Intel unveils five Atom chips

And Asus, Fujitsu, Panasonic and Toshiba have all signed up

2 April 2008 11:39 GMT / By Katie Scott

It was exactly a month ago that Intel unveiled its new Atom chip line. But journos have had a first glance at five new Atom chips at the Intel Developer Forum conference in Shanghai.

The chips are designed for portable gadgets that can access the Internet, and their main draw is that they are low-power and will come in speeds up to 1.86GHz.

Portability is key, Anand Chandrasekher, who runs Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, told Reuters: "Global internet growth continues unabated. The best internet experience is still on the PC, but users want to carry that experience with them".

Chandrasekher added that major device makers have already signed up to adopt Atom, with, in fact, more than 20 manufacturers planning products using the processor.

The manufacturers include Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba. Some devices will start shipping as early as May, he added.

He continued that Intel expects about 30% of these new Atom-powered devices will have both Wi-Fi and WiMAX functionality.