Oak Trail Appears in Motion Computing Tablet

By Kevin Parrish
published

Intel's Oak Trails sounds like a multimedia powerhouse for tablets.

Computerworld reports that on Tuesday Motion Computing demonstrated a Windows 7-based tablet-- the Motion CL900-- featuring Intel's upcoming Oak Trail platform. The tablet was shown at a preview event for press and analysts ahead of CES 2011.

According to the report, the device sported a 1.5 GHz Atom processor with specialized hardware that could quickly decode high-definition video. The chip also reportedly featured decoders to accelerate the playback of MPEG files in Windows Media Player.

Michael Johnson, senior vice president of product development at Motion Computing, said that Intel used a different graphics core than what's used with current Atom chipsets. With that said, the processor is reportedly capable of playing full 1080p high-definition video at 30 frames per second-- current Atom processors can only do 720p video.

During the preview, Johnson also revealed that the tablet's battery can run up to eight hours on a single charge thanks to the changes Intel made at the chip level with the Oak Trail platform. He also listed other hardware specs including a 30 GB SSD, 2 GB of RAM, and an overall weight of around 2.1 pounds.

Johnson said that the tablet will be slated for field workers and retailers, and will retail for around $1,000 USD when it officially launches in early Q2 2011.

Wednesday Motion Computing released a formal announcement, revealing that the tablet's rugged design offers the protection of the MIL-STD-810G specification. Other features include optional integrated Gobi 3000 mobile broadband, GPS, 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 3.0, a display constructed with Corning Gorilla Glass, an IP-52 rated exterior and more.

Motion will be showcasing the tablet PC at the Hilton Las Vegas (LVCC), Suite #377.

Kevin Parrish
6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • burnley14
    It will be interesting to see how much more powerful and efficient the Atom line will become once Intel shrinks to 22nm.

    On the other hand, maybe Fusion will step in and finally dethrone Intel with a chip that's cheap, efficient, and actually packs a little punch. Would be nice to see something other than Atom in this niche.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    $1000? I'm 90% sure you can buy a similar device with the same specs for $500.
    Reply
  • harth13
    joytech22$1000? I'm 90% sure you can buy a similar device with the same specs for $500.but u won't get that battery life
    Reply
  • ProDigit10
    harth13but u won't get that battery lifeDepends, most $300 netbooks come with a larger battery than this thing, and offer 10+ hrs of operating power; not to mention that most N200 series processors, and all N400 and N500 series processors totally outperform any Z series.

    I personally would be only interested if my audio applications could run on this (if the device had 2 USB ports in, and had sufficient cpu power), but I doubt that since it has VERY LOW amount of L cache memory.

    That's the main reason it has such low power consumption; and a low cache results in slower access and loading times, and overall performance.

    It might be that the newer series can display full HD video (which I still find totally useless on cellphones, smartphones, netbooks or tablets with a screen resolution smaller than 720p, and a cpu that does not have the processing power to decode blueray dvds.
    I find the 'improvement' of these chips has a rather limited practical purpose, and certainly not justifying the premium price tag you're paying for these capabilities.
    Remember, a tablet is basically a netbook without a keyboard; a little overpriced, and underperforming.
    Reply
  • The price is justified by the rugged characteristics that they build into their tablets. You can apparently drop this thing from 4 feet on any side and it will survive. And it has gorilla glass, try getting that on a HP slate or common netbook.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    burnley14It will be interesting to see how much more powerful and efficient the Atom line will become once Intel shrinks to 22nm.On the other hand, maybe Fusion will step in and finally dethrone Intel with a chip that's cheap, efficient, and actually packs a little punch. Would be nice to see something other than Atom in this niche.
    Well considering that this is running 45nm HK/MG, we will see 32nm first.

    22nm should be very promising. A report sometime last year was showing Intel running 22nm SRAM at 3.8GHz while being at about 1v which means they can probably clock it at 1.5GHz at well under 1v. But we shall see. 32nm will come first.

    Add in the super efficient power states and Oak Trail has that nice 8 hour battery life. It only uses the part of the CPU it needs and was said to be able to run music for a week straight before needing a charge.

    I still can't wait to see the smart phone variations.

    mayankleoboy1anything with an atom is going to be slowww
    That much I doubt. Its a single core for now but runs much faster than even the Snapdragon processor and from results in most benchmarks was faster as well.

    I imagine next year or sometime this year they may even debut a dual core version for this market.

    ProDigit10Depends, most $300 netbooks come with a larger battery than this thing, and offer 10+ hrs of operating power; not to mention that most N200 series processors, and all N400 and N500 series processors totally outperform any Z series.I personally would be only interested if my audio applications could run on this (if the device had 2 USB ports in, and had sufficient cpu power), but I doubt that since it has VERY LOW amount of L cache memory.That's the main reason it has such low power consumption; and a low cache results in slower access and loading times, and overall performance.It might be that the newer series can display full HD video (which I still find totally useless on cellphones, smartphones, netbooks or tablets with a screen resolution smaller than 720p, and a cpu that does not have the processing power to decode blueray dvds.I find the 'improvement' of these chips has a rather limited practical purpose, and certainly not justifying the premium price tag you're paying for these capabilities.Remember, a tablet is basically a netbook without a keyboard; a little overpriced, and underperforming.
    This Atom is able to play full 1080P HD video. In fact its capable of decoding dual streams.

    The smartphone version is supposed to do 720P.
    Reply