Intel aims to add speed to Atom with new platform.Byline: jeevan@cpidubai.com (Staff)Intel revealed further details surrounding its next-generation Atom netbook platform that should provide improved system performance and power savings to low-cost laptops See Classmate, OLPC and Eee PC. .<p>The new Atom platform, code-named Pine Trail, will move the chipset A group of chips designed to work as a unit to perform a function. For example, a modem chipset contains all the primary circuits for transmitting and receiving. A PC chipset provides the electronic interfaces between all subsystems (see PC chipset for illustration). -- which includes the graphics and memory controller -- alongside the Atom processor in a single chip, Intel officials said on a conference call. Reducing the number of chips should lead to thinner designs, better battery life and lower pricing of netbooks.<p>The new platform should also improve system speed by cutting bottlenecks that plagued Intel's earlier Atom netbook architecture. Integrating the memory controller should remove the memory latency In computing, memory latency is the time between initiating a request for a byte or word in memory until it is retrieved. If the data is not in the processor's cache, it takes longer to obtain them, as the processor will have to communicate with the external memory cells. affecting existing Atom architectures, which would translate into better netbook performance. <p>Integrating graphics with the processor should also provide faster access to graphics. Company officials reserved comment on the types of graphics capabilities it would provide in the new Atom platform, saying it would reveal further details at the Computex trade show to be held later this month in Taiwan.<p>Intel's current netbook architecture puts the graphics and memory capabilities on a separate chipset. However, as netbook users demand better graphics, the chipset has been criticized for its limited graphics capabilities compared to Nvidia's Ion platform, which brings together the Atom chip with a GeForce graphics chip to deliver full 1080p graphics capabilities.<p>The Pine Trail platform is set to become available to PC manufacturers in the second half of the year. Products based on the new platform may be announced at Computex, though actual shipping dates may vary depending on the PC makers, said Noury Al-Khaledy, the general manager of netbooks and nettops at Intel. The new Atom platform should also make designing products easier and reduce manufacturing costs for PC makers.<p>Netbooks are low-cost laptops typically characterized by small screens and limited graphics capabilities. The laptops are designed for basic Internet applications like Web surfing Refers to jumping from page to page on the Web. Just as in "TV channel surfing," where one clicks the remote to go from channel to channel, the hyperlink on Web pages makes it easy to jump from one page to another. and e-mail, and also for applications like word processing word processing, use of a computer program or a dedicated hardware and software package to write, edit, format, and print a document. Text is most commonly entered using a keyboard similar to a typewriter's, although handwritten input (see pen-based computer) and . Shipments of netbooks grew sevenfold sevenfold Adjective 1. having seven times as many or as much 2. composed of seven parts Adverb by seven times as many or as much Adj. 1. in the first quarter of 2009 to reach around 4.5 million, with the number expected to grow to 22 million by the end of the year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. IDC.<p>"We can't be happier with the momentum we've established with this category," Al-Khaledy said. The company has more than 300 netbook and nettop design wins among manufacturers for the Atom chip. Nettops are low-cost desktop computers about the size of a hardcover book.<p>Copyright 2009 IDG IDG International Data Group IDG Integrated Drive Generator IDG Installation Design Guide IDG Internet Discussion Group IDG Inset Dielectric Guide IDG International Dangerous Goods (mail, shipping) Middle East. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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