Today
Intel launched its latest and most ambitious mobile
computing technology dubbed "Centrino". To
commemorate the release of this new technology, Intel
invited press and the like to a launch event at the
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. So I decided
to take a ride down to the festivities to see what all the
excitement was about. What I found was quite a
celebration, thrown in typical Intel fashion.
The day
started off with an opening speech by
Malcom
Gladwell, author of the book "The Tipping Point: How
Little Things Can Make a Big Difference". His
discussion focused on how certain changes occurred in
history, which created a "turning point" in the way we
lived our lives. Some examples he cited was the
"transistor radio" the "microwave" and the fall of the
Berlin wall. Some could argue that the "automobile"
and the "Internet" could also be added to the list, as
well as a few other significant events. As he
continued, he spoke on how he felt that we were
approaching another turning point in history with Intel's
latest innovation. In fact, he was quite
enthusiastic that a revolutionary new product was upon us,
one that that would affect each of our lives.
Naturally, Intel wouldn't have someone speak that wasn't
enthusiastic about their product, but after seeing today's
Centrino Launch Presentation, I believe it was sincere.
Once Mr.
Gladwell finished his opening presentation, Craig Barrett,
CEO of Intel, took center stage and began painting a
picture of what Intel had in store for us. He spoke
not only of improving mobile computing from a performance
and form factor standpoint, but also from a wireless
perspective as well. He maintained a position that
improvements in the mobile market are severely restricted,
if users can't access and utilize the technology to its
fullest potential. He spoke of Intel's vision to not
only improve the computing experience, but to improve
wireless technology so that it was widely available and
easy to implement from the end-users perspective. To
achieve this vision, Intel has not only brought forth new
innovation for mobile computing on the hardware level,
they've launched a wireless initiative aiming to make
wireless networking simple and accessible where ever you
are. Intel knew that with an endeavor this bold,
they couldn't go it alone. So, from the day this
vision began to take shape, Intel teamed up with dozens of
major corporations willing to share the commitment to move
wireless networking to the next level. For example,
T-mobile has already implemented hundred of access points
in a number of major metropolitan areas, creating "Hot
Spots" where users can log on where ever they may be.
Even now, if you bring your laptop into a Borders
Bookstore or Starbucks Coffee House, logging on to the
internet is readily available with a WiFi capable laptop.
Boeing is another corporation working to integrate
wireless technology into their aircraft, so users can log
on at 50,000 feet. MacDonald's, Marriot, Toshiba,
IBM and Cisco, are just a few of the many other business
partners who have signed on to make the push from wired to
wireless.
Next, Craig
Barrett handed the reigns over to his Vice President and
General Manager of the Mobile Platforms Group, Anand
Chandrasekhar. Flanked by a dozen or so mobile
computers equipped with the new Centrino technology, Anand
began painting his picture from a functionality
standpoint. First he lined up 3 of laptops, one
based on a Pentium III 1.2GHz processor, another was a
Pentium IV model which I believe ran at 2.0GHz. and the
third equipped with the Centrino technology running a
Mobile Pentium IV-M processor at 1.6GHz. He
initiated a script that cause each machine to execute a
series of applications that took 20-30 seconds to
complete. In the end, the Cetrino based system was
the first to complete the process. What was even
more impressive was during the entire process they had a
real-time graph displaying the CPU load of each processor.
The Centrino machine barely showed a load, while the
Pentium III and IV easily consumed 5 times as much power
to get the task done. It is difficult to impress up
on you in mere words, but trust me, the performance
difference was astounding. Let's not lose sight of
the fact that if the CPU consumes that much less power to
complete a task, battery life is going to be extended as
well. In fact, Anand claimed that users will see an
increase in battery life of 80% over the Pentium IV and a
performance gain averaging 15%.
With the
wireless initiative, Intel wanted to make wireless so
seamless that a user could unplug from a wired network and
still remain connected without skipping a beat. They
demonstrated this in rather dramatic fashion when Anand
launched streaming video from a remote network location
while the laptop was connect via standard Ethernet
cabling. After a moment, he pulled out a meat
cleaver and proceeded to chop at the cable while the video
was playing. After several attempts, he severed that
cabling and the video didn't drop a single frame.
What was equally impressive was the video was smooth and
crisp over a standard 802.11b wireless connection.
Those of you who are familiar with current wireless
technology know that streaming video is not traditionally
its strong point.
More on
Centrino... |