As Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) prepares for the formal launch and general release of its Sandy Bridge microprocessors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, David Allen, director of distribution sales, North America at Intel, wants partners to know there are plenty of market opportunities that await them.
Sandy Bridge is the code name for Intel’s microprocessor architecture and is the successor to Nehalem. Allen said although Sandy Bridge is now shipping to Intel’s distribution and original equipment manufacturer partners, Intel Premier partners are the only ones that may purchase it in advance of the general release date, which is scheduled to coincide with CES.
“This is our first microprocessor where we have one billion transistors on a single CPU like this,” Allen said. “Now we’ve built in more thermal capabilities and performance enhancements. With Sandy Bridge, we’ll still have the naming conventions for Core i3, Corei5 and Core i7.”
Among the new performance capabilities are improved integrated graphics, faster processing and better security and trust features designed to keep the computing environment more secure.
With Intel anti-theft technology built into Sandy Bridge, Allen said users can set it up so that if their laptop gets lost or stolen, it can be shut down remotely. The microprocessor also comes with enhanced recovery and patching capabilities.
Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture can also be used to help businesses create smarter data centres, Allen said. In Canada, this is especially meaningful for small businesses because they’re typically more aggressive at utilizing cloud services than larger organizations are, he added.
“As we go forward into 2011, Sandy Bridge will deliver the security, connectivity and performance options that businesses need and we’ll rely on our channel to help deliver this to the SMB market.”
In addition to Sandy Bridge, Allen said Intel’s other computing solutions present many market opportunities for partners.
“Our view is to drive the interoperability and seamless connectivity of personal computing experiences across a continuum so it all works together on Intel architecture,” Allen said. “We’ve evolved from being a chip company to a computing solutions company with platforms, software and services.”
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