dmf and INTC Investors - CMP Article: Intel details Mobile Chip Plans
techweb.com
06/24/99, 11:01 a.m. ET)
By David Myron, VARBusiness
At PC Expo, Intel executives were available to give a quick glimpse of the company's mobile processor plans for the second half of this year.
This fall, Intel will launch its 500-MHz Pentium III mobile processor, which will likely support an emerging wireless standard called Bluetooth technology.
The chip will be the first mobile processor from Intel with a 100-MHz front side bus (FSB). Internet streaming extensions will also be included to provide better video streaming, enhanced 3-D rendering, and speech recognition capabilities to laptops. To assuage the burden of change, the chip maker will keep the 440BX chip set for its Pentium III mobile processors.
The company will herald a new chip architecture for high-end laptops at the turn of the millennium. The details of the new architecure are top secret, said Frank Spindler, vice president and director of marketing at Intel. The mobile processor architecture will continue to shrink the performance gap between notebooks and desktops.
Spindler warns the industry should get ready for the wireless world as notebooks become more powerful. He sees a strong trend toward a more complete adoption of mobile PCs.
Spindler uses Intel's internal technology adoption as an example: "Two years ago, Intel's mobile adoption was 10 percent globally," he said. "This year, it's 20 percent. Within two years, it will be 80 percent."
Spindler expects to see wireless Internet connections via cellular phones next year. With all of the existing and emerging Internet conduits, such as ISDN, cable, virtual private networks, analog connections, DSL, and soon-to-come cellular connections, what technology should a value-added reseller (VAR) advise customers to invest in that won't become obsolete?
"VARs should provide the ability to do a wired connection, but look for evolution in technology like Bluetooth," Spindler said.
Bluetooth is the code name for the open industry specification for wireless connectivity, including mobile PCs, handheld computing devices, wireless phones, headsets and other wearable devices, and computer peripherals.
A wide range of industry leaders have named Bluetooth the standard they are going to work with, Spindler said. He added that the industry will see Bluetooth products emerging at the beginning of the new millennium, but will take a couple of years to be widely accepted. He said he believes as a result, handheld devices and cell phones can become part of a VAR's selling checklist |
