On Wednesday, Intel will announce a new line of processors, code named, “Sonoma”. This new chipset will handle graphics processing approximately twice as fast as the previous silicon. Both Intel and Microsoft have joined together to design products that will compete directly with those latest offerings from Apple. Also in the Wednesday announcement, Intel will reveal the details of a new generation of personal computers and pocket sized consumer devices from 50 different manufacturers around the globe.
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On Wednesday, Intel will announce a new line of processors, code named, “Sonoma”. This new chipset will handle graphics processing approximately twice as fast as the previous silicon. Both Intel and Microsoft have joined together to design products that will compete directly with those latest offerings from Apple. Also in the Wednesday announcement, Intel will reveal the details of a new generation of personal computers and pocket sized consumer devices from 50 different manufacturers around the globe.
The new chipset will allow users to play Dolby 5.1 digital surround sound (Sony already has a handheld camcorder that can record in 5.1 surround sound). The Sonoma chips will also allow for faster connectivity for Wi-Fi users (compared to the Centrino chipset).
The list of manufacturers showcasing their new products on Wednesday is said to be secret, however with at least 50 new products coming out, it does not take an insider to guess that there are a lot of manufacturers who will be making a run at Apple trying to steal the thunder of Apple’s latest round of consumer computing devices. If all goes as expected, many of the different devices to be announced Wednesday will be recognized as having been morphed from portables to the smaller, pocket sized handhelds.
Intel insiders report that Apple’s inability to deliver a 64-bit PowerBook G5 laptop, has left a great space of for other computer manufacturers to fill, and they intend to do that. Although some in the business report that Apple’s G5 won’t be ready until September of 2005, it seems as though Apple will be revising the current round of portables at least one more time, with that announcement to come in time for the Apple World Wide Developers Conference.
Many people who claim to have an inside track at Apple, have stated in various computer publications that the issue with the new G5 chipset and the new, yet to be announced portable machines, is heat. Although the G5 processor will be a lower power (voltage) unit (compared to the G5 desktop) It is also been previously published, that in an effort to remain at the top of the “perceived” video heap, Apple plans to have a 256MB video chip in their portables which also develops a significant amount of heat itself.
It was also speculated and reported by a publication in France and the United Kingdom that Apple’s future G5 laptop will have many connection protocols that other Wintel boxes do not yet have. Some industry experts believe that the G5 portables will be able to connect with the Internet and other devices through the use of Bluetooth (an industry standard for short range communications), Wi-Fi, and also through cellular data networks. Apple has not officially commented about the G5 portable except to say that it will be announced “sometime” in the future.
By reviewing the planned G4 road map, the G5 portable machine could be a lot further in the future than Apple will admit.
