Intel declares 2008 'the year of WiMax,' reignites interest in handheld device space

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 9/19/2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mobile connectivity was without question the major thrust of Intel Corp.'s announcements today at the Intel Developer Forum, as the executives voiced the ambition of the company to lead the way in next-generation connectivity through two major endeavors: by making 2008 "the year of WiMax," and by reigniting the company's interest the handheld device space -- in which Apple Inc.'s ARM-based iPhone is currently king -- by working to establish its own Intel-based handsets that the company has dubbed mobile Internet devices (MID) and ultra mobile PCs (UMPC).

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chipmaking giant has for years promoted the WiMax wireless broadband standard, along with Sprint/Nextel, Samsung and Motorola in efforts to hasten the widespread adoption of WiMax technology. Currently, Intel said, there are hundreds of trial deployments of WiMax that are ongoing worldwide, although areas that have already heavily committed to 3G technology like GSM, most notably the European wireless markets, have been slow to warm up to the idea of the WiMax standard.

Intel's latest developments seem targeted at easing the transition for those hesitant markets. The company said its 45-nm Penryn-based Montevina processor technology due out in 2008 will be the company's first Centrino processor for notebooks to offer the option of integrated Wi-Fi and WiMax wireless technologies in an adapter code-named Echo Peak—an option that would ensure customers do not necessarily need to make a choice between 3G and WiMax.  Montevina also boasts the capability to run both HD-DVD and Blu-ray standards for media applications.

But even with these endeavors, Intel is maintaining a cautious outlook for the pace at which WiMax will be a worldwide reality. "We believe that the United States is going to lead the charge for WiMax, followed by operators in Asia," Sriram Viswanathan, VP of Intel Capital and general manager of Intel's WiMax program office, told reporters in a press conference this morning. "European operators will be the last to commit, but we are very hopeful that they will eventually do that."

Meanwhile, Intel has further cemented its commitment to the mobile realm, moving beyond the $600 million sale last year of its handheld chipset business to Marvell, by detailing the road ahead that it plans to pave for x86 Intel architecture-based ultra-small PCs. The company disclosed more details of its upcoming platform tailored for MIDs and UMPCs, codenamed Menlow, which is set to debut in the first half of 2008. Menlow will be comprised of a Silverthorne 45-nm-based processor and a next-generation chipset codenamed Poulsbo. According to Intel, Menlow is on track to deliver 10x lower power compared to the first UMPCs in the market. Following Menlow will be Moorestown, which Intel has promised will reduce idle power by 10x in comparison to Menlow. Further details on the Moorestown platform have not been announced by the company, however.

Possible Intel-Apple smart phone partnership?

The increasingly intense focus Intel displayed today of its ambitions within the mobile and handheld spaces seems to lend some credence to the buzz around a possible Apple/Intel collaboration within the smart phone space. Three months ago, Otellini made a public appearance with Apple's CEO Steve Jobs at Apple's worldwide developer conference (WWDC) here in San Francisco. At that time, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs hinted that Intel and Apple were currently in collaborations on "great stuff for future products."

This morning, Intel did little to dispel the rumors that began swirling with Otellini's WWDC appearance. When questioned in a press briefing about the influence of the iPhone in Intel's next-generation MID and UMPC development, Intel executives remained uncharacteristically mum on any competition the company may see from the iPhone, which is currently built on ARM-based processors. "Apple is a bastion of innovation in its own right," Anand Chandrasekher, senior VP and general manager of Intel's ultra mobility group, said.