COMPUTEX, Taipei, Taiwan – At an industry event in Taipei today, Hermann Eul, general manager of Intel’s Mobile and Communications Group, unveiled new details about the company’s forthcoming Intel®Atom™SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail-T”) due in market for holiday this year.Based on the new Silvermont microarchitecture, the next generation 22nm Intel technology for tablets and ultra-mobile devices will enable sleek designs with 8 or more hours of battery life2 and weeks of standby, as well as support Android* and Windows 8.1*.
Eul also spoke to recent momentum and announcements around the smartphone business and demonstrated the Intel® XMM 7160 multimode 4G LTE solution, now in final interoperability testing (IOT) with Tier 1 service providers across North America, Europe and Asia.
“The mobile category is undergoing a tremendous amount of innovation and constant change,” said Eul. “As we look at growing it, we continue to invest in and accelerate our efforts across all aspects of mobility with a focus on smartphones, tablets and wireless communications. Intel’s unique assets will enable more compelling and differentiated products and experiences, while at the same time helping to shape and lead markets in the future.”
Next-Generation 22nm Atom™ SoC for Tablets and 2-in-1s
Building on the progress of the Intel® Atom™ processor Z2760, the new Atom-based products will deliver efficient, quad core processing that doubles the performance over the previous generation, according to Eul.
Intel’s next-generation Atom SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail”) provides the best balance of performance, features and battery life, he added. Taking full advantage of the broad spectrum of capabilities enabled by Intel’s design, microarchitecture, 22nm tri-gate transistor technology, and leading-edge manufacturing, Intel can quickly scale up and down in performance and power efficiency to address various market and product needs. With the new 22nm Silvermont architecture, Intel delivers industry-leading performance with fewer cores, allowing Intel platforms to bring to life incremental features and capabilities.
Eul discussed Intel’s focus on enabling a richer media and content experience by improving graphics performance. He then highlighted the tablet platform’s new Gen 7 graphics that will offer more than three times the graphics capabilities1, with support for DX11 for expanded PC application and game support.
The new Atom platform comes equipped with hardware-based security with McAfee Live Safe. This digital life protection suite keeps online identity private, protects from phishing attacks and keeps data secure while protecting the devices.
Intel’s next-generation Atom processor for tablets will provide the benefits of both performance and productivity. Any task performed on a tablet or 2-in-1 device, from light photo editing to office productivity, becomes much faster and more interactive. People will see increased capability and richer content and will be able to play popular 3-D games on these sleek, battery-efficient devices than previously possible.
Bay Trail also represents the first time Intel is offering its customers a mobile platform solution that is flexible with regard to operating system and the company will provide the same great Intel tablet performance and high-resolution graphics at cost savings to consumers.
Enabling Mobile Devices with Intel Inside®
Intel platform and enabling programs have been the foundation of OEM and ODM innovation for decades. Eul said the company is currently focused on work with leading ODMs and OEMs to speed time-to-market of leading-edge mobile devices based on Intel technology.
Intel’s platform and ecosystem enabling efforts will be focused initially on Atom processor-based tablets running Android* and Windows*. The company is providing pre-qualified solutions with simplified building blocks to scale designs quickly for mature and emerging markets.
Eul said that the Taiwanese ecosystem is vital to this effort and will bring speed, scale and exciting new innovation.
Long-Term Evolution (4G LTE)
Intel’s strategy is to deliver leading low-power, global modem solutions that work across multiple bands, regions and devices.
Intel’s XMM 7160 is one of the world’s smallest and lowest-power multimode-multiband LTE solutions. The modem supports 15 LTE bands simultaneously, and also includes a highly configurable RF architecture running real-time algorithms for envelope tracking and antenna tuning that enables cost-efficient multiband configurations, extended battery life and global LTE roaming in a single SKU.
Eul demonstrated the solution by showcasing a Bay Trail-based tablet over an LTE network connection, and said that Intel will begin shipments of multimode data 4G LTE in the coming weeks following final IOT with Tier 1 service providers in North America, Europe and Asia.
Intel® in Smartphones and Tablets
Eul also highlighted recent momentum with the “Clover Trail+”.
Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO, joined Eul on stage to showcase two innovative Intel-based devices — the ASUS Fonepad™ Note FHD 6 and the ASUS MeMO Pad™ FHD 10.
The ASUS Fonepad Note FHD 6 features the Intel Atom Z2560. It has a display brightness rating of 450 nits so it can be used outdoors under bright sunshine, while twin speakers with ASUS SonicMaster* technology guarantees optimized high definition audio. In addition, the bundled stylus enables quick, accurate input on ASUS-exclusive note-taking apps.
The ASUS MeMO Pad FHD 10 also features the Intel Atom Z2560 1.6GHz processor and a 1920 x 1200 Full HD IPS display for vivid visuals with 178-degree wide viewing angles. It features stereo speakers with SonicMaster audio technology, a 10-inch screen ideal for entertainment, 1080p video playback and handheld gaming.
The ASUS MeMO Pad FHD 10 includes Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology for improved graphics performance and increased energy efficiency. The slim design has a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus for impressive photos. It is just 9.5mm thick and 580g light, and its lithium polymer battery lasts for up to 10 hours.
Intel announced that the new Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 10.1-inch is powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z2560 processor (“Clover Trail+”). Additionally, the new Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 10.1-inch tablet will come equipped with Intel’s XMM 6262 3G modem solution or Intel’s XMM 7160 4G LTE solution.
Lenovo* recently announced the general availability of the Lenovo K900 smartphone with Intel Inside. The handset, based on the Atom processor Z2580 phone chip, is now available in China and very shortly in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Additional markets will be announced in the near future. The Lenovo K900 combines powerful performance with elegant design and user-friendly capabilities such as an advanced camera and rich, immersive HD graphics.
Building on this, ZTE also disclosed the ZTE Grand X2 IN smartphone with Intel Inside® and the ZTE GEEK. Featuring the Intel Atom Processor Z2580, the smartphones are scheduled to be available in Europe and then China in the second half of this year.
Looking forward, Eul highlighted Intel’s next Atom SoC for smartphones, codenamed “Merrifield.” Taking advantage of the new, versatile 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture, Merrifield will enable a performance increase of greater than 50 percent and will also increase battery life over current-generation “Clover Trail+” product offerings. The platform also brings support for contextual awareness and personal services via an integrated sensor hub, and increased data, device and privacy protection.