Intel is moving ahead with development of its low power processor lineup. Next year the company will produce chips designed under the Pineview codename built using a 45 nanometer process. But we already knew that. Here’s the new stuff: CNET reports that Intel has given the codename of Medfield to the next version of the Atom processor.
Medfield will be different from current generation products since it wil be built using a 32 nanometer process and the chip will contain the procesor, memory controller, multimedia support and I/O controls. The input/output stuff usually remains separate from the CPU.
Medfield-based chips will come in single and dual-core models.
It looks like the Atom has been a success for Intel and a success for netbooks in general… I don’t say this often… but… well done Intel!
Gary
This chip could be useful for mobile phone-like devices, a market where Intel didn’t yet made too much advances, and why not $100-nearby laptops. Or how about low-end panel pcs (the ones that come inside the monitor)? This generation will define the future.
The Atom was originally targeted at the smartphone / MID market. It really wasn’t designed for the netbook. Lucky for us they will sell it for other purposes.
While having a system-on-chip part can be limiting, it should bring overall cost and power usage down.