Intel's new next-generation chip for tablets, will be called "Cloverview," is a part of Greater Intel Ongoing Strategy to make its Atom processors more power-efficient.
Intel’s chips are in 80 per cent of laptops and desktop PCs, but it’s had less success getting its chips into smaller devices such as cellphones and tablets. Once known for pushing the processing speeds of its chips to the limit, energy efficiency has now become critical for Intel as gadgets and their batteries get smaller, testing the limits of engineering in a different way.
The chip will be built using a 32-nanometer manufacturing process, which will lower power consumption, said Doug Davis, general manager for the company's netbook and tablet group.
Cloverview will join two other 32 nm Atom-based chips that Intel is developing. The company's "Cedar Trail chip" is being built for netbooks, while another chip known as Medfield is meant to be used in low-end smartphones and tablets.
Intel's Atom processors are designed to function as low-power chips for netbooks and tablets. But they still lag behind low-power processors from Intel's rival ARM, which are considered more power efficient and are more widely used in tablet devices.