20 post- 2003: Intel® Pentium® M Processor

The Intel® Pentium® M processor, the Intel® 855 chipset family, and the Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection are the three components of Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology. Intel Centrino mobile technology is designed specifically for portable computing, with built-in wireless LAN capability and breakthrough mobile performance. It enables extended battery life and thinner, lighter mobile computers.

19 post- 2002: Intel® Itanium™ 2 Processor

The Itanium™ 2 processor is the second member of the Itanium processor family, a line of enterprise-class processors. The family brings outstanding performance and the volume economics of the Intel® Architecture to the most data-intensive, business-critical and technical computing applications. It provides leading performance for databases, computer-aided engineering, secure online transactions, and more.

18 post- 2001: Intel® Itanium™ Processor

The Itanium™ processor is the first in a family of 64-bit products from Intel. Designed for high-end, enterprise-class servers and workstations, the processor was built from the ground up with an entirely new architecture based on Intel's Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) design technology. The processor delivers world-class performance for the most demanding enterprise and high-performance computing applications, including e-Commerce security transactions, large databases, mechanical computer-aided engineering, and sophisticated scientific and engineering computing.

18 post - 2001: Intel® Xeon™ Processor

The Intel® Xeon™ processor is targeted for high-performance and mid-range, dual-processor workstations, dual and multi-processor server configurations coming in the future. The platform offers customers a choice of operating systems and applications, along with high performance at affordable prices. Intel Xeon processor-based workstations are expected to achieve performance increases between 30 and 90 percent over systems featuring Intel® Pentium® III Xeon™ processors depending on applications and configurations. The processor is based on the Intel NetBurst™ architecture, which is designed to deliver the processing power needed for video and audio applications, advanced Internet technologies, and complex 3-D graphics.

17 post -Image Processor with JPEG Encoder

Nethra Imaging has announced its second generation smart camera chips, now available in the industry’s smallest package for low power, handheld consumer devices. The NI-2065/66 programmable image processor family can be integrated into camera module designs and handsets, providing consumers with “print quality” images from less expensive optics and digital still camera functionality from their mobile phone devices. The Image Processor is currently in production and includes a JPEG encoder for enhanced compression capabilities leading to high frame rate capture, hence reducing blur and storage time. Built on 0.13-micron and boasting low power, the image processors fit into a 5mm x 6mm package.

Image Processor
This allows camera module designers to achieve form factors as small as 8.5mm x 8.5mm, making them optimal for the smallest consumer devices. Use of the NI-2065/66 allows OEMs to develop smart camera modules faster than with alternative solutions, expediting time-to-market. Sophisticated true-color processing allows picture calibrating/ tuning to meet regional taste, while support for multiple sensors helps simplify the OEM's supply chain. “Small form factor and low power are key requirements for handheld devices,” said Tony Henning, editor of the Mobile Imaging Report from Future Image, “But with those constraints, delivering the print quality images and digital camera-like features consumers demand presents a challenge. Nethra’s second-generation image processors meet that challenge.”

16 post- Laptop Processors

The microprocessor, or CPU, works with the operating system to control the computer. It essentially acts as the computer's brain. The CPU produces a lot of heat, so a desktop computer uses circulating air, a fan and a heat sink -- a system of plates, channels and radiator fins used to draw heat off of the processor -- to cool off. Since a laptop has far less room for each of these cooling methods, its CPU usually:

• Runs at a lower voltage and clock speed -- This reduces heat output and power consumption but slows the processor down. Most laptops also run at a higher voltage and clock speed when plugged in, and at lower settings when using the battery.

• Mounts to the motherboard without using pins -- Pins and sockets take up a lot of room in desktop PCs. Some motherboard processors mount directly to the motherboard without the use of a socket. Others use a Micro-FCBGA (Flip Chip Ball Grid Array), which uses balls instead of pins. These designs save space, but in some cases mean that the processor cannot be removed from the motherboard for replacement or upgrading.

• Has a sleep or slow-down mode -- The computer and the operating system work together to reduce the CPU speed when the computer is not in use or when the processor does not need to run as quickly. The Apple G4 processor also prioritizes data to minimize battery drain.

­

An IBM ThinkPad’s processor

15 post-Smarter memory.

The Mac Pro incorporates a 256-bit-wide, fully buffered memory architecture with Error Correction Code (ECC), which corrects single-bit errors and detects multiple-bit errors automatically. These features are especially important in mission-critical or compute-intensive environments. Apple designed a more stringent thermal specification for the Mac Pro FB-DIMMs, so the internal fans spin at slower speeds and keep the system quiet.