In what may be his last appearance at a Consumer Electronics Show,
CEO Craig Barrett reiterated Intel’s plans to equip its desktop, mobile
and server processors with multi-core technology so consumers can
improve their access to entertainment, gaming and computing all on one
device.
The executive, who retires in May, demonstrated a dual-core-based
prototype of a living room Entertainment PC.
“Analog has gone digital and communications have gone wireless,”
Barrett said during his CES keynote in Las Vegas Thursday. “Consumers
worldwide are becoming more acquainted with the benefits of the combined
experience of the Web and Wi-Fi, and the ability to access digital
content anytime, anywhere on any device — an experience that’s on the
rise, especially in the home.”
Multi-core processors contain two or more cores in a single
processor. The technique is widely seen as a promising way to boost
computing power, allowing servers, workstations and PCs to perform more
functions simultaneously. Both Intel and AMD report that they are
shifting to a dual-core strategy this year with massive volume shipments
expected in 2006.
Intel has been feverously partnering with OEMs like HP and Dell to
power their Entertainment PCs. Intel is also devoting money and
resources with Microsoft to foster its “Digital Joy” home PC initiative.
Barrett also said the upcoming generation of Intel Centrino mobile
technology (code-named Sonoma) will support accelerated graphics for
high-quality DVD video playback and gaming, theater-quality sound for
MP3s and TV tuner ExpressCards.
The first batch of Sonoma-enhanced
Pentium M chips are expected to sport a 533MHz front-side bus; a new
Wi-Fi component that supports the 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless
networking standards; and a new chipset code-named Alviso that
supports Direct Media Interface with improved bandwidth, TV-out, high
definition audio, eight USB ports, four-port PCI Express, and up to 2GB
of DDR2 memory. Intel said Alviso will also support its High Definition
Audio with low-power capabilities.
In many ways, however, Intel’s multi-core designs are not very
adventurous, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst for semiconductor
analyst group In-Stat/MDR.
“The first dual-core desktop processor consists of two Prescott cores
on a single die, with little redesign,” Krewell wrote in a recent
newsletter. “The first real ground-up, dual-core design is the 65nm
Yonah design for notebook computers. We don’t know anything about that
design yet, but it is not expected to ship until 2006 in systems.
“AMD’s dual-core Opteron, while more elegant with its shared on-die memory
controller interface, is also a straightforward design.”
Intel spokeswoman Barbara Grimes said the Centrino family of Pentium
M chips should see real growth in the second half of 2005, as the number
of OEMs is expected to grow from 80 to 150.
“You will see some sub-$1,000 price points, which is appealing to
consumers,” Grimes told internetnews.com. “We’re also looking at
more consumer-oriented systems than before and expanding Centrino across
the spectrum of form factors — from really small systems with
low-voltage and ultra-low voltage chips to 17″ laptops with PVR tuner
and remote capabilities.”
Intel said the advancements are meant to boost the use of Wi-Fi in
the home as well as at hotspots.
To illustrate the point, rock band Aerosmith lead singer
Steven Tyler joined Barrett to demonstrate UmixIt software, which lets
consumers lay down their own vocals and instrumentals on top of a
selected track using either a desktop or notebook PC.
Barrett also noted that WiMAX could bring greater opportunities for
the entertainment industry to cash in on the wireless craze by
distributing film in new ways. Intel is helping sponsor a massive WiMAX
exercise at this month’s Sundance Film Festival.
“WiMAX will be the technology that envelops all other networks into
one digital cloud,” Barrett said. “Wherever you are, the network and all
the entertainment and information it carries will be there, too.”
