Intel announces new specialised Atom processor

Netbook chip to power phones and ICE soon

3 March 2009 12:47 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

New Atom-powered smartphones and in-car entertainment systems could be heading our way towards the end of the year, says Intel.

It's all very boring on the surface, but the company has announced four versions of processors and two new system controller hub additions to the company's offerings around the Atom processor Z5xx series, based on the processor used in many of the netbooks available on the market today.

Like Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, Intel is hoping that the new offering will allow it to power more and more devices as we all start to demand more from our mobile "computers".

Intel says the new products will be designed for use in in-car infotainment devices, media phones, eco-technologies and other industrial-strength applications.

"With the addition of these new products, we can bring the benefits of Intel processors to new applications, devices and customers who develop products used in unconstrained thermal environments with low-power in mind", said Doug Davis, vice president, digital enterprise group and general manager, embedded and communications group, Intel.

Intel see the move as ensuring its future: "Meeting the needs of embedded environments and new market segments will play a large role in delivering the connectivity and functionality necessary as the number of devices connecting to the embedded Internet is expected to grow to an estimated 15 billion devices by 2015".

The new products will be available to companies in the second quarter, so look out for product announcements after that.

We will keep you posted.

Full tags

Hardware, Intel, Phones, Car And GPS, Biz