Gizmodo: silverthorne

OQO Model 2+ Is +10 Awesome: OLED Touchscreen, Global 3G and Speed UP

matt buchanan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST

Not much left to divulge beyond what leaked already about the OQO Model 02+: It's newly endowed with a stunning OLED touchscreen, global 3G and faster 1.86GHz Atom CPU. But! It's only $1500. And pics!

[OQO]

Intel Reveals All About Atom Processor Range

Kit Eaton — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:00:04 EDT

The detailed specs on Intel's upcoming small'n'cheap Atom processor are now up for grabs. From data released at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, it looks like the first Atom releases will be five different CPUs, destined for a range of portable or "net-top" machines. Each chip has 512kB of on-board L2 caching and supports SSE3 instructions, but will have different processor core speeds and frontside bus speeds. Prices will run from $45 for the cheapest to $160 for the fastest CPU. For the processor fanatics among you, details below.

Z500
800MHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 0.65W

Z510
1.1GHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z520
1.33GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z530
1.6GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z540
1.86GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2.2W

The Atom processors also are combined with the former "Paulsbo" System Controller Hub chipset and wireless adaptors into the Centrino Atom package. The SCH takes command of north and south bridges, memory control, PCI express, USB and other connectivity and an integrated GPU. This last supports Direct X9, and Intel says the top range version can also cope with HD 1080i output. That's pretty impressive for a chip that may be destined for portable gadgets.

Intel is ready to go with all these chips, and wants them to be on sale within 60 days. [Reg Hardware and Reuters]

Giz Explains: Why We're Psyched for Silverthorne

matt buchanan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:40:34 EST

Silverthorne is a teeny processor built on the 45nm process (like the much-ballyhooed Penryn), designed for UMPCs, subnotebooks, mystery Apple products and any other smallish gadget that needs real crunching on an ultra-lean power diet.

It's about as powerful as the first Pentium M chips (Banias), but while those idled at 5W and averaged 24.5W, this little guy sips as little as 0.1W in its idle state, with peaks up to just 2W on the 2GHz model. It's really cheap to pump out too, tapped for the $200 OLPC at one point.

It comes in a couple different flavors up to that 2GHz version. To get athletic performance—it's a full-fledged x86 chip, not a half-baked cutdown—out of an anorexic processor, Intel worked all kinds of design mojo, like a new quick-wake deep sleep state. It's still a bit too hungry for smartphones, though. So, while it's a neat piece of silicon, as Ars says, it's still got a ways to go, especfially with stiff competition from ARM and TI. But that's a good thing.

Intel Silverthorne UMPCs Are Dreamy Goodness

Mark Wilson — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:40:37 EST

With Intel's new Silverthorne processor, we can expect a whole new line of smaller, faster and more power efficient UMPCs...many of which we spotted today. We groped models from Aigo (a touchscreen slider with 3MP camera), Clarion (nonworking but small), Lenovo and Toshiba (a blingtastic but a bit slow). A mixture of final products and prototypes, we were most impressed by the promising Aigo, with gesture recognition that, even if a little rudimentary, fulfills our tiny gadget obsession. Scratch that, we were most impressed by a bookmark-looking concept that was promised to be form-achievable one year from now. Feast on the eye candy below while we wait on more complete details.

Intel Comments on Rumored Mobile Apple Devices, Adds Fuel to the Fire

Adam Frucci — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:24:16 EST

We just talked to Uday Keshavdas at the Intel booth here at the Pepcom event at CES, and when we pressed him on Apple's rumored use of their new Silverthorne mobile chipset, he said:

"To be honest, we really don't know yet. We're waiting to hear."

What's that mean? Beats me, but OMG Apple UMPCs! ~~iPhone 2~~iPhone 3!

Rumor: Apple Hopping on Board with Intel's Ultra-Mobile Platform

Adam Frucci — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:17:34 EST

According to AppleInsider, Apple plans to adopt Intel's ultra-mobile PC platform for a new generation of portable devices. Rumor has it that Apple has decided to use Intel's upcoming 45-nanometer "Silverthorne" chip in multiple new devices in 2008, with the most likely candidates being a next-gen iPhone and a UMPC.

Silverthrone was specifically designed for cellphones and UMPCs, using a mere tenth of the power consumption of a typical laptop chip while retaining the speed of a second-gen Pentium M. In addition to it being super-efficient, it's also much cheaper to manufacture than current mobile chips, which should lead to lower prices (or higher profit margins) for any devices it's placed into.

In any case, Apple seems pretty dedicated to the platform, and with "multiple devices" promised, that's gotta be more than just the 3G iPhone we all know is coming. Could it be a new tablet? An ultra-portable laptop? It could be something like the image up top, which is a prototype created by Intel that can run for 24 straight hours without needing a recharge thanks to the efficiency of Silverthorne. MacWorld is in a couple of weeks, so it's possible that something using the platform will be announced then. Time will tell, but it certainly hints at pretty exciting things. [AppleInsider]