Mobile computing has been on the rise, especially in the past few years with the introduction of tablets. It seems devices are getting smaller and smaller, but can you really be productive on a tablet or a smartphone?  Intel has been at the forefront making technologies for mobile devices that not only make them powerful, but also make them last a long time.  Last week we had the chance to sit down with Intel and see what all they have in store for the mobile space.  Read on to learn about their new technologies and check out some of the products they brought with them to demo.






The Future of Intel’s Atom Processor
Intel’s Atom processor was a huge hit, we first saw it power a flurry of netbooks.  This really pushed netbooks on to the market and made them successful.  If you thought that the Atom Processor was only powering netbooks you are sadly mistaken.  It powers quite a few different devices and Intel has big plans for it in the next few years.

Let’s start with the very exciting news, you will start to see Intel Atom processor’s in smartphones!  Intel recently announced its 32nm “Medfield” smartphone platform.  This platform is directly aimed to compete with the ARM architecture.  Not only will this platform be powerful, but the battery life will be great.  Intel has said that this architecture is the most efficient on the planet.  The “Medfield” platform is scheduled for production this year, so possibly we will see a device by the end of the year.

In April Intel launched the Atom Z670 platform.  This is the platform you are going to see on many mobile devices like slates, convertibles and sliders.  Intel actually had some of those on display for us.  I think the one that was most compelling to me was the Maestro Evolve III.


This convertible tablet is a hybrid, meaning it can act as a tablet using touch-screen or you can prop it up using the built-in stand and connect a wireless keyboard.  What’s great about this device is that you can load multiple operating systems (Windows 7, Android and MeeGo) and you can switch between them instantly.  This means you can have all of the cool Android apps, then when you need to be productive and write or use something in Windows you just switch right in to Windows mode.  The Evolve III will give you 10+ hours of battery life too!  It is powered by the Intel Z670 1.5GHz processor.

Intel also had the ViewSonic ViewPad 10 to show us.


This tablet can dual-boot so you can run both Android and Windows 7.  It is powered by Intel’s N455 1.66GHz processor.

So let’s get back to netbooks, Intel’s upcoming platform for netbooks is codenamed “Cedar Trail”.  This is the first netbook platform based on Intel’s 32nm technology, and will enable ultra-thin, fanless designs with new capabilities such as Intel’s Rapid Start technology which provides fast resume, Intel Smart Connect Technology which enables an always updated experience even during standby, Intel Wireless Display and PC Synch, which let users wirelessly update and synchronize documents, content and media across multiple devices.  This new platform is going to bring battery life to the next level too with 10 hours of battery life during operation and weeks of standby.  Expect to see mobile and desktop designs based on the “Cedar Trail” platform towards the end of the year.

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