempered exchanges with Watson's PR manager Andrew Fraser, and criticism from the many Watson supporters gripped by her journey.

"We are not really interested in the technical concerns of a minority," wrote Fraser in an email to Sail-world.com. "The rising tide of her supporters is a millions multiple of the minority." As the council wouldn't be recognising her record anyway, her team argue, she does not need to adhere to their rules. And by their calculation, she has met all the requirements. Watson has brushed off the controversy. "Call me immature but I've actually been having a bit of a giggle over the whole thing," she wrote on her blog. "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time."

Critics say they do not blame Watson but rather her PR team for the ambiguity over the world record status. Sail-world.com points out that Watson's website had originally stated she had "set her sights on beating Jesse's record", but have now replaced the world "record" with "achievement".

Unofficial polls meantime show that 75% of Australians believe she is a record breaker – whatever the rules.
Watson sailed out under a cloud. She collided with a coal freighter during a test sail, leading to claims she was inexperienced. Critics say her feat could set a bad example and encourage even younger children, and her parents were decried for encouraging her.

But waiting for her on the quayside will be her British friend and fellow sailor Mike Perham, who last year became the youngest to sail around the world, aged 17. Jesse Martin will also be there – with his record still, seemingly, intact.

Extracts from Jessica Watson's blog

24 April 2010 Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I've had a great day.
8 April 2010 Some bad news today … the handle has fallen off my only kettle.
22 Nov 2009 I've finally got a fish … I can't say there would be many fishermen who would be proud of the mess I made of filleting it.
17 Nov 2009 Let me introduce you to "Silly". He's a little brown seabird. Silly earned his nickname because of his fascination with the wind generator and his amusing attempts to land on the bendy windvane blade.
12 Nov 2009 I was told this was the most watched blog in Australia and stage fright has left me a bit speechless.
2 Nov 2009 After completing the first English assignment I sent it off to discover I'd opened the wrong bag and have been working on next year's assignments, oops!

Australia hails Jessica Watson, 16, for sailing record

Crowds cheer Jessica as she arrives in Sydney

Australians have gathered around Sydney harbour to welcome back teenager Jessica Watson from her record round-the-world sailing adventure.

The 16-year-old is said to be the youngest person to sail non-stop, solo and unassisted around the world.
But her record has been questioned with claims that she has not sailed far enough.

She will also not be recognised by the World Speed Sailing Record Council, as it has ended its under-18 category.

Wearing pink

Ms Watson sailed into Sydney harbour on Saturday, seven months after leaving on an arduous voyage some critics said was too dangerous for someone so young.

If I haven't been sailing around, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time! Jessica Watson's blog

Thousands of well-wishers lined the harbour and watched from boats as Ms Watson sailed her pink, 10m (34ft) yacht Ella's Pink Lady over the finishing line.

Family, friends and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have gathered to greet her. Many of the onlookers wore pink to match the boat.
Many more Australians are watching the event broadcast live on television.

"It's like the day before Christmas," she wrote in her blog before she arrived.

"Except I don't ever remember getting this excited about Christmas."

She left Sydney on 18 October, defying critics who said she was being irresponsible for taking on such a difficult voyage at such a young age.

Also meeting her in Sydney is Briton Mike Perham, who last year at the age of 17 completed his own solo around the world voyage in nine months.

Ms Watson's support team says she has sailed nearly 23,000 nautical miles but the influential Sail-World website said she had not gone far enough north of the equator to claim a true circumnavigation of the globe, according to the rules of the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

The council only recognises feats achieved by people over 18.

On her blog, Ms Watson said: "If I haven't been sailing around, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!"

Ms Watson has reportedly sold her story to Rupert Murdoch's News Limited for A$700,000 ($625,000).

 

Newscribe : get free news in real time

Fifa World Cup, Sports Betting & Internet Gambling

Steep, rising curve for bets

COMMENT
By LOURDES CHARLES

When the Fifa World Cup begins next month in South Africa, one sure bet is that millions of ringgit will be raked in by local betting syndicates. In the absence of regulated sports betting, illegal bookies will be laughing all the way to the bank.

IT IS estimated that billions of ringgit will change hands worldwide during this one football season alone.
Gambling is a thorny moral issue which elicits intense response from both sides of the divide.

However, the reality is that without regulated sports betting, the ones who benefit the most are illegal bookies.
Another reality is that Malaysians love to bet, and they bet heavily on the world's top three football leagues – the English Premier League, La Liga (Spain) and the Serie A (Italy).

Not to be spared are the Thomas and Uber Cup matches. Bookies are already accepting bets, and they make it so very easy for punters.

Bookies have gone hi-tech and punters don't need to make tedious trips to their outlets.

All one needs is ready money and a computer. Create an Internet account and you are set to go.
With so much money involved, the biggest loser currently is the Government, as hundreds of millions in taxes can be collected if betting is legalised.

Just take a look at Singapore. For years, the Singapore government refused to give in to regulated gambling, even when Malaysia had allowed a casino to be operated in Genting Highlands.

After several decades, the island republic changed its stand. Now it allows not one but two integrated resorts and casinos to be built on a grand scale in Marina Bay and on Sentosa Island.

The government there had also earlier faced strong opposition; views on how gambling would tear the moral fibre of society were hotly debated.

The Singapore government paid heed and locked in several measures to placate fears.

As for sports betting, it has exploded in tandem with technological advances in broadcasting and the popularity of the Internet.

The introduction of mobile phones and 3G has enabled punters to place bets anywhere and any time from the comfort of their homes or even offices.

The flip side of such technological advances is that they have invariably helped illegal bookmaking syndicates spread their operations.

Online betting is almost impossible to detect compared to the “old ways,” where one has to be physically present to place one's bets or fax in the bets.

From the police point of view, regulated sports betting would not eliminate the activities of illegal bookmaking syndicates in the country.

However, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has said that it could, to a certain level, help deprive organised crime syndicates of having full control of such activities.

“Maybe regulating sports betting could be an efficient way of fighting the underground economy, as proceeds from illegal sports betting are used to fuel organised crime and support harmful criminal activities,” he said.

It is estimated that Malaysians splurge almost RM8bil on sports betting annually with various online betting syndicates as well as with local bookies.

The police have their hands full trying to nab those involved in the underground economy, and have enlisted the help of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to track the activities of illegal bookies.

They have been quite successful and have managed to shut down the operations of several syndicates with international links. Quite a number of those arrested under the Emergency Ordinance have also been banished under the Restricted Residence Act.

Police also announced recently that they have set up a special task force to monitor online betting syndicates, especially those hoping to make a killing during the World Cup football tournament.

What is argued as a positive aspect of sports betting is its capacity to raise money for the development of sports.

If more sports facilities can be built and more coaches hired as a result of more money being raised, the beneficiary of that will surely be Malaysia's sportsmen and women.

Better athletes can then translate into better attendances at the various sporting events in the country.
Regulated gambling in sports is not a new idea; almost all Western countries have done it.

The authorities should also consider allowing Internet or online betting to be hosted in Malaysia, on the condition that punters must open an account with a minimum amount before they start placing bets.

There are certainly advantages to legalising sports betting. And like Singapore, measures can be introduced to limit its influence.

The Government will be wise to keep its options open. With the vast amounts of money from taxes in this sector, this is one game too rich for us not to play.
  
Legalising sports betting makes fiscal sense

Making a Point - By Jagdev Singh Sidhu 

·Deputy news editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu is eagerly awaiting to see the World Cup in high definition.

ABOUT 11 years ago during my holiday in Britain, Liverpool was to play Manchester United at Anfield. Being a fan of the most decorated soccer club in British history, I decided that I would have a punt on the game and walked into one sports-betting establishment to place a small wager on Liverpool winning the game 3 to 2.

It was a storming match which saw Liverpool claw back to level the score at 2-2. In the dying minutes of the game, Jamie Carragher had an opportunity to head in the winner but sadly he missed and the game ended in a draw. Had he scored, which would have been a minor miracle considering his goal-scoring record, a chunk of my holiday would have been paid for.

My experience with betting is no different than what many a sports fan would do from time to time if given the opportunity. It's a choice people will make but sports betting is nowadays a thriving industry globally.

Be it in Las Vegas, Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore or other countries, bets on sports can be made over a counter at an outlet, online or over the phone.

In Hong Kong, the sports-betting industry is large. A check with analysts puts the size of the market close to HK$60bil. In Singapore, it is slightly less than S$2bil.

The difference is generally due to how open the market is between both countries. Limiting the reach of sports betting will curtail the contribution that the industry will make to government coffers and in that is a lesson where the distribution channels and potentially a larger number of players is needed for the industry to significantly contribute to government revenue.

White-collar workers and fans of sports, thanks to the proliferation of Internet services and mobile services in the country, have had the opportunity to bet on games and events abroad through international players.

Whether sports betting cannibalises the number forecast operators (NFOs) is yet to be determined but it will certainly appeal to a different segment of punters who may not find betting on four-digit numbers exciting.
In Malaysia, NFOs are still the king of the hill when it comes to the general betting public.

The margin from the NFO business is seen to be more lucrative than sports betting where the payout ratio is normally higher.

The industry, although having seen its growth track GDP, churns out a steady stream of tax revenue for the Government which, based on estimates, amounts to around 5% of total government revenue.

Taxes the Government collects from other “sin taxes” such as the casino in Genting, the lottery, alcohol and the tobacco boys will bump up their overall contribution to a much more significant level.

Allowing a sports-betting licensee to operate therefore makes fiscal sense to the Government. The budget deficit has spiralled beyond healthy levels and more needs to be done to find new sources of revenue.

While there is no arguing over the moral issues a new betting licence will bring, it also bears to keep in mind that Malaysia is a country where its population is already exposed for decades to a number of gambling channels.

While I doubt anyone will advocate letting the gaming industry flourish, people have to be realistic in knowing that there is already a number of betting avenues available in the country and overseas.

Suppressing the legalisation of sports betting will only cement the industry digging its heels underground and will only benefit the black economy.

By legalising sports betting, it's an opportunity for the Government to maybe exert some sort of control on the industry and the money collected will go a long way in funding social, sports and development programmes.

Beyond sports betting, maybe the Government should also consider allowing a new integrated resort casino. Genting has long held a firm grip over the casino licence in Malaysia but, in today's world, just taking South-East Asia as an example, casinos have sprouted all over the map and have brought tremendous benefits to tourism and GDP if done professionally and on a large scale.

A Vegas-type casino, like the ones Singapore has allowed to be built, is a big asset to the island's economy and there is certainly room for one to be built in another part of Malaysia that is closer to one of the economic business centres. 

China tycoon in talks to buy Liverpool?

 

SHANGHAI (AFP) – A Chinese Internet gaming tycoon has confirmed he is in talks to buy British football club Liverpool, Chinese media reported Wednesday. Zhu Jun, chairman of Nasdaq-listed online game company The9 Limited, said the negotiations to buy Liverpool were "ongoing", but added that the outcome was hard to predict, the Beijing Times reported. Officials at Shanghai-based The9 said they could not immediately confirm the comments when contacted by AFP. Zhu, who already owns Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, has held two preliminary meetings with Barclays Capital, the investment bank hired to handle the sale, Britain's Independent newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources. Chairman of debt-ridden Liverpool Martin Broughton, who is also chief of British Airways, is looking for a new buyer to replace the club's American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who have owned the club since 2007. Accounts released this month showed Liverpool posted an operating loss before tax of 16 million pounds (23 million dollars) in the year ending July 31, 2009. The 800 million-pound price tag circulated among potential bidders has deterred many potential investors while Zhu is among those willing to buy the club at a "decent" price, the Independent said, citing unnamed sources. A number of possible investors have been linked with the Anfield outfit, including former Syria international footballer Yahya Kirdi.

Intel chief commits to doubled profit, revenue growth

Chipzilla is dead. Long live 'The Continuum'

Intel will double its revenue and earnings growth rates over the next few years, and ship a billion microprocessors per year within the next five.

These were just a pair of the bullish forecasts that Intel CEO Paul Otellini unloaded on a group of reporters and moneymen on Tuesday morning at the company's annual Investor Meeting at its California headquarters.
Otellini also implied that it's time to retire Intel's 'Chipzilla' sobriquet. "Don't think of us as a chip company anymore," he advised. "We're a computing company."

But if you think "chipmaker" when you think "Intel," Otellini understands. He just thinks you're behind the times. "If you circle back to 2000, we were sort of just a chip company," he said. "The principal activity of the company was designing and shipping microprocessors and chipsets around them - a silicon-based company."

But that has changed, Otellini says, and he'd now prefer that you think of Intel as a company that's "building a 'computing continuum' around Intel architecture." The reason for the change in self-description is simple. "Over the years we've added a number of things, and if you look at Intel today, we've got platforms, software, and services increasingly being added onto the silicon capabilities of the company."

Intel's foray into platforms began in 2003 with Centrino. Then came vPro and WiMAX, joined more recently by Wireless Display PC-to-TV technology, more cutely known as WiDi - which, of course, rhymes with WiFi.

Intel's software efforts, Otellini said, not only involve acquisitions such as such as Virtutech, RapidMind, and Neoptica, but also cooperative ventures such as MeeGo, plus homegrown Intel dev-support efforts such as Visual Adrenaline for game developers and the more-general Intel Software Network.

Speaking of acquisitions, Otellini classed the Wind River pick-up as being an example of Intel's move into the services arena, citing that company's "go-to-market service for hire," aimed at companies who want to create embedded applications and interfaces for handheld devices, for example.

Formerly a chip company, now a 'computing continuum'

"Everything we're doing in these areas is being looked at in terms of what value can Intel provide to our customers and/or the end users in the software and services arena that we get paid for," Otellini explained to the assembled moneymen. And then he told them exactly what they wanted to hear - that the expansion into platform, software, and services hasn't merely been in support of Intel's silicon profit center. "This is not a pro bono activity just to get silicon designs. We want to get paid for this. And we intend to get paid."

Not that the transformation to a "computing continuum" is a walk in the park. "It's a lot of work to do this. To transform an industry, it's not just [building] a chip anymore, you have to have all of the layers." Ah, but there are also competitive benefits. "Anyone who want to compete with us has to have all the layers, as well. It's not just a silicon play anymore."

But the foundation for all these new revenue streams remains silicon - and Otellini plans on shipping a boatload of chips. "I think if we execute on these plans we will be shipping a billion Intel-based microprocessors a year within five years," he told his audience.

"Much of that will come from what we know as the growth in the PC industry, much of it will come from gadgets around the PC industry, and much of it will come from making all these new devices smarter."

One new device that Otellini sees as a growth driver is what he called "smart television." After noting the strong projected growth in internet-enabled television, which he believes will be a major component of the growth in online video, Otellini used a smart TV as an example of the silicon, platform, software, and services quartet that makes up his "continuum."

A smart TV, for example, could include Atom-based silicon, a platform enabled by Intel's MediaPlay drivers, and the Meego OS running the tru2way two-way interactive television service, and it could offer downloads from Intel's AppUp online software-store service. And Intel will find a way to take a profitable cut at each level of the stack.

Intel sees plenty good money to be made in the growth of internet video

Adding to that data-center revenue, Otellini sees serious profits ahead: "We'll have revenue streams from servers, data centers - network devices, storage devices - and revenue and profit streams from software and services. It's a different view of the company than you've seen the past 10 to 12 years."

He's so bullish on this "continuum" that he sees a rapid and sharp increase in Intel's compound annual growth rates, or CAGR. "We expect the revenue CAGR and the EPS [earnings per share] CAGR to be in the low double-digit growth rates. To give you some perspective, the EPS CAGR in the last five years has been about half that. So we're essentially committing - forecasting - to double the growth rate of earnings and double-digit growth rate on revenue for the company as a result of these initiatives."

When with this doubling happen? "Over the next few years," said Otellini. "We're taking it up quite a bit."
Of course, when speaking to a room full of investors, a CEO should position himself as bullish - but he also has to be careful not to promise too much, or his optimism will come back to bite him.

But Otellini wasn't talking caution. "We're on top of a growth engine, and we intend to deliver," he said. "We're lean, we're efficient, we're highly profitable, and we're going to stay that way."

Otellini's vision of a value-added, money-making "continuum" is in marked contrast to the company's Chipzilla-only days, Otellini said. "It's the single best opportunity in front of us versus being a commodity vendor of licensed architectures. We were there. We tried that. Been there. Done that. It's very difficult to make money in that way." ®

By Rik Myslewski in Santa Clara • Get more from this author

Newscribe : get free news in real time

Bootnote

As confident as Otellini was during his talk to investors, he was also careful to back away from the edge. When one moneyman asked him for a breakdown of how different parts of the company would contribute to the doubling of revenue and profit growth, he said. "We went as far out on a limb as we've ever gone - that's as far as I'm going right now."