News

Intel 'Bay Trail'-Based Tablets and PCs Expected in Q4

• By Kurt Mackie
• September 12, 2013

Devices running Intel's "Bay Trail" family of power-saving processors are due to arrive from hardware makers in the fourth quarter of this year, Intel said on Wednesday during its Developer Forum event.

Intel is touting Bay Trail as potentially boosting the performance of Windows- and Android-based tablets and "two-in-one" convertible tablet/PC devices, while also consuming less power.

The Bay Trail family is a 22-nm system-on-chip (SoC) processor that's based on Intel's Silvermont architecture. It will arrive as three different processor types: Bay Trail T (Atom Z3000 Series), Bay Trail M (Celeron and Pentium) and Bay Trail D (Celeron and Pentium).

The Intel Atom Z3000 Processor Series is Intel's "first mobile multicore SoC," supporting up to four cores. Intel also claims that it is its most powerful chip for tablets so far, with "double the compute performance and triple the graphics performance" compared with the earlier generation Atom chip. The company is claiming that the Atom Z3000 series will support more than 10 hours of battery time or three weeks on idle connected standby. Various form factors will be supported, with screen sizes ranging from seven inches to 11.6 inches. Tablets using this chip will start at $199, Intel claims.

A 64-bit version of the Atom Z3000 SoC will be released in the first quarter of 2014, according to an Intel "Fact Sheet" (PDF). This version of the chip will be designed for business use. It will use Intel's Identity Protection Technology to support virtual private network access without passwords. On Windows "Pro" operating systems, products using this chip will support Microsoft's Group Policy and domain-join capabilities.

The Bay Trail M product line will be available in Intel Celeron N2910, N2810 and N2805 processors, as well as Pentium N3510 processors. These chips are designed for touch-based notebook computers and convertible two-in-one devices, supporting up to eight hours of battery time. Devices using these chips will start at $199 for clamshell products, $250 for notebooks and $349 for two-in-one devices, according to Intel.

The Bay Trail D processors are for entry-level desktops and represent the smallest of Intel's chips for desktops. The chips will be available as Celeron J1850 and J1750 processors, as well as the Pentium J2850 processor. They are designed for smaller form factors and "intelligent digital displays." Products using these chips are expected to start from $199, according to Intel.

On Monday, Intel's new CEO gave a sketch of other forthcoming Intel technologies, as well as the company's overall vision, at the Intel Developer Forum, an ongoing event in San Francisco.