After a furiously frenetic flapping of flipcharts, Intel’s PR department have come up with the family name for their new range of processors destined for mobile Internet device (MIDs) and low-cost PCs.
First to get the new name will be Intel’s Silverthorne chip, designed for MIDs, and Diamondville, destined for cheapo PCs such as the hugely successful Asus Eee PC.
Intel has been bigging up Silverthorne since last year, insisting that the new chip (and corresponding platform) will give birth to a whole new category of portable Internet devices.
The industry seems keen to get on the atomic bandwagon, with manufacturers such as Lenovo, Asus, Quanta and Clarion all putting their hands up in class when asked the question, “Who’s going to build MIDs based on the new platform?”
Intel have been keeping a bit more schtum when it comes to the low cost Diamondville chip, although like the Silverthorne, it’s expected to use their hi-tech 45-nanometer manufacturing process, measure less than 25 square millimetres and pack 47 million transistors. And as Cilla might say, that’s a lorra lorra transistors.
“The Intel Atom processor is based on an entirely new design, built for low power and specifically for a new wave of mobile Internet devices and simple, low-cost PCs,” quipped Sean Maloney, the company’s head honcho of sales and marketing.
Smoothly shifting up through his hyperbole gearbox, he added, “This small wonder is a fundamental new shift in design, small yet powerful enough to enable a big Internet experience on these new devices.”
At first I thought the name Atom would be a good idea for Intel’s new chip range, but the more I think about it the more I hope that their chips won’t actually be anything like an atom and actually have some substance!