Intel Atom’ises’ Andriod tablets and smartphones

Atom has always been seen as a poor cousin to the Pentium and Core processors. To be fair it was introduced in 2008 as a low cost, relatively low power and therefore low heat (no fan) X86 processor for netbooks but it ended up being used outside its capabilities.

Intel has announced its Haswell range of Core processors (due out in new computers very soon –see iTWire story here) but these are more suited for desktops, Ultrabooks and perhaps hybrids (due to power and cooling needs) so we have been waiting to see what it would do with the Atom.

So by definition Atom is a SOC – most major components including CPU, GPU, Networking, Camera and sensors are on the one die saving space and power consumption.

The current Atom Z2760 1.8Ghz Clover Trail SOC is the staple of Asus’s Vivo Tab, HP Envy and ElitePad, Dell’s Latitude 10, Acer Iconia W series etc.

The new CloverTrail+ dual core version come in Z2520 (1.2GHz), Z2560 (1.6GHz) and Z2580 (2GHZ). The main difference to the older CPU is that these support 2GB of RAM, a max 256GB of SD, WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200 UltraVoilet support) and 16-megapixel camera. GPU speeds are reported to be up to 3 times faster than any current ARM based GPU which is good for 1080p video.

These processors also embed Intel’s Identity Protection Technology for two factor authentication which may make on-line transactions much safer.

Following later in 2013 will be the new Bay Trail 22nm series that takes the Atom to a quad core.

Opinion:

This is important for Intel – its fortunes are very much tied to the x86 WinTel platform and as desktops are replaced by Hybrids and tablets so too is ARM/Android making huge inroads in the tablet and smartphone arena.

I don’t think anyone cares if consumer tablets and smartphones are ARM/Android powered or Atom x86 powered but every ARM sold is one less ale that Intel could have made so this market is important.

I do think it is going to get really messy as ARM moves into the notebook and desktop market in conjunction with Android Key Lime Pie 5.X. All of a sudden we will have four ‘standards’ – Windows, OSX, Linux and Android – spare me please.

But the real war will be fought in 2014 when Bay Trail processors are in common use as they provide Android with more horsepower than any current or near future ARM processor.

On that note I will do more research into Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa (4xCortex A15 + 4xCortex A7) and where its heading (4xCortex A57 + 4xCortex A53 + Mali T678??).