Intel’s Ultramobile Future Arrives
Imagine you’re running a 3DMark graphics demo at perfectly fluid frame rates. Then imagine you’re watching 720p, 8,000 Kb/s video at a steady 30 FPS. And just for giggles, pile on a camera with a little videoconferencing app showing you streaming at the same 30 FPS. Now put all three apps on the same screen. Not earth shattering for one system to pull off, by any stretch, but not bad, right?
Now, imagine all three of those apps running with that level of performance on the smartphone in your pocket.
Impossible, you say. There isn’t a phone in the world right now that can play video at those rates, never mind having the other two tasks running concurrently with no performance impairment. Well, my friends, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.
Today, Intel goes public with its Atom Z600 processor series. Perhaps netbook performance has left you uninspired. Perhaps Intel’s prior-gen ultramobile platform (meaning smartphones and mobile Internet devices, or MIDs) left such an indifferent impression on you that you’re now asking, “What? Intel had a phone chip?” Rest assured that the Z600 is a different beast altogether.
The company invited Tom’s Hardware to its Austin, Texas ultramobility development center for a pre-launch peek at the platform that has until now been called “Moorestown.” This wasn’t another fluffy press tour. Intel left no doubts that it is serious about this market segment, and was prepared to explain in extensive detail why Moorestown was a game-changer.
So buckle up and give your current phone one last gaze of admiration. You might not be as enamored with it by the time we’re done.
