Intel's Atom: did you know...
... that Intel sees in the Atom in 60 million device units that cost between $100 and $299 by 2011?
... the chip-maker expects another 47 million Atom-powered devices in the $299 to $399 price over the same time period?
.... these sales figures could become a reality because the starting price for the second generation Atom CPU in bulk orders is expected to be only $44. That number will likely continue to drop over time.
.... that 25 Atom-powered notebooks will be available by mid-year, 2008? That's just a few short months away.
... that the target screen size for these notebooks is between 7- and 10-inches?
The Atom might not provide me what I'm looking for under the hood of a portable desktop replacement (or it might, we'll have to wait and see), but there's no doubt in my mind that this push by Intel is no small task at the bottom of a checklist. This is clearly a major initiative in the mobile space. Bigger than I first thought and more than the news out of CeBIT would leave me to believe. Let's check in at the end of 2008 on this and see how Intel did.
Isn't this the same chip you recently showed a benchmark for? The one that was less powerful than a 900MHz Pentium?
So we can look forward to several years of people cursing these portable devices as I cursed the Finnish Abomination?
Ah, heaven for me!
Posted by: Mike Cane | March 12, 2008 at 02:14 PM
Yes, but as I said in that post, it's too early to judge the Atom. My expectation is that it will be powerful enough for Eee-like notebooks and lightweight OS handhelds. The obvious benefit is longer battery life. There will be usable devices for this chip, but not likely desktop-replacement types of devices. That's not what these are meant to power. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in a future version of the iPhone to be honest.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | March 12, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Eh, there are rumors around the Net about iPhone on Intel, as if that elementary prognostication merited some frikkin applause.
If we were to see it in anything *this* year, it'd be an iPod Air.
And, dear god, maybe it *will* do the five hours the MacBook Air *can't*.
Posted by: Mike Cane | March 12, 2008 at 04:35 PM
Engadget had a story this week about a dual core atom chip available this year, that I assume would give enough power
Posted by: scoobie | March 12, 2008 at 07:41 PM