Intel launches more cores for Apples and PCs alike
Tags: Intel, Apple, Dual Core, Marketing
Intel CEO Paul Otellini launched IDF with his keynote this morning. So what was the story? As predicted, Intel announced dual-core processors throughout its product line, promising a 10x improvement in performance per watt. And the announcements covered not only mobile processors like Centrinos (evolving to new names such as Yonah and Merom), but also desktops (code names Presler and Conroe) and servers (code names Dempsey and Woodcrest). When asked who is looking for this type of green computing, he brought up Urs Hölzle from Google, who demonstrated took us around the world in 80 seconds with Google Earth and noted that the power savings across hundreds of thousands of servers will actually save Google millions of dollars a year.
Paul did have a couple of quite remarkable demos to show. One was a videoconference with an Indian village at the foothills of the Himalayas via WiMax. Another was the demonstration of eight high-definition television streams across a wireless network in the room. But perhaps the most intriguing was his showing of a group of "Hand-top" processors weighing about 1 pound with 5 inch screens with 1/2 watt processors. What was interesting about them? The one he chose to show off was white. Now lets see, who makes white computers? Oh yeah. Apple.
The press Q&A was tough, though; the first question was why it took Intel to long to recognize what AMD, Sun, IBM, and others had already recognized. Paul simply claimed they were moving an entire industry. Then another press person asked Paul if he was going to accept the challenge that AMD laid down with full-page newspaper ads this morning, namely running his dual-core products against AMD's in a dual-core duel. Paul simply replied that they prefer their duels to be fought in the marketplace, not with benchmarks, and left it at that.
Our take: this was a well-presented launch of a whole new generation of Intel products. But there wasn't a lot that hadn't already been predicted. The fact that they have working dual-core products was good. But so does AMD, Sun, and IBM. Intel simply announced its next-generation architecture and didn't even name it, leaving everyone to refer to it in their own ways. And if the marketplace is to be the final judge of the success or failure of these products, we have some time to wait. Most of these won't really hit the market until the second half of 2006. With dual-core products in the market from other companies already, a lot can happen in a year.
We'll get more details when Sean Maloney talks about mobility at 11:30 PDT.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini launched IDF with his keynote this morning. So what was the story? As predicted, Intel announced dual-core processors throughout its product line, promising a 10x improvement in performance per watt. And the announcements covered not only mobile processors like Centrinos (evolving to new names such as Yonah and Merom), but also desktops (code names Presler and Conroe) and servers (code names Dempsey and Woodcrest). When asked who is looking for this type of green computing, he brought up Urs Hölzle from Google, who demonstrated took us around the world in 80 seconds with Google Earth and noted that the power savings across hundreds of thousands of servers will actually save Google millions of dollars a year.
Paul did have a couple of quite remarkable demos to show. One was a videoconference with an Indian village at the foothills of the Himalayas via WiMax. Another was the demonstration of eight high-definition television streams across a wireless network in the room. But perhaps the most intriguing was his showing of a group of "Hand-top" processors weighing about 1 pound with 5 inch screens with 1/2 watt processors. What was interesting about them? The one he chose to show off was white. Now lets see, who makes white computers? Oh yeah. Apple.
The press Q&A was tough, though; the first question was why it took Intel to long to recognize what AMD, Sun, IBM, and others had already recognized. Paul simply claimed they were moving an entire industry. Then another press person asked Paul if he was going to accept the challenge that AMD laid down with full-page newspaper ads this morning, namely running his dual-core products against AMD's in a dual-core duel. Paul simply replied that they prefer their duels to be fought in the marketplace, not with benchmarks, and left it at that.
Our take: this was a well-presented launch of a whole new generation of Intel products. But there wasn't a lot that hadn't already been predicted. The fact that they have working dual-core products was good. But so does AMD, Sun, and IBM. Intel simply announced its next-generation architecture and didn't even name it, leaving everyone to refer to it in their own ways. And if the marketplace is to be the final judge of the success or failure of these products, we have some time to wait. Most of these won't really hit the market until the second half of 2006. With dual-core products in the market from other companies already, a lot can happen in a year.
We'll get more details when Sean Maloney talks about mobility at 11:30 PDT.
posted by Carl Howe at
1:03 PM
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