Intel targets smaller mobile machines
Published:20-September-2007
By BR staff writer
Notebooks are still at the heart of Intel's mobile strategy, but the company's focus is clearly moving toward smaller 'pocketable' mobile internet devices and the networks that will support them, according to a pair of executive speeches at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.
Among the small form-factor devices it hopes to target are in what Intel claims is a new mobile category, called mobile internet devices, or MIDs. Among the prototype devices that Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel's ultra mobility group, demonstrated on stage was a very long iPhone-looking device that accessed the internet, played video and had other multimedia functions.
But a company spokesperson later clarified that the company is not making silicon for smartphones. The difference between a smartphone and mobile internet device was that a smartphone doesn't have the full internet, she said. And the iPhone doesn't count: several internet sites are not available on the iPhone and most are not uploaded natively to the device; instead, they must be crunched down to fit, she said. An MID, on the other hand, would run the internet in all its native and full-sized glory.
During the first half of next year, Intel will launch its first MID and ultra-mobile PC platform, codenamed Menlow, which promises 10x lower power compared to ultra-mobile PCs currently on the market, Chandrasekher said. Previously, Intel had said it would launch Menlow in the second half of 2008.
Menlow will be based on the company's latest Centrino Duo dual-core 45-nanometer Hi-k microprocessor called Penryn, previously codenamed Silverthorne, and a new chipset, codenamed Poulsbo. Penryn will consume 10x less power than the original Banias Pentium M, Chandrasekher said. Menlow will also include WiFi, 3G cellular and WiMax capabilities.
Mark Shuttleworth, chief executive of Canonical, the commercial sponsor behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, announced it would launch Ubuntu Mobile for MIDs and demoed a pre-alpha release of the software on a prototype Menlow-driven MID.
And Adobe plans to support Windows- and Linux-based Menlow platforms with Adobe AIR, which will ship in the first quarter of 2008, said Al Ramada, SVP of Adobe's' mobile and device solutions business unit, at the event.
Beyond Menlow will be Intel's Moorestown platform, which would increase battery life an order of magnitude by reducing idle power by 10x compared to the 2008 Menlow design, Chandrasekher said. This would mean longer battery life in smaller form factors, he said. He demonstrated Moorestown's system-on-chip design that included a CPU, graphics, video and memory controller on a single chip.
Chandrasekher did not elaborate on Moorestown expected launch beyond it being due "sometime after" the company's next Centrino platform launches in 2008.
Of course, the company isn't ignoring its notebook base. Its new Centrino notebook platform, codenamed Montevina, will be released later next year, said general manager of Intel's mobility group Dadi Perlmutter, at yesterday's IDF. "Platform" refers to Intel's bundle of hardware and software aimed at specific applications. Montevina will be center around the Penryn (Silverthorne) microprocessor.
Moreover, Montevina will boast an integrated WiFi and WiMax module. Intel's WiMax technology, called "Echo Peak," promises not to drain batteries and will fit inside existing WiFi components within either a minicard or half-card form factor, Perlmutter said.
On Tuesday, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said WiMax was getting closer to becoming a mainstream wireless network.
Montevina also will include a new Centrino chipset, and integrated HD-DVD and Blu-ray support.
Our View
Chandrasekher used the word "pocketable" three times during his speech yesterday to describe the devices Intel is targeting. However, none of the devices demonstrated on stage would comfortably fit into a pocket. They mostly looked like the clunky ultra-mobile PCs that Microsoft has been touting for the past year or so - and none of them have seen significant traction.
And Intel's WiMax ambitions may still be premature, at least in the US where cellular coverage is almost ubiquitous and WiFi is fast becoming available throughout major metropolitan areas.
