The world’s biggest chip show is on this week in San Francisco and we’re there to bring you live coverage. Stay tuned for news on Atom, Core i7, Larrabee and more.
Along with hundreds of media, and thousands of coders and engineers, we're in San Francisco this week, reporting to you on the Intel Developer Forum 2008.
While Nehalem is Intel’s big baby, this week also looks like being a goldmine of info about some other potentially more exciting products, including Atom and Intel’s upcoming graphics platform Larrabee.
This week should prove to be a big one for desktops and notebooks. Intel has several big processors to talk about - including not least the Core i7 linewhich will succeed today's current generation of Core 2 Duo chips.
What will Core i7 mean for desktop computing? We haven't seen benchmarks yet, but there will be "benchmarking sessions" on Nehalem (the Core codename), so hopefully there's some solid data is to come.
We're also keen to hear more about Intel's plans for Atom. So far it's made a big splash with the Eee PC and Acer Aspire, but since we landed in sunny (and sometimes freezing) San Francisco, the talk has been mostly MIDs,which have yet to take off.
Last night we got talking with Intel senior execs on plans for Atom, and the exciting news seems to be where Intel will go with this chip beyond the ultraportable. We're particularly interested in finding out if an Atom-phone is in on the cards.
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| Welcome to IDF: Massive signs for small chips |
Here’s a taste of the most interesting things I’ve noticed so far at the event:
Intel loves the Eee PC - Almost every senior Intel exec I‘ve spoken to or seen speaking, has mentioned “netbooks” aka, the Eee PC.
Performance is back in – well sort of. While Intel is very much pushing the power-saving mantra, it’s hard to ignore that “screaming performance” line for the Core i7 (which we spotted on the Intel Web site).
WiMax isn’t going away – Most Australians have never heard of it, but it’s obviously got legs, with WiMAX getting a mention in several presentations I’ve seen so far. It will be interesting to see how, and if, Intel provides any more info on the thorny issue of how WiMAX will co-exist with today’s 3G broadband.
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| TV meets Internet - it's not all speeds and feeds at IDF |
MIDs are getting better . . . hopefully . . . fingers crossed – MIDs aren’t destined to forever be clunky plastic bricks that look cool in demos, but are utterly useful for everyday life. Intel is showing off a few new Atom based MIDs, (see link here) – no benchmarks yet, but with the sub 5 watt thermal rating we’re willing to bet they’ll have much better battery/performance than ULV or Via versions. What’s an MID? Think bigger than a laptop, smaller than an ultraportable notebook.
R&D Labs are as fascinating/optimistic as ever – we sat through an Intel R&D Lab presentation, which among other things, included information about an intelligent TV remote that can detect who is holding it. We’ll bring you more info on this.
William Maher is reporting this week from San Francisco at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2008.
Follow our Intel IDF 2008 coverage:
- IDF: Spot the Eee PC
- IDF: “Turbo mode” is back for PCs- Intel claims 5-year life for SSD
- IDF: The "Intel iPhone" not such a crazy idea
- Intel IDF: Spotted, a Centrino 2 desktop
- Intel promises “screaming performance” for Core i7- Live from Intel IDF - Atom, Centrino 2, Larrabee