Intel is responding aggressively to the surging global mobile market, which has experienced double-digit growth in the business and consumer sectors in recent years and shows no indication of slowing down, the company said.
The company is set to launch its Intel Centrino mobile technology platform, Napa, early next year, said Mooly Eden, VP of the Intel mobile platforms group, while speaking at the Intel Developers` Forum, which is under way in San Francisco this week.
Napa will replace the Sonoma platform, Eden explained, and will include Yonah, Intel`s first dual-core mobile optimised processor, the Mobile Intel 945 Express chipset and the PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection.
By 2009, he said, notebook sales are expected to account for half the total PC sales worldwide, with US laptop sales already outpacing desktop sales in the second quarter of this year.
To support this growth, Intel will introduce 220 new wireless, chipset and processor designs based on the Napa platform, which is set to advance mobile performance, battery life and wireless connectivity, Eden said.
The Yonah processor, he explained, will extend battery life, while increasing performance. This is Intel`s first dual-core processor, featuring a single-die implementation (one piece of silicon with two execution cores).
The processor saves battery life through the new Enhanced Intel Deeper Sleep feature - an idle C-state that enables the processor to lower its voltage below the "deeper sleep" minimum voltage during periods of inactivity, Eden explained, adding that this state is achieved through a dynamic flush/evacuation of the L2 cache.
Intel is further attempting to extend the battery life of its mainstream notebooks to eight hours by 2008, and has entered a joint venture with Panasonic to achieve this goal, the company said.
The Mobile Intel 945 Express chipset, Eden announced, will provide enhanced graphics and video quality, as well as power savings. The PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection is Intel`s next-generation wireless LAN solution, with support for the latest industry security standards and a mini-card form factor for smaller designs.
"Intel will continue its strong focus on the notebook ecosystem to take advantage of the robust mobile market segment," Eden concluded.
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