Atom CPUs were almost always associated with low cost, low power consumption and low performance. Casual users like the first two and don’t care too much about the latter, but heavy users like me always felt that the Atom CPU is not a viable alternative if you want things done. Intel is trying hard to fix this now as it just announced the Atom Z6xx series, which is meant for smartphones, MIDs, netbooks and touch tablets. The new family improves on performance while keeping a low power envelope.

    Of course the real novelty is the support for multiple device form factors and OSes, as Intel mentioned support for Android, MeeGo, Windows 7, Moblin. The main rival targeted by Intel is the Snapdragon ARM CPU which runs now at 1 GHz. Intel Atom Z6xx is supposed to run at 1.5 GHz max for small devices and could go up to 1.9 GHz for netbooks and tablets. Battery life should be 4-5 hours of web browsing from a 1500 mAh battery and 10 days stand by time. That’s not necessarily impressive but it’s good compared to previous generations as follows: 50 times less idle power, 20 times less audio power and 2-3 times less power consumed during browsing and video playback.

    The Intel Atom Z6xx CPU

    The Intel Atom Z6xx CPU

    Speaking of performance the new Intel Atom Z6xx is capable of 1080p video decoding and can run Quake 3 as it was shown in a demo by Intel. As technical data, the Intel Atom Z6xx is a system-on-a-chip built in the 45nm manufacturing process and is complemented by Intel Platform Controller Hub MP20 (formerly known as Langwell) which adds options for USB, WiFi, 3G, GPS and WiMax, depending on configuration. Products with Intel Atom Z6xx CPUs are expected in a few months time. We’ll let you know when we have complete specs and pricing. Till then you could take a look at the fact sheet PDF from Intel.

    Intel and Android play nice now

    Intel and Android play nice now

    Source: TechRadar