Intel gives a sneak peek into what’s coming

Showcasing breakthrough technologies, tech highlights and talks from IT industry experts, the 10th Intel Developer Forum (IDF) held recently at the Taipei International Convention Center — with over 2,700 in attendance — was a resounding success.

Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president of Intel Corp.’s Ultra Mobility Group, kicked off the forum with the announcement that Intel would start shipping its 45 nanometer (nm) processor before the end of the year.

The new Penryn processor reduces energy leakage in the microscopic transistors, resulting in a processor that is 20 percent faster and uses 30 percent less electricity than the current 65nm chips — and is more environmentally friendly to boot.

On the notebook PC front, Intel noted a growth in notebook sales over the last four years and is forecasting that by 2010, sales of notebooks would surpass desktops.

A major reason for this continued growth is the next-generation of laptops that will carry WiMAX, HD video and a thermal output of 25W — cool enough to place on your lap for extended periods.

Based on previous IDFs, Intel had come up with four key points to mobile computing: performance, wireless networking, form factor, and battery life.

Addressing these key points is Intel’s 45nm Montevina processor that includes the Penryn processor and a next-generation chipset with DDR3 memory support. This will be Intel’s first Centrino processor technology for notebooks to offer the option of integrated Wi-Fi and WiMAX connectivity.

With WiMAX, mobile PC users won’t need to search for hot spots as WiMAX covers many kilometers. Joining Intel in this move on WiMAX are Lenovo, Asus, Acer, Toshiba and Panasonic, which have all agreed to release WiMAX-ready notebooks in 2008.

Also announced was a cooling laptop docking station co-developed with micro-compressor maker Embraco. The unit contains three cylindrical compressors that drive the coolant around the unit, drawing heat away from the laptop. The docking station works just like a refrigerator, and is able to reduce the docked laptop’s temperature by as much as 10°C.

Another way to cool down laptops was an air-permeable material that Intel is developing. This will be placed under a laptop’s keyboard and will let air be drawn into the machine, while being impenetrable to liquids spilled on the keyboard.

In the fast-growing arena of ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), Intel sees the future UMPC as being software-compatible, more responsive and visual, and always connected.

These UMPCs will run on the Menlow platform, which is set for release in 2008. The Menlow platform will deliver great performance at low power and can fit in a 74 x 143 mm motherboard, resulting in UMPCs that offer full Internet capability but are small enough to fit in your pocket.

A sneak peek into the Moorestown platform was also granted. Set for a 2009 release, Moorestown consists of a System on Chip (SOC) and a communications hub. The SOC integrates the CPU, graphics, video and memory controller to a single chip and brings the 45nm processor benefits.

Its communications hub provides I/O capabilities for storage, features, and wireless integration and the architecture allows for ultra-low power operation. In fact the platform’s idle power is 10 times lower than the Menlow-based platform.

For 3D Internet, Intel estimates that there are 60 million users of virtual world platforms such as Second Life, HiPiHi, CyWorld, Club Penguin, and MTV Laguna Beach.

Virtual worlds come in different forms such as multi-player games like World of Warcraft, metaverses which are fully immersive 3D virtual spaces like HiPiHi and Second Life, paraverses which take real-life scenarios and make them virtual like virtual surgery, and machinima, a form of interactive cinema.

Intel executives note that virtual worlds are increasing in popularity due to the growing popularity of social networking sites, improved broadband connectivity, and wider availability of high-definition displays.

But 3D Internet will involve greater demands on servers as well as on a CPU, with servers spending 75 percent of the time in compute-intensive components, while a CPU will use up to 70 percent on a site like Second Life compared to 20 percent on an ordinary 2D website.

Which means that before we can move to 3D Internet, there are still some virtual world characteristics that need to be improved. This includes making reflections in water, elements of nature, and shadows more realistic.