Windows 7′s launch on October 22, is going to be a hell of a busy time for laptops, says Gizmodo. Expect a slew of higher-end Intel Core i7 mobile rigs and thin notebooks powered by new dual-core ULV processors when the OS ships.
Intel’s future notebook platform codenamed Calpella, due in September, will depend heavily on the breakthroughs of desktop Core i7 processors, including moving the memory controller to the processor itself and a point-to-point interface between memory and devices rather than the typical front side bus that defines current Intel processors. Better power management and a move to a smaller, cooler-running 32 nanometer process are also part of the design.
Intel’s next generation Centrino platform, codenamed Calpella, will be launched at the end of September, says MSI. MSI will ship 15.4 and 17-inch notebooks powered by Intel’s new Core i7 7200M, Core i7 8200M, and Core i7 920XM with Windows 7. The Clarksfield CPU of the mobile Core i7 platform is expected to be a downscaled version of the desktop version Gizmodo liked so much. Intel’s mobile Core i5 and i3 (codenamed Arrandale) are not planned until the first quarter of 2010.Also coming from Intel around the same time are new dual core ULV processors. Intel’s ULV (once called CULV) is aimed at ultra thin laptops, like the Acer Timeline.
MSI plans to use the new Core 2 Duo SU4100 and SU7300 chips in its X420 (update to X400) and X620 (an update to the X600) which will ship with Windows 7, says Gizmodo.
Intel described the new “Arrandale” design, saying it “will be the basis of all upcoming new Core chips (Core i3, i5, and 7) over the next few months. The Intel Developer Forum, September 22-24, in San Francisco, will likely showcase the new chips. Arrandale-based chips are expected to quickly go downmarket, says C/Net, and bring Intel’s new Core i “Nehalem” microarchitecture to the new category of laptops called ultrathins, which resemble the MacBook Air and Dell Adamo but are about half the cost.
