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| Edited By: Sreejiraj Eluvangal |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 02:07 AM IST
Intel has, for the first time, confirmed that its first upgrade to the low-cost Atom chip will be commercially available from next month.
Speculation has been rife that Intel plans to unveil the new line-up of Atom at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas on January 11, but the company had not confirmed the launch date.
Product upgrade dates are usually held close to their chests by manufacturers so as not to disrupt the current market by encouraging consumers to postpone their buys till after the upgrades are released.
However, speculation of the new Atom family started in recent days after some manufacturers started taking pre-orders for pinetrail-based netbooks.
“New netbook and notebook platforms... will be commercially available in January,” Rama Shukla, vice-president of Intel’s mobility group, said at an event to unveil Intel’s Wimax strategy in New Delhi.
The Atom processor, estimated to cost around $40 to bulk-buyers, or a fourth of normal chips, has become wildly popular across the world, including in price-sensitive countries like India. The new range of chips are eagerly awaited as they integrate graphics and memory controllers onto the main processor die, reducing power consumption, heat emission and chip-manufacturing costs. For consumers, it translates into longer battery-life and quiet, fanless netbooks.
According to estimates, the current mainstream Atom processor and associated chips consume around 9 watts of power, while the new design is likely to reduce it to 4-5 watts.
However, according to indications, those looking for a huge upgrade in processor power may be in for a disappointment as changes are likely to be focused more on cutting power usage and reducing manufacturing costs.
While Atom as a platform was initially designed for netbooks or low-cost notebooks, Intel soon released a more demanding version meant for cheap desktops. Shukla also demonstrated a sub-Rs 15,000 LCD-desktop, based on Atom, with Wimax connectivity built-in, made by HCL Infosystems.
