IBM unveils revolutionary chip technology

IBM has launched a revolutionary chip technology which it claims will make fully functional handheld computers a reality.

Mitul Mehta, senior European research manager at Frost & Sullivan, said: "If it's what they claim it to be, it's certainly a breakthrough."

The technology, called silicon-on-insulator (SOI), is a manufacturing process which produces a microchip that needs much less power to operate. The chip industry has been struggling for years to produce this technology. "It looks like IBM has beaten a lot of other research labs to it," added Mehta.

A chip made through the SOI process allows transistors to be protected by a 'blanket' of insulation. That reduces energy leaks and improves performance, IBM claims, and means a chip's circuitry can be used to extend the battery life of portable devices and make them far more powerful.

"This power saving is the key to making smaller, more functional devices," said Mehta. It's likely that other PC and chip manufacturers will take on the technology, he said, but added that it still remains to be seen how long it will take to commercialise this developing technology.