ATOM - "The next Big thing" is Tiny, by Intel

At the beginning of this month Intel introduced ATOM (and ATOM Centrino), a new line of processors aimed at portable devices.

Intel is usual to introduce "One new processor a day" that usually represents a small step forward in terms of performance if compared to the predecessors, thus loosing the interest of the end-users.

Of course though, the reason why I'm writing this post is clear, what Intel has done this time deserves some of our attention.

To understand better what we are talking about, here are some specs:

Dimension: less than 25mm²
Transistors: more than 47 millions.
Idle power: 30mW
TDP: 0.6 - 2.5 W
Speed: up to 1.8Ghz

This sounds extremely interesting if considered that today's lowest consumption processors run at 1.2 Ghz max, with a TDP of 10W (4 times more power!). A comparison of the two products done this way of course doesn't tell us all about the real differences, but it helps getting a clear idea of what a big step this was.

if you want to know more: Intel's ATOM