Intel told industry partners at the embedded Atom launch that unlike the mainstream processors, embedded offerings had a longer life cycle — typically five years or more — which allowed developers the head room to create products with a longer shelf life. But is that true these days?

Consider Intel’s own Atom. The embedded version came only six months after the chip was launched.

At the recent Intel Developer Forum in Taipei, Taiwan, Senior Vice-President, Anand Chandrasekher, demonstrated the first working platform of Moorestown, with a system on a chip called Lincroft. He said this would reduce by a factor of ten, the idle power of a mobile Internet device compared to today’s Atom.

It will also support WiMax and the high end of 3G networks. Intel says the release will come in late 2009 or early 2010.

Even taking a conservative view, one can expect embedded versions to roll out by mid 2010…. Which means developers building around the Atom today have a window of opportunity that is at best two-three years, before Intel dangles an improved platform.

And IT’s not all happening at Intel alone; At NVISION, the first developer gathering hosted by visual computing leader NVIDIA, I saw demonstrations built around the Tegra a tiny chip 12 mm across that is arguably the most powerful slab of silicon around.

Granted it is angled more towards high end graphics-intensive mobile applications but seeing how graphical and general purpose processing roadmaps seem to be converging, one can see the Tegra seeming like a viable option this year.

And at AMD, are they sitting around? Unlikely; having spun off the fabrication business into a separate company, it can concentrate on its core business of creating chips – and a lean and mean mobile processor is something it should be working on right now – to take on the Intels and the NVIDIAs.

Like Alice, it’s time for everyone to keep running — or be left behind.

More Stories on : Hardware | New Products & Services

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page