PC Pro's technical editor Darien Graham-Smith flew out to San Francisco to catch up with all the latest developments at the Intel Developer Forum. Here are the highlights from this autumn's expo.
22nm processors
While delegates widely anticipated the unveiling of processors based on the 32nm manufacturing process, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini sprung a surprise by wheeling out the company's first 22nm processor. Although only test chips have been Manufactured, Intel claims to have successfully produced both RAM and logic transistors putting the chip giant some distance ahead of the technology curve. According to Intel's roadmap, 22nm CPUs won't hit the mainstream until 2012, but the announcement shows the company isn't resting on its laurels after the success of Core 17.
Four-screen laptop
The show wasn't all about silicon, though, and one of the most enticing demonstrations revolved around a laptop sporting four displays, codenamed Tangent Ray. Aside from the standard 15in screen, the laptop also houses three smaller touchscreen OLEO screens above the keyboard. These were used to display a music playlist, a photo slideshow and a calculator, but Intel claims they can be used for anything you'd use the principal monitor for. Unfortunately, there's no word on whether the laptop will ever find its way out of the company's labs.
Ubuntu Malin Remix
One technology that's definitely making waves beyond Intel's halls is Moblin. The open source 0S has been developed to Eake advantage of Atom-based machines, and will form the core of Ubuntu Moblin Remix - a stripped-down version of Ubuntu aimed at netbooks and other smaller-screen devices. Dell has already announced it will begin shipping versions of its Mini 10v netbook running the 05, although it hasn't yet specified a timeframe. Given that the current release is labelled a "Developer Edition", we may be waiting some time.
Atom app store
Intel's netbook dominance meant Atom was always going to be high on the agenda. Despite this, news that the chip giant is opening an app store featuring applications optimised to run on the low-power processor caught everyone cold. The chip giant is releasing an SDK to spur app development, and will offer developers 70% of any revenue earned from their creations. According to Paul Otellini, the aim is to allow apps developers to "write once, run on all devices". "Look at the opportunity around netbook volume - we need a better app environment. People want to do more on them than just run legacy applications," he said. Hardware manufacturers will also be able to create storefronts to sell the applications, with Acer, Asus and Dell already signed up.
Source of Information : PC Pro December 2009
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