For the first time since the introduction of the Pentium III chip family in late 1999, Intel Corp. has moved to a smaller, more efficient processor architecture for a new line of mobile chips.
Officially announced today, the 1.13-GHz Pentium III-M, formerly code-named Tualatin, sports an M suffix that stands for "mobile" and runs at cooler temperatures and consumes less power than its predecessors, Intel officials said.
Nearly every major PC manufacturer has announced intentions to introduce laptop computers wrapped around the new chip. Mobile products powered by the Pentium III-M arrived Monday from Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM and Sony Corp.
The chip is expected to invigorate competition between Intel and mobile chip competitors Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Transmeta Corp. in the mobile computing market, according to industry analysts.
The Pentium III-M chip is engineered to a 0.13-micron fabrication standard. Since October 1999, Intel's Pentium III, Celeron, Xeon and Pentium 4 chips have all been built on a larger, 0.18-micron architecture, according to Intel.
The Pentium III-M's smaller transistor relays mean faster performance, cooler operating temperatures and reduced power consumption, making the chip ideal for mobile computers and low-heat server blades, officials said.
In the wake of Intel's chip announcement, HP today rolled out an HP OmniBook 6100 with the Pentium III-M built-in. IBM introduced a new ThinkPad T23 laptop loaded with the Pentium III-M, and Sony said it will use the chip in a new Sony VAIO GR laptop that it's launching today.
Compaq Computer Corp. hopes to get up to eight hours of battery life using the Pentium III-M chip in a new Compaq N200 laptop scheduled to ship later this year, Compaq officials said. And Toshiba Corp. will also introduce a Tecra model laptop computer with the new Pentium chip later this year, according to Toshiba officials.
The Pentium III-M's arrival means the beginning of the end for Pentium III desktop chips as Intel proceeds with its Pentium 4 road map, according to Nathan Brookwood, an industry analyst at Saratoga, Calif.-based Insight 64.
"The Pentium III brand on desktops will definitely fade over the course of the next two or three quarters," Brookwood said. "By early 2002, it's going to be hard to find anybody actively promoting Pentium III on desktops. But [the Pentium III-M] will be the central player in Intel's mobile strategies for the next 18 months."
Related stories:
- Intel to speed up shift to Pentium 4, July 17, 2001
- Intel shows chip for wireless Internet devices, May 17, 2001
- Intel takes Pentium 4 to 1.7 GHz, plans price cuts, April 23, 2001
This story, "Intel rolls out redesigned Pentium III-M" was originally published by InfoWorld.