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Intel Demos Phone and Tablet In New Mobile Chip Push

Posted by Unknown on from the we-can-make-it-smaller dept.

holy_calamity writes "Intel is making another assault on the mobile processor market, showing off a prototype phone and a tablet using its newest mobile processor Medfield. The company claims that products based on the chips will appear in the first half of next year. There's reason to believe that Intel might get somewhere this time. Its chipsets traditionally comprise three separate chips, a design that guzzles power. Medfield introduces an all-in-one chip, mirroring the power efficient design of the ARM-based chips that run smart phones and tablets in the market today."

3 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Why we might possibly care by SirGarlon · · Score: 5, Informative
    Apart from just rooting for different companies as if they were in a horse race, which seems to be a popular pastime in the press and blogosphere, the summary omits any reason why we might care about Intel's new offering. In what way is it different from the prevailing ARM chip? The answer is buried on page 2 of TFA:

    Intel has tested its reference handset against a handful of the leading phones on sale today. It says these tests show that Medfield offers faster browsing and graphics performance and lower power consumption than the top three, says Smith.

    and

    "Medfield is based on 32-nanometer technology, while the biggest fabs making ARM-based processors are today shipping either 40 or 45 nanometers," he says.

    So it looks like a bit of incremental leapfrog (if that), not some kind of breakthrough. Meh.

    --
    [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    1. Re:Why we might possibly care by Baloroth · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The prevailing difference is it isn't an ARM chip. It is an x86 chip, meaning off-the-shelf x86 programs and OSes should run on it. Getting an x86 processor below the performance/power threshold of an ARM chip (while keeping it small enough to fit in a phone) is a pretty major breakthrough.

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
    2. Re:Why we might possibly care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Who is going to run current desktop software/OS on a mobile device that has a drastically different spec in other areas (memory, screen size, touchscreen, etc.)?

      Intel getting better performance/power threshold compared to ARM is a great selling factor; but x86-compatibility especially for off-the-shelf program isn't one of them.