New Atom smartphone chips from Intel unveiled

Intel has announced plans to push ahead with its second generation of Atom processors aimed at helping it move firmly into the smartphone marketplace. The chips are due to emerge in the latter half of 2010, with Intel claiming that power usage would be minimized in order to make them suitable for handset use.

Intel states that the chips are specifically designed for use with handheld devices like smartphones and tablet devices. A spokesman for the company said that it was hoped that performance from one of the chips would provide ten days of standby time. In day-to-day use it was offered that a full battery would be able to deliver 48 hours of audio playback, five hours of 720p HD video or six hours of 3G calls.

The company has spent several years trying to break into the handset marketplace and this is seen as the first serious challenge to competitors, one that is dominated by the use of ARM chips in the Smartphone arena. Intel hopes the new single core processor Atom Z6xx series (previously code named Moorestown) will be able to make waves, being capable of running between 1.2GHz and 1.9GHz.

"The specific focus of Moorestown is entering the smartphone segment but it also does very well in the tablet segment," explained Pankaj Kedia, director in the Ultra Mobility Group at Intel. However, many industry commentators suggest that it will not be until it unveils the next chip design that we'll see any real progress being made to narrow the gap and persuade smartphone manufacturers to switch their allegiance.