Intel to put internet in your pants

Two chip step

Moorestown will comprise a pair of new chips: the Lincroft system-on-chip (SoC) processor (which includes memory controller, graphics subsystem, and video encode/decoder), and the Langwell input/output hub (IOH) (which will also control "several board level functions).

Although Kedia declined to offer specific figures on Moorestown's power requirements, he did say that the "rearchitected and repartitioned" Langwell's board-level power management is most responsible for achieving Moorestown's claimed power consumption of one-tenth that of Menlow - which itself, at an average idle power of 160-220 millivolts, is none too shabby.

"We have done some very interesting things about how Langwell controls the rest of the system - display, storage, and other things," said Kedia. "If you're not using them, we shut them down."

One optional Moorestown component that's not likely to make it into the first LG MID will be Evans Peak, a multi-protocol communications chip that will support WiMAX. According to Kedia, LG is partnering with Ericsson to equip the Moorestown MID with 3G-based communications.

Kedia also said that although he couldn't give us "X, Y, Z" dimensions of the upcoming MID, "I can tell you that it's going to be pocketable - you'll be able to take in your jeans."

When asked if the Moorsetown demo video that's been making the web rounds had any relationship to the planned device, he said, "Of course it's reality." He went on to explain that "The videos basically say that the internet will...be part of the day-to-day things that you do - music, games, communicating with your family, watching 3D Google Earth."

He also emphasized that Intel's role is to "supply silicon," and that device makers will decide the specifications and capabilities of various Moorestown-based MIDs. "We're a building block," he said, "Different customers will build different configurations."

As for the future, "We're just getting started with unveiling a customer strategy - feel free to speculate," Kedia said. "We will surprise you."

Perhaps. But surprises can be both good and bad. Intel's ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) initiative never really took off (although some folks keep trying). Menlow-based MIDs are not exactly leaping off the shelves either, having had their momentum quashed by the rise of netbooks. ®