intel’s LARGEST CHANNEL EVENT in ASia-pacific KICKS OFF WITH
45nm high-K technology at the heart of new offerings
Fresh opportunities for channel partners abound as Intel highlights growth in mobility platforms and unveils three new desktop motherboards
Kicking off Intel’s largest and most eagerly awaited annual channel conference in Asia Pacific, Navin Shenoy, Intel’s vice president, Sales and Marketing Group and general manager, Asia Pacific, highlighted a strong year of growth in the Asia Pacific channel. “The channel represents 35% of our business in Asia Pacific,” said Shenoy. “We want to give back to our customers by continuing to deliver the industry’s most compelling value propositions for the channel and helping our partners grow their businesses in 2008”, he said.
Two global channel chiefs also attended the event, namely Tom Rampone, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group and general manager, Channel Platforms Group, and Steve Dallman, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group and general manager, Reseller Channel Organization. Reinforcing Intel’s revolutionary 45nm High-K Transistor technology as the cornerstone of opportunity, the channel chiefs encouraged channel partners to embrace new technologies such as Intel’s latest mobile motherboards that extend its channel mobile initiative, and the newly introduced desktop motherboards.
Getting the Channel Ready for “Montevina”
Intel continues to actively work with multinational companies, local and regional OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), the channel and the PC ecosystem at large to promote notebook PC adoption. Energized by the spread of wireless technology and the growing popularity of mobile computing, Dallman rallied the channel to get ready for the next generation Intel Centrino 2 processor technology platform, previously codenamed Montevina and expected to be available in June 2008.
Saying that mobility is a huge opportunity for the channel, Dallman announced Rich Creek 2, the codename for a new mobile motherboard form factor specification that expands Intel’s ongoing efforts with the industry to develop interchangeable building blocks for notebook components. Rich Creek 2 products will be rolled out in a phased approach starting with select local integrators, local OEMs and original design manufacturers in several barebone and complete notebook configurations. More offerings are coming on-line toward the end of the year and in 2009, Intel says the goal is for the ingredient-based ecosystem to be mature enough to support a broad distribution model for all customers.
Intel as well as other industry partners will offer Intel Mobile Boards based on Rich Creek 2 that will launch time-to-market with the Intel Centrino 2 platform. Initially, Intel Mobile Boards will be available in a barebones configuration from ODM’s (original design manufacturer) and local integrators but not as a stand-alone product.
Launch of Three New Desktop Motherboards
Intel also launched three new desktop motherboards aimed at the extreme gamer, the mainstream multi-media user, and the entry-level PC user. These new motherboards respectively enable a number of innovative features for today’s PCs such as greater PC performance, clearer definition video and low-power technologies.
The three new Intel motherboards are the Intel Desktop Board DX48BT2 Extreme Series (formerly codenamed ‘Bone Trail 2’), the Intel Desktop Board DG35EC Classic Series (formerly codenamed ‘Eva Cove’), and the Intel Desktop Board D945GCLF Essential Series (formerly codenamed ‘Little Falls’). The Intel Desktop Board D945GCLF will use the new Intel Atom processor and will be available towards the second half of the year.
The Heart of a New Generation of Mobile Internet Devices, and More
As the Internet becomes more pervasive, the desire to be constantly connected via wireless broadband will continue to drive exciting new compute-intensive consumer products, which present new opportunities for resellers.
The Intel Atom processor will come in speeds up to 1.86 GHz, support Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology, and certain configurations will support Intel Hyper-Threading technology. These capabilities make it the fastest processor in the sub-3 watt space, enabling a rich user experience with fast Web page downloads and support for the latest Web technologies such as Adobe Flash* and JavaScript*. The Intel System Controller Hub is a ground-up, highly integrated low-power solution that features advanced low-power 3-D graphics features, hardware accelerated 720p and 1080i HD video decode capabilities, Intel High Definition Audio, and a combination of PC and handheld I/O capabilities such as PCI Express*, USB Host and Client, and SDIO. Intel Centrino Atom™ processor technology also enables manufacturers to integrate a range of wireless connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, WiMAX and cellular data.
The technical features of the Intel Atom processor and Intel System Controller Hub will help to create an array of MIDs (mobile internet devices) that offer a range of functions and variety of pocketable devices. The processors are also designed for fan-less, small form factor devices for embedded applications such as in-vehicle “infotainment” systems, portable point-of-sale devices for retail and more rugged computing devices such as robotics for industrial manufacturing.