Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) on Tuesday formally unveiled its Haswell family of processors, claiming that the new chips will enhance battery life and will be a significant improvement in graphics over its earlier generation.
The chip maker claims that Haswell processors will allow laptops and two-in-one devices to be thinner and have a more durable battery life. The new chip represents an improvement based on the new chip architecture instead of a change only to its transistors.
The new design of the family’s CPU cores is claimed to boost performance by 15 percent, improve active-use battery life by 50 percent, and enhance the standby battery life by as much as 3 times compared to the performance of Ivy Bridge.
Intel’s New Atom chips
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) today also unveiled its first smartphone powered by the next Atom smartphone chip code-named Merrifield. The new chips are claimed to enhance battery life and give better performance than their earlier counterparts.
The new atom chips are expected to perform 50 percent better and provide “much improved” battery life in the smartphones, told Tom Kilroy at Computex trade show in Taipei.
The Merrifield chips will be shipped to the carriers and handset makers by early next year. Merrifield will mainly be used for high-performance smartphones and will replace the atom chips presently in use, code-named Medfield and Clover Trail+.
The success of Merrifield chips is very important for Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) as it transforms itself from PC to mobile devices.
Intel vs. ARM
Presently, the majority of the smartphones use ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) processors compared to fewer Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) chips in a handful of devices. Intel is optimistic that the current breed of chips will help it to make a significant mark in the smartphones and tablets segments.
ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH) claimed earlier this week that its processors are a generation ahead of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s chips in terms of performance per watt.
Other details revealed
Other upcoming tablets based on Android and Windows platform using Atom chips code-named Bay Trail, were also showcased at the event. The displayed devices included Windows tablet with LTE connectivity, reflecting Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which so far has been offering only 3G connectivity, will soon have a LTE-based device. However, no details have been provided when the LTE will be available on Intel-based mobile devices.
As per details provided, Bay Trail tablets priced at $399 will start shipping later this year. Also, the Bay Trail tablets between $200 and $500, based on Android and Windows, will be available by the December this year.
Silvermont architecture, which is the foundation for Merrifield and Bay Trail Atom chips, was the first major architecture redesign since the first Atom chips were introduced in 2008 for netbooks. Intel claims that Silvermont tablet chips are 4.7 times more efficient from the earlier versions in terms of power usage.
