Intel Intros Silverthorne Ultramobile ChipIntel Intros Silverthorne Ultramobile Chip

Intel is revealing its plans for a low-power X86 chip designed for ultramobile PCs and mobile Internet devices.Silverthorne, which is expected to ship in the first half of this year, performs much like early Centrino processors, with power needs 15 times lower than Intel's lowest power dual-core processor, said Pankaj Kedia, a director at Intel.

According to research from bMighty.com, lower power equals longer battery life, cited by SMBs as the biggest challenge they face with current mobile technologies. In that same study, 60 percent of SMB respondents said they plan to spend more on wireless technologies this year than in 2007.

Analysts expect Silverthorne to first appear in bigger mobile devices, potentially running full Windows Vista software loads, according to EETimes.

"Silverthorne probably won't appear in anything much smaller than a paperback book," said Nathan Brookwood, principal of market watcher Insight64. But a follow-on design with lower power consumption in 2009 "could very well appear in smartphones" he said.EETimes, Computerworld