Intel Introduces Atom processor for Netbook and Nettops

Intel Malaysia yesterday officially introduced the Intel Atom processor, previously known as Diamondville. This 45nm single core 64 bit processor is designed for optimum power saving and in the smallest package possible but includes some of Intel's latest technology such as SSE3 and hyperthreading.

The Atom was designed specifically for a new category of simple and affordable devices for the Internet. These new devices are called netbooks and nettops which according to Intel offer end users an easy-to-use device with simple interfaces and performance for a good online experience. In a nutshell, the netbooks and nettops are basically designed for Internet content consumption, that's it.






A typical Intel Atom netbook includes the N270 Atom processor at 1.6GHz together with the Mobile Intel 945GSE Express chipset, a 7"-10" screen, 802.11b/g WLAN, a mini keyboard, 400MHz or 566MHz memory, 256-512Mb of RAM, 2-4GB of flash based storage and a lightweight Operating System such as Linux or MS XP Home. Estimated starting price for netbooks are around USD250 or RM900 and above.
With more than 10 PC manufacturers and OEM launching Atom based netbooks at the time of launched, you can now actually get an Intel Atom powered device yourself. Most recent launched are the Acer Aspire One (which is currently being used to type this news out), MSI WindPC and the Asus EeePC 901. All are priced within the affordable range of RM1300-RM1600 depending on the configuration.