Not intent on letting Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor freely rake in the bucks from the lucrative smartphone market, Intel has unveiled their latest Atom processor platform that will do duty in various smartphones and tablet PCs.
 
The new platform, formerly known as Moorestown, includes the Intel Atom Z6xx processor family, which combines the 45 nm Intel Atom processor core with 3D graphics, video encode and decode as well as memory and display controllers - all on a single-on-chip (SoC) design. It will deliver 50x reductions in idle power usage, while still boosting performance with 1.5 - 3x better computing performance, 2 - 4x richer graphics, as well as 4x better JavaScript performance. Surprisingly it will not only be able to support 720p HD video recording but also full HD 1080p video playback. According to Intel the chips’ power saving measures mean devices employing them should offer standby times of up to 10 days, audio playback of up to 2 days and 4-5 hours of internet surfing and video watching.

Intel’s new platform supports a range of frequencies going all the way to 1.5 GHz for high-end smartphones and up to 1.9 GHz for tablets and other handheld designs. It also offers support for Wi-Fi, 3G/HSPA, as well as WiMAX and a range of operation systems, including Android and the MeeGo OS Intel developed in collaboration with Nokia.
 
“Intel has delivered its first product that is opening the door for Intel Architecture [IA] in the smartphone market segment,” said Videsha Proothveerajh, country manager of Intel Corporation SA. “Through ‘Moorestown', Intel is scaling the benefits of IA while significantly reducing the power, cost and footprint to better address handheld market segments. As a result of our efforts, the Intel Atom processor is pushing the boundaries of higher performance at significantly lower power to show what’s possible as handheld devices become small, powerful mobile computers.”