Unveils first low power, high performance chip.
The Atom Z6xx series processor – codenamed Moorestown – is the first Intel processor low-power enough to be used in handheld devices.
Intel, of course, has a long and powerful track record in the PC space, and all but owns the netbook space. But this heritage has meant that its chips consume a lot of power and have not traditionally addressed the phone space.
This is why ARM and Qualcomm currently dominate the mobile phone market.
Now, with Atom Z6xx, Intel has addressed power consumption issues and is driving hard into the handheld sector. It says the chip offers a 50-fold reduction in power consumption compared with the previous generation of Atom chips.
Crucially it also claims that the platform delivers better performance than ARM-based designs on all the rich media stuff that smartphones do – running apps, browsing the web, and playing video and graphics.
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Here are some of its key claims:
* 50x platform idle power reduction
* 20x reduction in audio power
* 2-3x reductions across browsing and video scenarios
* 10 days of standby
* 2 days of audio playback
* 4-5 hours of browsing and video battery life
Of course, the big question is how many OEMs will be convinced by Intel.
Technical considerations are one thing, but Intel also has to break up relationships between device makers and ARM/Qualcomm that go back years.
Pankaj Kedia, mobile Internet device director of Intel, said the firm is playing the long game. "When phones were phones, you went to ARM. But when I look forward, it's about smartphones. And when I 'wear those glasses', Intel comes to mind," he said.
Devices based on Atom Z6xx are set to ship in the second half of 2010, with tablets being the first products to support it.
At the launch in London Intel demoed an Avvamobile phone powered by Atom Z6xx and running Android.
