SAN JOSE -- During the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) here, Intel Corp. today surprised many in the industry by announcing samples of its first Pentium 4 microprocessors for notebook PCs.
The new mobile Pentium 4 family from Intel could pose a major new threat to its rivals, such as Advanced Micro Devices, Transmeta, and Via Technologies.
For the first time, Intel demonstrated a Pentium 4 processor running in a full-blown notebook PC at the IDF session today. The portable system was running Intel's new 2-GHz Pentium 4 processor, based on 0.18-micron technology (see Aug. 28 story).
However, the 2-GHz processor is not the initial Pentium 4 portable systems product. Intel plans to initially offer a 1.5-GHz mobile Pentium 4 processor, based on the company's new 0.13-micron process technology, said Frank E. Spindler, vice president of the Intel Architecture Group and general manager of the company's Mobile Platforms Group.
Intel is currently sampling the 1.5-GHz Pentium 4 chip to notebook computer makers, and it is planning to start volume production in the first half of 2002, Spindler said. A 2-GHz Pentium 4 for notebooks will be rolled out later next year, he added.
"We are sampling the 1.5-GHz Pentium processor in volumes today," Spindler said in his keynote address at IDF today. "We expect to see the processor in mainstream five to six pound notebooks next year," he said.
The mobile Pentium 4 will represents the company's high-end processor line for the notebook market, Spindler said. "This type of performance will extend the use of mobile products," said the Intel vice president.
Some of these new capabilities include a flurry of wireless schemes, such as 802.11 local area networking systems, Bluetooth radio-frequency connections, and others, said the Intel executive.
However, some industry analysts have predicted that the mobile Pentium 4 processor will consume too much power for the power-sensitive notebook market.
Intel strongly disagreed. "We will build the same power feature of the mobile Pentium 3 chips" into the Pentium 4," Spindler said. This includes the company's low-power and packaging technologies, he added.
The appearance of the new mobile Pentium 4 does not mean the company will scrap its recently announced Pentium III processors for the notebook market. These chips are also based on 0.13-micron technology, the company said.
The new mobile Pentium III will be positioned as Intel's mid-range products in this segment. The Santa Clara, Calif., company also sells the entry-level Celeron processor line for notebooks.
"We expect to see a variety of mainstream full-size and thin-and-light performance notebooks based on the mobile Pentium 4 processor in the first half of 2002," Spindler said.
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