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 NEWSIntel readies 1GHz notebook chip for early 2001 By James Niccolai October 10, 2000 4:58 pm PT SAN JOSE, CALIF. -- Intel expects to launch a 1GHz processor for notebook computers in the first half of 2001, an Intel executive said Tuesday.
Jackson outlined Intel's mobile processor road map at the Microprocessor Forum, a closely watched technical conference where the semiconductor industry lifts the lid on the latest achievements in silicon. Also here Tuesday, Motorola said it has developed a version of its G4 desktop processor that runs at 1GHz. The G4 is used in Apple Computer's Power Macintosh computers, although it was not clear Tuesday if or when Apple plans to make use of the new processor. Around the middle of next year, Intel will begin shifting the production of its chips to a more advanced 0.13 micron manufacturing process, allowing it to ramp the speed of its mobile Pentium IIIs beyond 1GHz, Jackson said. Intel's fastest mobile Pentium III today runs at 850MHz. Intel splits the notebook market into four segments: full-featured notebooks, thin and light notebooks, mininotebooks, and subnotebooks like Toshiba's hand-sized Libretto. In the next year or two, full-featured notebooks will decline in importance to account for about 30 percent of all portables sold, down from about 60 percent today, Jackson said. On the rise will be thin and light notebooks, which weigh about five pounds and typically omit a floppy drive or optical drive to reduce their bulk. Sales of mininotebooks, meanwhile, which typically have smaller keyboards and weigh two to three pounds, may grow to account for as much as 10 percent of portables sold. Subnotebooks like the Libretto will occupy perhaps one percent of the market, he estimated. "Intel's goal is to provide the highest performance and best battery life in each segment," Jackson said. Although the 1GHz mobile Pentium III will be suitable for use in full-featured and thin and light notebooks, the low-power requirements for the smaller mininotebook and subnotebook classes are more stringent. Intel expects to introduce new power management features in the first half of 2001 that will allow it to offer a 700MHz version of the Pentium III for use in mininotebooks. For subnotebooks, Intel expects to offer a 500MHz mobile Pentium III in the first half of next year, increasing to 600MHz by mid-year, Jackson said. While it grapples with the sometimes unpredictable changes in the mobile market, Intel faces a new challenge in the form of Transmeta, a Silicon Valley start-up that has made waves in the chip industry since unveiling its low-power Crusoe processors earlier this year. Intel officials sought to down play the threat from Crusoe on Tuesday, saying that performance benchmarks for the chips have yet to be published. James Niccolai is a San Francisco-based senior correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.  RELATED SUBJECTS  Client HardwareSPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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