Intel readies 'Bay Trail' for holiday 2013 tablets and 2-in-1 devices

TAIWAN: At an industry event in Taipei, Hermann Eul, GM of Intel’s Mobile and Communications Group, unveiled new details about the company’s forthcoming Intel Atom processor-based SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail-T”) due in market for holiday this year.

Based on the new Silvermont microarchitecture, the next generation 22nm Intel technology for tablets and ultra-mobile devices will enable sleek designs with 8 or more hours of battery life and weeks of standby, as well as support Android* and Windows 8.1.

Eul also spoke to recent momentum and announcements around the smartphone business and demonstrated the Intel XMM 7160 multimode 4G LTE solution, now in final interoperability testing (IOT) with tier 1 service providers across North America, Europe and Asia.

“The mobile category is undergoing a tremendous amount of innovation and constant change,” said Eul. “As we look at growing it, we continue to invest in and accelerate our efforts across all aspects of mobility with a focus on smartphones, tablets and wireless communications. Intel’s unique assets will enable more compelling and differentiated products and experiences, while at the same time helping to shape and lead markets in the future.”

Building on the progress of the Intel Atom processor Z2760, the new products will deliver efficient, quad core processing that doubles the performance over the previous generation, according to Eul.

The next-generation Intel Atom processor-based SoC for tablets (“Bay Trail”) provides the best balance of performance, features and battery life, he added. Taking full advantage of the broad spectrum of capabilities enabled by Intel’s design, microarchitecture, 22nm tri-gate transistor technology, and leading-edge manufacturing, Intel can quickly scale up and down in performance and power efficiency to address various market and product needs. With the new 22nm Silvermont architecture, Intel delivers industry-leading performance with fewer cores, allowing Intel platforms to bring to life incremental features and capabilities.

Eul discussed Intel’s focus on enabling a richer media and content experience by improving graphics performance. He then highlighted the tablet platform’s new Gen 7 graphics that will offer more than three times the graphics capabilities1, with support for DX11 for expanded PC application and game support.

The new Intel Atom processor-based platform comes equipped with hardware-based security with McAfee Live Safe. This digital life protection suite keeps online identity private, protects from phishing attacks and keeps data secure while protecting the devices.

Intel’s next-generation Atom processor for tablets will provide the benefits of both performance and productivity. Any task performed on a tablet or 2-in-1 device, from light photo editing to office productivity, becomes much faster and more interactive. People will see increased capability and richer content and will be able to play popular 3-D games on these sleek, battery-efficient devices than previously possible.

Bay Trail also represents the first time Intel is offering its customers a mobile platform solution that is flexible with regard to operating system and the company will provide the same great Intel tablet performance and high-resolution graphics at cost savings to consumers.