What Centrino Atom means for consumers?
posted by Uday Keshavdas on March 04, 2008
Intel just announced the arrival of its latest baby, Intel Centrino Atom processor technology. It is a baby in the very sense: it is small, just born and shows all the promise of bright future for mobile computing. Here is why I am so excited about this new processor.
Many of us use mobile computing to make life easy and more productive which involves keeping in touch, getting information, accessing your business applications and of course entertainment. Today a variety of single function devices are available, such as GPS navigation, media players, smart phones, web tablets, etc… But with the Internet now delivering the bulk of these experiences, the single function devices are challenged to provide a desirable Internet experience.
To simplify this, the industry predicted and saw early attempts of device convergence. That’s where things get interesting. Can the industry deliver one device that can be the best navigation device, best entertainment device, best communication device and yet behave like a computer for productivity when required? A device that has the performance of a PC and the simplicity of the iPhone? That is the promise of Centrino Atom.
But, for a device to behave different in different contexts, its not just the hardware. Software plays a critical part in delivering the functionality you want. Users demand rich experiences that need solid performance that is responsive and delivers amazing graphics. This requires a seamless dance between software and hardware. That is the promise of Centrino Atom.
So, what would you do when you can get your hands on this device? Better yet, what do you think your ideal killer device should do for you? Can Intel’s Centrino Atom meet that challenge?
Comments
Mar 04 | Josh said:
It can meet that challenge when it’s flexible, twice as small, ten times as powerful, and transparent.
Dreams aside, that’s awesome Intel! Keep the R&D going! My grandchildren depend on it.
Mar 05 | Steve said:
I look forward to seeing an MID powered by Atom. Can’t wait for this year’s IDF to see Atom at its finest.
Mar 05 | Rick Merritt said:
I think you guys are trying to hard. See my take at http://www.eetimes.com/blog/news/archives/2008/03/willatombomb.html;jsessionid=DPS2NWBPAU5J0QSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?loc=computing
Rick
Mar 06 | Gab said:
We hope to see Atom integrated as part of a visual and interactive personal computer that can be worn just like a goggles!
Imagine, you will be entertained, informed and occupied with such a gadget!
Mar 08 | Geri said:
Will speech recognition be available with this new MID technology? You mention other devices that have voice capabilities. From what I can see these new MIDs will only have touch screen capabilities. I would want them in some situations to be hands free.
Mar 13 | Brian said:
What I would like to see is “just” (right…) a computer with a modern chip performance that is genuinely portable, not a 10 pound laptop and not “too little processing power to be useful” old style UMPC. Basically what UMPC was supposed to be all along. Of course, Internet is important but even using a Cell Phone network via PCMCIA card, etc. is fine by me. The real thing is a real computer that is really portable and has good battery life.
Thanks.
Mar 22 | brandon said:
will the atom allow a phone size or near phone size pocket pc run a full operating system (at least an OS with low hardware requirements, say ubuntu for instance)?
once we can take our computer with us and dock it at our house or office and use a full screen monitor, mouse and keyboard it will really be a game changer. it’ll change the way we develop apps. web apps i think will move back to the desktop and give us much richer experiences (like the difference between google maps and google earth for instance).
i really think people will be more then willing to sacrifice a lot of speed for mobility. server cpus will always want more. but as long as i can run firefox reasonable fast on a phone size device that i can dock i’ll be more then happy.