Intel Intros Dual-Core Atom Processor Z2760 SoC
Intel revealed a new SoC during a press event in San Francisco on Thursday.
On Thursday Intel introduced the Intel Atom Processor Z2760 "Clover Trail" dual-core, four-thread chip. The company said its form factor allows manufacturers to design the thinnest, lightest tablets to date – as thin as 8.5-mm and as light as 1.5 pounds. It also runs up to 1.8 GHz, and provides exceptionally long battery life with more than 3 weeks of connected standby and more than 10 hours of local HD video playback.
"Tablets and tablet convertibles powered by Intel Atom processors and running Windows 8 deliver a highly intuitive and responsive experience using touch, keyboard and mouse or a pen, while providing capabilities such as Intel Burst Technology, Intel Hyper-threading Technology," the company said. "Utilizing the multitasking capability of Intel architecture, people will experience incredibly fast response, allowing them to swiftly load and switch among their favorite applications."
The new chip is focusing on low-power-consumption Windows 8 devices that can be both tablets and laptops. These devices won't compete with the hybrids and Ultrabooks sporting Intel's Core-class processors, but rather the new Atom chip will serve to power cheaper alternatives for businesses and consumers without sacrificing key features found in the Core-based products.
"New low-power technology gives us the computing power, the flexibility, to be in both parts of Windows, and to put it in really cool, sexy devices," said Fredrik Hamberger, HP's Director of Consumer Product Marketing during Intel's press event held on Thursday in San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.
Compared to previous Atom chips, the new version packs a higher clock speed while power usage has decreased. It uses a non-Intel PowerVR GPU, the SGX 544MP2, and also features a pair of new power states called S0i1 and S0i3. The former is an "active" sleep state that kicks in when the user isn't interacting with the device, but hasn't put the machine into sleep mode (instant on). The latter, S0i3, is a connected standby state.
Outside the 32-nm chip sporting a dual-core architecture and Hyper-Threading, the press event revealed that it supports cameras up to 8MP, includes hardware assisted AES encryption, and offers burst mode when you need a little extra speed. It also includes hardware video decoding so that Full HD video can be played with minimal power consumption.
"As more and more people take their devices on-the-go, such considerations as battery life and size have become increasingly important, and devices using the Intel Atom Z2760 offer a full-featured tablet computing experience that doesn’t compromise its performance over battery life. The dual-core, four-thread SoC provides exceptionally long battery life with more than 3 weeks of connected standby and more than 10 hours of local HD video playback," Intel said.
Intel also said the new chip sets a new bar for addressing IT demand for built-in security and manageability with Windows 8, and can seamlessly integrate into a business computing environment. Intel Atom Z2760 offers Secure Boot and firmware-based Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT).
The announcement of Intel's Atom Processor Z2760 was part of an unveiling of the first wave of new tablets and tablet convertible designs based on Intel Core vPro, Intel Core and Intel Atom processors.
"This is just the beginning of Intel’s effort in the tablet market, and our goal is to deliver products that fit the spectrum of evolving needs of both consumers and business users without compromising on compatibility, experience or battery life," said Erik Reid, general manager, Application Processor Platforms for Intel’s Mobile and Communications Group. "When people or corporations buy a device with Intel Inside, they’re getting the best of Windows 8 features with a computing experience that just works."
Maybe they meant 0.15 pounds or 1.5 ounces.
Maybe I missed it, but where did they say 7"?
When it said "tablets... as light as 1.5 pounds." It's implied, but it's there as long as they're planning on putting it into 7" tablets.
Well, I am not a fan of the "Atom" line in general as how it was used to retard the development of mobile devices (Atom netbooks FTL), but if it's being advanced, that's good for everyone.
Wouldn't that depend on the size of the battery it's connected to?
True, but they might be talking about one of the phones using this chip that might have a comparable battery to the previous Medfield phones.
I'm quite sure that we haven't actually seen this Atom before given that it's the first talk about dual-core Medfield CPUs in weeks (maybe months) and your experiences with the Netbook Atom's shouldn't be held against these Atoms just because they have the same branding. That's like holding Pentium 4 against modern Pentiums, just plain wrong.
Yeah, hence my statement "but if it's being advanced, that's good for everyone." Doesn't mean I should feel warm and fuzzy about the Atom branding given previous experience though.
I'm always for advances in technology, even if they aren't instantly or directly relevant to me. These advances in technology could later be used to improve products that I do care about. For example, I didn't care much about the Pentium M, but it was the advances made with the Pentium M that in part helped fuel the Core2 technology.
I would still rather have a new C-50 replacement APU from AMD. Intel knows their video still sucks, so they are embedding SGX chips now. This is pretty sad.
What is sad is that you seem to think that the C-60 competes with Medfield. These are entirely different platforms. Intel is using the GPUs that are already fairly well-supported by current smart phone and tablet operating systems.
It may be great and all, but that's a marketing statement rather than useful information.