The Hindu : National : Watch a full movie on battery-backed laptop

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 27, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Watch a full movie on battery-backed laptop

Anand Parthasarathy

Indian team plays key role in crafting tomorrow's mobile chip solutions

— Photo: Special Arrangement

Sandeep Shah (centre) with key members of Intel's team in Bangalore that helped to create the Centrino processor technology for mobile computing.

Bangalore: Anyone watching a DVD movie on a laptop will soon be in want of a main power connection.

The built-in batteries will run out faster than the average two-hour feature — three hours, if it is an Indian film.

But not anymore. The new-generation Centrino mobile chip technology, unveiled earlier this month by the United States-based chip leader Intel, promises more efficient, less power-hungry circuits that allow portable computer users to enjoy a standard-length movie on a fully charged battery.

Great, if one is forced to kill time aboard trains and planes or at public places without a nearby power source.

And you can thank some bright guys in Bangalore for this.

This is just one of the improvements in Intel's new mobile technology, hitherto codenamed Santa Rosa, which graduates to faster wireless Internet standards and, like supermarket campaigns, touts a `buy-one-get-one-free' deal.

In a first time for mobile computers, the dual core chip contains two identical processing cores, which can perform most tasks twice as fast, or chop them up, so that two of them can be done at the same time. Backing them are more powerful video processors that should go down well with hardcore games freaks.

Key contributions in the creation of the new Centrino chip came from Intel's India-based engineers, who did most of the work on the 965 Chipset — the silicon circuits which support the main processor — as well as creating the `reference designs,' that is, the sample working systems that personal computer makers like to see before committing themselves to a new chip family.

Other groups in Bangalore helped to extend the battery life of the new platform and continue to support customers in Asia-Pacific in deploying the new devices.

"Intel's India Development Centre contributes in a very significant way to the global markets, by driving major developments of the platform," says Sandeep Shah, director of the company's India-based Mobility Group.

The centre worked closely with Intel teams in Israel and the U.S. to make the fourth generation Centrino platform happen, he adds.

This work has made it possible for Intel to leverage the new chips, not just to fuel laptop and hand-held computers but also to also create an upcoming class of `lean-n-mean' desktop machines that are a far cry from the bulky, space-gobbling tower shapes we have been used to.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National