Intel Demos Reflect 32- and 64-Bit Dual-Core PlansIntel Demos Reflect 32- and 64-Bit Dual-Core Plans

Intel on Wednesday demonstrated a working dual-core processor for desktop PCs that shows the No. 1 chip maker is developing the performance-boosting technology for 32-bit computers, as well as for 64-bit systems. Intel also said a new dual-core chip under development, code-named Napa, would power future notebook computers.

At a keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, VP and general manager Anand Chandrasekher demonstrated a dual-core chip based on Intel's x86 architecture for 32-bit computers. A day earlier, president Paul Otellini showed a working version of Intel's 64-bit Itanium processor using the dual-core technology. Intel has shifted product-development investment toward building chips that have two or more processing "cores" on them. Those chips, due next year, can deliver bigger performance gains than Intel and other chip makers have been able to achieve solely by increasing the clock speed of their processors.

Separately, Chandrasekher said Intel is investing in chips that can deliver better performance, tighter data security, and longer battery life in notebook computers, whose shipments nearly doubled between 2001 and this year. During the first quarter of next year, Intel plans to deliver a processor and related technology code-named Sonoma, which he said will make it easier for users to maintain their Internet connections while roaming between local Wi-Fi networks and wireless WANs. After Sonoma, Intel plans to deliver the Napa platform, which includes a processor code-named Yonah built with Intel's most advanced, 65-nanometer process technology. Napa will be Intel's first dual-core chip for notebooks.