Intel is looking to get into the smartphone and tablet business with the launch of a new range of low-powered chips specifically designed for such devices.
Intel is looking to get into the smartphone and tablet business with the launch of a new range of low-powered chips specifically designed for such devices.
Known at Intel as the Moorestown platform, the chips are claimed to use 50 percent less battery power than predecessors and to run software faster than the ARM chips – like Apple’s A4, Nvidia’s Tegra and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon – used in many current smartphones and other mobile devices.
“It’s really our first foot in the door,” said senior VP Anand Chandrasekher. “Up until now we’ve not really had a product that’s fitted into your pocket.”
Moorestown is based on Intel’s single-core Atom Z6 processors, running between 1.2GHz and 1.9GHz, allied to graphics processor cores capable of displaying high-definition video.
Based on Intel’s latest 45-nanometre low-power process, it packs 140 million transistors onto the SoC silicon.
On a tablet with a seven-inch screen, the processor can provide seven days of music time, more than 10 hours of standard-definition video playback and more than 10 of browsing time, Intel claims.
Tablets will also include PC-like performance capabilities, including multitasking and multipoint videoconferencing, executives said.
Nokia and LG have agreed to use the Moorestown products in some new mobile phones, and an Atom-powered phone from Finnish producer Aava – pictured – was on show at this week;s announcement. But Intel has declined to name other customers.
“The reason why I’m not going to talk about customers is not that we don’t have any – we do, a lot of them,” Chandrasekher said. “The customers in this domain are much more secretive.”
He did reveal that Moorestown would support Google’s Android operating system, as well as Meego, the Linux-based OS Intel and Nokia are jointly developing.
Paul McKeon, Intel Australia spokesperson,said that Moorestown products should begin surfacing in the Down Under market in the second half of the year.
