At Computex, which opened Tuesday, Intel revealed ‘Canoe Lake’, which will enable hardware makers to build thinnest netbooks. Intel also disclosed that it was in production of a dual-core Atom chip for netbooks.
One of the biggest announcements that Intel made was unveiling its new thermal “technology concept” called Canoe Lake, though much insight of the technology works was not provided. “I would rather not get into the details of the technology itself. It is a thermal technology that is an innovative way of extracting heat from the box, which then enables the form factor of the device to become much thinner,” said Matthew Parker, general manager of Intel’s Atom client division.
Canoe Lake is designed to let hardware makers build thin netbooks using Atom chips that require a fan to dissipate excess heat that the chip produces. While Intel plans to show a thin netbook concept design to illustrate how the technology could be used, Canoe Lake won’t be appearing in prototypes from other companies, a sign that commercial products based on the technology are not imminent. “There is significant interest in the industry in this technology but we won’t be announcing any partnership or OEM design wins at Computex,” Parker said.
Asus is also expected to be involved with Intel in launching a pre-installed version of its AppUp app store, first running on Windows and later on the MeeGo operating system later. “Acer will be ready with MeeGo-based mobile devices,” said Gianfranco Lanci, Acer’s chief executive, in a statement. “MeeGo’s open software platform will present our customers with another choice of a friendly, easy operating system. We are pleased to collaborate with Intel in our continuous drive to provide effortless technologies that empower people at work, home at anytime and anywhere.”
In addition, Intel will also announce a netbook variant of its recently announced Moorestown version of the Atom. Called Oak Trail, the Moorestown variant adds support for additional I/O technologies found in PCs, but is otherwise comparable to the Moorestown platform, which is designed for handheld devices. The Atom N455 and N475 are available starting June 1 and the D525 and D425, which bring DDR3 support to desktop PCs will be available on June 21, Intel said. Oak Trail is a system on a chip, or SoC, that combines a microprocessor with other specialized circuitry. Intel said the new product will offer a 50% reduction in average power consumption over its existing products as well as the ability to play full high-definition videos.
Tags: atom, canoe lake, chips, computex, continuous drive, dual core, hardware makers, intel, netbook, open software platform, prototypes, thermal technology