Last week, Forrester attended the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco. Intel did its best to cover a lot of content (some new, some not so much) over the three-day event and there’s no way I’ll be able to cover it all in just one blog post. But to summarize, Intel pushed:
Performance. For those unfamiliar, Intel follows a predictable tick-tock model every two years. The tick (year one) represents a new silicon compaction rate and the tock (year two) represents a new micro-architecture. The next tick, codenamed Penryn, will start shipping on November 12. It will be world’s first widely developed 45 nm microprocessor. Nehalem, representing the tock, will be shipping next year and Intel demonstrated it for the first time at IDF. And for those wanting a glimpse into the future (as if two years wasn’t enough), Intel lightly touched upon Westmere, which will be a 32 nm shrink of Nehalem (due out in 2009), and Sandy Bridge, which will be a 32 nm micro-architecture redesign (due out in 2010).
Mobility. Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group has been hard at work ramping up its ultramobile platforms. Menlow, based on the upcoming 45 nm Silverthorne processor, is slated to start shipping in the first half of next year. It should drive further innovation and adoption of next-gen mobile Internet devices (MIDs) for consumers and ultramobile PCs (UMPCs) for prosumers and businesses. Intel previewed prototypes of devices built on the Menlow platform from the likes of Asus, BenQ, Compal, EB, Inventec, and Quanta. Following Menlow will be Moorestown, which promises a 10x reduction in idle power.
Green IT. Intel is pushing green IT beyond just energy efficiency within its platforms. With Penryn, the manufacturing process is already 100% lead-free. And Intel is taking it one step further by going 100% halogen-free by next year. Paul Otellini, Intel’s CEO, also talked about how important Intel’s partnerships with Energy Star and Climate Savers are.
By Benjamin Gray
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