INTEL IDF, TAIPEI, TAIWAN: In his keynote at the recently held IDF Taipei 2008, Mooly Eden, Corporate Vice President, General Manager, Mobile Platforms Group, Intel, said the company is trying to close or narrow the digital gap and will continue to drive the revolution.

Highlighting the facts regarding an explosion of video and that social networking now accounted for over 25 percent of all Internet traffic, he added that there was a need to expand the frontiers of energy efficient performance. "The next thing is a quad core in mobile," he said.

Calpella mobile platform
He described the latest Intel mobile technologies for “expanding the frontiers of mobility” as newer Internet applications continue to drive how people use their PCs, placing new demands on performance and capabilities requirements.

Eden showed an early working 2009 mobile platform codenamed “Calpella” based on the new Nehalem architecture, as well as the new Intel mobile quad-core processor-based notebooks raising the bar on the ultimate HD multimedia and gaming experience.

Eden also discussed Intel’s new mobile concept: UrbanMax featuring small form factor Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology and key mobile platform enhancements, including the Intel High-Performance SATA Solid-State Drive Product Line, HD Playback and Touchscreen Displays.

Together with a robust showcase of laptops and netbooks, Eden demonstrated the extensive design possibilities and devices made possible by Intel’s mobile processor technologies. He added that netbooks will utilize SSDs in full, in a few years time.

Calpella Platform Architecture: Intel’s next-generation mobile platform powered by the upcoming 45nm-based Nehalem Architecture will offer better performance and energy efficiency in innovative form factors. Eden said that Calpella platform architecture was "all about higher integration delivering more performance and battery life in innovative form factors."

Calpella takes advantage of specific features of the new Nehalem architecture for improved mobile platform performance and energy efficiency in a number of ways:

* Higher integration: Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and graphics into the processors; and Display, Intel Management Engine, NVM controllers, clock buffers gets integrated into the PCH.
* Integrated Power Gate: Enables energy-efficient integration of power switches that can turn cores on or off when not in use, with near-zero leakage power; based on process breakthrough which makes active/sleep transitions much faster. Integrated Power Gate technology will also be used in the memory system, cache and IO to dynamically power down these sub-systems when not in use.
* Modular/Scalable Clocking: Allows core, memory system and I/O to run at independent voltage and frequency enabling faster response time and improved energy efficiency.
* Other features: Calpella will also incorporate Intel Turbo Boost Technology with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology to increase the energy efficiency; Intel Hyper-Threading Technology for simultaneous multi-threading and the Loop Streaming Detector for handling replays and large loops, saving power by as much as four fold.

Mobile Quad Core Processors: Intel’s first mobile quad-core processors, the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100, offer four separate and powerful processing cores to deliver unprecedented multi-threading performance:

* World’s first and highest-performing mobile quad-core processor: Intel 45nm hi-K process technology; four cores running at 2.53 GHz with a 1066MHz FSB and 12MB L2 cache.
* Ultimate Gaming and Multimedia engine: Incredible performance on highly threaded applications; great game play and realism on immersive multi-threaded games; headroom for the growing number of multi-core- enabled games and applications; overspeed protection removed to enable system tuning for maximum performance.
* Intel’s best quad core mobile processor technology: The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100 is a new CPU for the Intel Centrino 2 processor technology and Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology lineup. Offering quad-core performance for intensive, demanding HD multimedia and workstation applications and industry-leading battery life for quad-core processing, the mobile quad-core processor is based on Intel’s 45nm hi-K process technology running at 2.26 GHz, with a 1066MHz FSB and 12MB L2 cache.

Eden said: "It is the ultimate mobile engine for HD multimedia and gaming. Quad core is now moving toward the mobile workstation."

UrbanMax Intel Mobile Concept: UrbanMax is a new 2008 Mobile Concept based on Intel’s latest small form factor (SFF) technology that allows grounds-up design targeting Web 2.0 usages and users. SFF-based platform components can be made up from a number of new SFF Intel processors, Intel High Performance SSD, HD Playback and 11.1-inch touchscreen display.

Eden added: "Thin is in! We will see this all over, in the next few years." A simple laminar flow will be used to cool the skin.

Features of UrbanMax
* Small Form Factor Processors: Eight new small form factor processors, including two Power Optimized Performance, two new low-voltage, and two new ultra low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processors, as well as a new Intel Core 2 Solo processor, a new Intel Celeron processors and Intel Atom processors.
* Form Factor Resolution: Intel Centrino 2 processors were introduced that allow 58 percent reduction in area, 68 percent reduction in volume resulting in lower power consumption and smaller die sizes.
* Lower TDP: Intel’s new small form factor processors have lower TDPs than typical 35W mobile mainstream products and come in smaller package sizes (22x22mm vs. 35x35mm).
* Multiple Operation Modes in a Single UrbanMax Device: “On the go” mode features latest touch interface technology, and “on the go keypad” mode allowing key/touch interaction, and “lap top” mode delivering a look and feel of traditional mobile platforms.