Intel’s IDF conference seems like just a dream as we brush the snow from our coats after the CeBit show in Germany. Jon Peddie Research (JPR) analyst Alex Herrera takes a look at Intel’s roadmap and sees them still a step or two behind AMD in terms of performance – but maybe not for long.
Intel continues its heavy focus on mobile and pulled out all the stops for its Duo processor in conventional designs and not so conventional notebook designs. In fact, says Intel, the Duo would be just perfect in the Origami device, an Ultra-Mobile PC promoted by Microsoft at CeBit.
However, Microsoft says the new little device, another take on the Tablet PC, will also work with chips from AMD and VIA. Even though it may look like an overweight PSP, the Origami is being positioned primarily as a work tool to take orders or take to the road, letting the laptop stay at home.
When it comes to games, there are some people within the walls of JPR HQ who believe life would be ever so much more wonderful if playing 3D games on handsets were truly satisfying. Well, sure, you can play Quake today on a handset, but admit it, wouldn’t you rather be waiting for a bus?
There are others who argue that it’s just plain dopey to try and force the telephone to be something it was never intended to be – a gaming device.
In the meantime, something that was never intended to be a game device – is. The TV. There is great angst out there in the endless corridors of the shoot’em-ups because Sony announced a delay for the PS3 due to complications brought up by its inclusion of a Blu-ray optical drive.
They’d be dancing in the streets in Redmond if they were the types of people to dance in streets. Rather, we suppose many a cup of coffee was raised in appreciation of Sony’s delay giving the XBox 360 the time it needs to ramp up and get in the hands of eager gamers – and Microsoft President Steve Ballmer probably did dance in the streets and on people’s desks.
So, what do you want to do today? There are people who really want to know.
At Texas Instrument’s developer conference the company highlighted all the avenues that digital media takes from content creator to content consumer. And with the introduction of their DaVinci chips enabling video and a surrounding universe of software and peripherals, TI figures they have even more paths to the consumer covered.
That doesn’t mean, though, that other companies, including Europe’s Micronas, Broadcom and Analog Devices aren’t ready and willing to give them a run for the money. In Germany Micronas showcased their latest acquisition, video chip company WISchip, which fills out Micronas’s impressive TV pipeline.
As for 3D, ATI and Nvidia are at it again, as usual, but they’ve lost a prime competitor in 3Dlabs. We’ve also seen E&S back out of the high-end graphics market they helped define. SGI? Don’t ask. The mighty have fallen.
Jon Peddie is the president of Tiberon, Calif.-based Jon Peddie Research.
