Intel Unveils Concept Designs During Its Developers Forum

San Francisco — Intel revealed concept designs for upcoming desktop, portable and wireless devices at its annual Developers Forum held earlier this month.

These models are developed in conjunction with computer vendors not to show exactly what will hit store shelves in the future, but to give an idea of what is possible when Intel technology is used. At this year's event, held here at the Moscone Convention Center, Intel executives showed concepts ranging from desktops running advanced dual-core microprocessors, to ultra-portable notebooks.

The Pentium D processor, code-named Smithfield, houses two CPU cores within a single processor body, enabling the chip to simultaneously manage many operations. About a dozen vendors displayed working Pentium D devices at the conference.

One interesting concept project was an ultra-portable notebook whose touch screen doubled as a flat-panel speaker. The hand-sized unit had an optional wired or wireless keyboard, external DVD burner, GPS navigation, 802.11g networking and a built-in digital camera. Intel envisions consumers synching and downloading their digital content from their home PC.

During the three-day event Intel executives ran through a laundry list of projects being developed by the company. These included the next-generation Centrino mobile technology platform, code-named Napa; Intel's first 65nm dual-core mobile-optimized processor, code-named Yonah; and three new mobile technologies centered on Yonah. These are: Digital Media Boost, for improved digital multimedia content creation; Intel Advanced Thermal Manager, for enhanced thermal monitoring, accuracy and responsiveness; and Intel Dynamic Power Coordination, which automatically adjusts the performance and power between the two processing cores on demand.

Intel is continuing work on its cellphone platform, code-named Hermon, which will ship later this year. Attendees were shown Intel's product roadmap for the future of its cellphone platforms that include one- and two-chip configurations with integrated graphics, high-end performance and low-power modules. These configurations give developers greater flexibility to design phones for all segments of the handset market.