Intel Plans “Fast Transition” of Netbook Processors, Will Debut Pine Trail at CES 2010
Currently, most Intel processors installed in netbooks are the Atom N270 and Atom N280, but Intel is looking to quickly transition to the Pine Trail platform. Maybe you’ll want to hold off buying a netbook for now, as Intel’s new platform is expected to launch on December 21st of this year.
Intel wants to generate excitement for the new Pine Trail platform for netbooks by planning a press release in late December to disclose the details of the platform. Pine Trail will probably also be the talk of the town at the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 2010.
Here’s some details about the Pine Trail platform. The key component is the “Pineview,” which is a new CPU that integrates the Intel Atom N280 core with a DDR2 memory controller and graphics core. By integrating these last two parts with the CPU, the overall power consumption is reduced. The Pine Trail chipset, nicknamed “Tiger Point” handles the system I/O.
The three main chipsets that will debut at CES will include the 1.66GHz single-core N450 processor, the 1.66GHz single core D410 processor, and the 1.66GHz dual-core D510 processor, the former of which is for a netbook and the latter of which are for desktops.
Via RegHardware.
Image via BlogCDN.
MSI Introduces Netbook-Wanna-Be Notebook in Addition to a New Netbook
Micro-Star International recently released a new ultracompact notebook that aims to rival Apple’s MacBook Air. While technically a notebook, the X-Slim 340 is meant for consumers who want a netbook with a slightly larger screen and a better processor.
This netbook comes with a 13-inch screen, an ultra-low-power Intel Core 2 Solo processor, and runs on Windows Vista Home. It is 6-millimeters at its thinnest point and 20-mllimeters at its thickest. The X-Slim 340 can come with either a 4-cell battery (which lasts for roughly 7 hours) or an 8-cell battery.
MSI has also released the Wind U100 Plus, an update to the company’s current line of netbooks. It comes with an Intel N280 microprocessor with 1.66GHz and 667MHz bus and a 160 GB hard drive. The netbook has a 10-inch screen with 600×1024 resolution and runs on Microsoft Windows XP Home. It comes pre-installed with other additional features, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Via PCWorld.
Image via CNet.
HD Video Gets A Boost With VIA Netbook Chip
HD video is a much-coveted asset that laptop users enjoy but many netbook users imagine they’ve sacrificed in their selection of a cheaper machine. The Intel Atom N270 doesn’t support it, so until now that’s been the end of the story.
However, in recent history, the Intel Atom N280 has been announced to support 720p HD video. In addition, NVIDIA’s Ion platform bundles an Atom with its own GPU for an astonishing result: full 1080p video. The Dell Mini 10 netbook will even use 720p HD video with its TV tuner and possible DVD drive.
But Intel and NVIDIA won’t get all of the fun for long. The latest and most promising announcement affecting HD on netbooks comes from VIA Technologies, which has developed a new Media System Processor named the VX855. The new processor will be able to decode 1080p video with multiple standards, including “H.264, MPEG-2/4, DivX and WMV9.”
VIA says the VX855 MSP will be ideal for netbooks, for which its TDP of 2.3W will ensure efficient power usage. It will support all the leading operating systems – even Windows 7.
The VIA VX855 will also have the ability to work in fanless designs. It uses VIA Chrome9 with DirectX 9 to offer high performance graphics. The product also supports up to eight channels of HD audio and up to six USBs.
It will be exciting to see how the VX855 is integrated into new netbook releases, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.
Via DailyTech.
Intel To Cap Netbook CPU Performance
Apparently, Intel isn’t too keen on upgrading the Atom CPU too quickly. Despite many projections that the new Intel Atom N280 would be a serious upgrade to netbooking, Intel fears that it might cannibalize the sales of its more profitable, faster processors.
As a result, they’re holding back on upgrades to the Atom in order to steer consumers towards laptops and desktops.
Intel has always assured people that the Atom wasn’t supposed to be a high performance processor. Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, said that netbooks, to them are a “complementary” device to notebooks, meant for only casual Internet use. They’re even set to “take this a step further later this year by plugging the hole between cheap Netbooks and pricey ultraportables with a new processor for less-expensive ultraportables”. What does this mean? Netbook performance isn’t set to grow much more, at least from Intel’s side of things.
If Intel wants to force customers to do things it’s way, we can’t really say anything to that. It’s their choice. However, holding back might not be so attractive an option once a new VIA Nano netbook processor comes out, or the Qualcomm Snapdragon of later this year.
Via Dallas News.
Finally, A New Chip: The Intel Atom N280
We’ve all become used to seeing the same N270 version of the Intel Atom in about every netbook around, even the clones. The Snapdragon chip could offer some variety, but that’s still a while off. Perhaps we’ve accepted that this is the way things are going to be – perhaps we’re so frustrated we just don’t care anymore. Thankfully, Intel has decided to upgrade and shake things up a bit!
The new Intel chip is the Atom N280, to be made available as soon as Q2 or Q3 this year. The new chip will be introduced in netbooks by ASUS, Acer, and Gigabyte, some seriously big names in the netbook business. ASUS has already developed a system based on the new CPU, introduced at CES 2009.
The N280 will get a new chipset upgrade too, replacing the older 945 GSE. That version is the one we’re so sick of. The new chipset is the GN40, which will provide a similar core frequency as the old one at 1.66 GHz. Its FSM runs at 667 MHz. The combination is expected to boost netbook performance in the near future, but there will definitely be a consequence to the cost of the machines.
According to Digitimes, the Atom N280 will cost “$60-65 in thousand-unit tray quantities,” whereas the Atom N270 costs $46.
While we deride it, the Intel Atom N270 was wildly successful in 2008. It has been credited with much of the speedy growth of netbooks in general.
Via Softpedia.
