Intel: The Future is Wireless

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel will work more with hardware makers to design smaller computers and mobile devices designed to be linked via wireless technology, the chip maker said Wednesday.

During keynote speeches here at the Intel Developer Forum, executives from Intel's PC and mobile computing divisions shed light on various projects--both inside the company and with partners--to pack more processing power into a smaller space. Major industry-wide moves are under way to create compact PCs and mobile computers that will always be linked by an array of wireless networks.

Intel plans to do its part to bring about this vision of mobile computing by providing its next-generation Pentium 4 processor, code-named "Prescott," to PC makers. Powerful desktops using the Prescott chips could serve as a connection hub for other devices in the home, acting almost like a server for wireless stereos, laptops, writing tablets, and other products, said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel's Desktop Platforms Group.

Prescott, which should ship in the second half of next year, will use Intel's Netburst architecture and hyper-threading technology to increase chip performance. Hyper-threading technology can make a single chip appear as two processors to the operating system, helping the PC run a number of applications at once.

Intel claims that it will be able to make chips run at speeds up to 10 GHz with its current architecture and demonstrated what it called the first 4-GHz PC.

Wireless, Tablets, Big Water

Faster chips are just one part of the equation for Intel. The company is also working with PC makers to embed technology such as wireless support in every PC. Compact PCs using the 802.11 wireless standard and gigabit Ethernet support will be out in 2003, Burns said.

Another Intel project is a concept program called Big Water. The company will provide more details about the program in the third quarter of this year. Big Water PCs will be about the size of a large encyclopedia volume and could be mounted on walls or other parts of a home. Parts of Big Water PCs, such as hard drives, could also be easily removed and swapped with newer technology, allowing users to buy one piece of hardware that could be constantly upgraded, Burns said.

"We believe that this will be the platform in the (2004) time frame," Burns said.

Intel, Microsoft, and Acer are also working on a laptop that works as a writing pad. The top of the laptop's lid is actually a tablet PC, running Microsoft's Tablet PC operating system, which can recognize handwriting.

In addition, Intel and Microsoft are working together on the Mobility Enablement Program, announced Wednesday by Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and general manager of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group.

"We need to identify the key hurdles with wireless technology so we can work together to remove them for the good of the industry at large," Chandrasekher said.

Intel is encouraging its partners to build wireless networks that provide enough security and widespread connections to make wireless communication feasible for large businesses. Over the next few months, Intel will present its framework for creating a network that lets users move around offices or cities and always stay connected to the network.

Broader Handheld Support

Ron Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Communications and Computing Group, was the last keynote speaker of the morning. Brown made two significant announcements.

Along with Todd Warren, manager of Microsoft's Embedded Platforms Group, he announced that Intel's Personal Internet Client Architecture (PCA) Developer Kit will include Microsoft's Platform Builder for developers with optimizations for Intel's X-scale architecture.

The Intel Developer Kit will also support Palm and Symbian Linux operating systems, but only the Microsoft component will be optimized with an Arm Ltd. compiler to take advantage of Intel's extensions to the Arm instruction set and of additional optimizations for the X-scale system board.

Finally, Smith announced Intel's intention to build what he called "wireless Internet on a chip." The future product will integrate X-scale, flash memory, and a Global Standard for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service wireless subsystem on the chip core. The chip targets 2.5-generation and third-generation converged data and voice devices.

Ephraim Schwartz, editor-at-large for InfoWorld, an IDG News Service affiliate, contributed to this report.