Chip designer ARM has revealed it is to launch a pair of
dual core processors which will power
netbook PCs . The Cortex A9 MPCore will see ARM compete with Intel’s Atom line of processors, with Eric Shorn, the Vice President of
Marketing at ARM, claiming that the Cortex processor will offer five times the performance of the equivalent
Intel processor.
ARM’s chips will be much smaller than the Atom processor, saving on manufacturing costs. Whereas Intel place restrictions on the type of
hardware that is compatible with the processor, such as screen size, ARM’s processor has no such limitations, meaning more creative
laptops could prefer to opt for ARM.
Significantly, however, Intel has a major advantage over ARM – Windows compatibility. Whilst
Linux proved a huge success at the time that the
mini laptops were launched, consumers and netbook manufacturers have gradually displayed a preference for the familiarity of
Microsoft Windows. Both options will, of course, allow full
broadband internet capability.
ARM has traditionally been stronger in powering handheld devices, whilst Intel have had the
notebook market secured. However, with Intel showing an interest in handheld devices, and ARM moving into powering
notebooks, ARM and Intel’s rivalry is certain to escalate.