Intel to extend VPro into notebooks

Stan Beer
Thursday, 05 April 2007 05:36

Your IT - Home IT

With the majority of new PCs being sold for business these days being notebooks, Intel has moved to extend its VPro business platform into a mobile configuration. The new Intel Centrino Pro technology, which has been code named Santa Rosa, will be based on the Core 2 Duo processor and boasts greater wireless networking range and speed with an integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter.

According to Intel, the new notebook platform will enable IT managers to better manage and protect notebooks over Wi-Fi networks and control notebooks wired into the network even if they're switched off.

The new notebook technology is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter and promises up to five times the networking performance, twice the wireless range, up to two times faster performance when loading frequently-used applications, and up to a 20% faster boot time. Improved graphics performance, including support for Vista's Aero interface have also been touted by the chipmaker for its new platform.

“Intel Centrino Pro processor technology brings the best of our offering with Intel vPro processor technology and adds it right into our highly successful Intel Centrino brand for laptops,” said Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel Mobile Products Group. “This is an ideal time for this product as we continue to see notebook penetration rates increasing in business.”

The move by Intel to further entrench its platform based approach to marketing PC chipsets, places pressure on rival AMD, which remains focussed on processor based marketing, to respond.