Intel Ships First Atom Chips for Tablets, First Honeycomb Devices Not Far Off
Intel today has shipped the first of its Atom processors for tablets under the codename Oak Trail, and devices using the alternative to ARM chipsets could start popping up as early as May. The Oak Trail processor is designed to handle both Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Windows 7, making it a viable choice for manufacturers not named Apple with Lenovo, Fujitsu, Samsung, and others already interested in exploring the CPU’s potential.
Intel has worked with Google to get things squared away for Android compatibility, moving ahead in a relationship that already has already producde the Atom-powered Google TV and Cr-48 Chrome netbook. Intel isn’t promising stellar battery performance, but the company does hope their new chip will be more competitive with the ARM architecture seen in all tablets up to this point. The single-core Oak Trail chip is clocked at 1.5GHz and carries over certain aspects of the Moorestown chip designed for smartphones. The tablet processor features PowerVR SGX535 graphics and MPEG acceleration for 1080p video playback.
Seeing as most companies only have dual-core in their sights, Intel may still have some way to go in winning over converts from the current batch of manufacturers. We expect Intel’s line of chips to play better with PC manufacturers making tablets on the side, especially those interested in dual-boot devices like Lenovo.
[via PCWorld]