Intel To Announce 16 New Low-Power Notebook Chips
Intel said its 16 new low-power 45-nm mobile processors have been designed to work in low-power devices, and that the Penryn and Menlow platforms should be very popular for a variety of mobile devices in addition to notebooks. The first Menlow-based devices won’t hit stores for some months, but Intel is already looking ahead to a tinier future.
In a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Monday, Intel chief executive officer Paul Otellini will make a small announcement: the introduction of the chip manufacturing giant’s tiny but powerful new processors (codenamed Penryn) for notebook computers. Otellini will also introduce the company’s new Menlow platform, which is designed to dramatically reduce power consumption without sacrificing processing capabilities for ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) and mobile Internet devices (MIDs). According to a pre-CES news bulletin issued by the company, the Penryn processors and their mobile counterpart, Silverthorne, both use a new 45-nanometer “Hafnium-based, Hi-k metal” transistor gate that delivers improved performance and significantly longer battery life.
Menlow Ships This Summer?
Intel executives are particularly excited about the potential for delivering the complete Internet experience “in your pocket.” Earlier this week, Gary Willihnganz, Director of Marketing for the Intel Ultra Mobile Group, demonstrated some Menlow-based prototypes for GottaBeMobile.com video blogger Warner Crocker, and talked about Intel’s vision for the future of mobile computing.
Holding up a tiny processor, Willihnganz said “This is Silverthorne, the CPU complex for the Menlow platform. It’s built on our 45nm Hi-k manufacturing processes. That means it’s going to be fast! It combines with our Poulsbo chipset, and together, that makes up the Menlow platform.
Intel’s news release said that both Silverthorne and Poulsbo have been designed from scratch to work in low-power devices, and that the company has been successful in marketing the Menlow platform to a variety of handset manufacturers.
Full-scale production of the 45-nanometer chips is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2008.
A successful launch of the Menlow platform could significantly boost Intel’s position in the Open Handset Alliance, the coalition of hardware, software, and online service companies working to develop the Android platform for mobile devices.
Smaller Chips, Olympic-Sized Market?
In his video interview, Willihnganz said that one of the chief benefits of the Menlow platform would be the ability to customize mobile devices to a variety of consumer markets. The focus, he said, will be to make the devices personal for the user and comfortable for all age groups.
One particular prototype demonstrated by Willihnganz was manufactured by Lenovo; it featured a numeric keypad on the right-hand side of a relatively-large touch screen. Lenovo, Willihnganz said, is planning to launch the device in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in August.
Although the first Menlow-based devices won’t hit stores for some months, Intel is already looking ahead to a tinier future. Willinghnganz said that the company is actively working on developing the next generation of low-power microprocessors, known as Morestown, with a target release date of late 2009 or early 2010.
“We’ve got product lines that are taking us into the next decade,” Willihnganz said, “and we think this is an explosive opportunity.”
Filed under: Mobile Devices
