Intel eyeing up the mobile space

When it comes to mobile computing, Intel is eyeing up more than just laptops these days.

The company's official search for the next big thing is settling quite definitively on mobile computers. But this is actually two big things: not only does Intel want to create an entire new category of handheld computers called Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), it wants to set up a whole new network to service those devices.

At the Intel Developer Forum, the chip giant firmed up plans to ship Silverthorne - a new processor with lots of integrated features - next year. It showed off prototype devices built on Silverthorne that look an awful lot like the UMPCs that didn't exactly fly off the shelves: larger than a smart phone, dependent on a stylus, and many with a fixed keyboard.

It also discussed a newer low-power concept called Moorestown that will consume 10 times less power than Menlow, the platform that will house Silverthorne. Silverthorne itself consumes 10 times less power than the original Banias Pentium M chip, the company said.

Intel is lining its Silverthorne chips up against the mobile industry's ARM-based processors in anticipation of the next silicon battleground. Having tried and failed to get its chips inside mobile phones, Intel's now trying to drum up demand for MIDs as 'a smart phone alternative to getting the internet in your pocket'.

The company will get a little closer to that goal with Moorestown. An Intel exec didn't say much about that chip but showed off a concept device that resembled an iPhone that had been stretched lengthwise.

But whatever Intel's partners build with its mobile chips, they'll have to somehow connect to the internet. That's where WiMax comes in. Intel has been talking up WiMax for several years as an alternative to cellular networks and to the expense of wiring the world with high-speed cable. It's finally getting ready to start testing the waters with its mainstream products.

Next year, Intel will refresh its laptop technology with a product called Montevina. That will come with a Penryn processor, a new chipset, and an integrated wi-fi/WiMax radio that will come as an option as part of the Centrino brand.

Tom Krazit writes for CNET News.com