Small is now beautiful at Computex

ONCE UPON A TIME Megahurtz mattered. What matters now, though, is size and portability. And by size we don't mean big, we mean small.

Today (that's Tuesday here in Taipei) sees Intel and AMD go head-to-head with their respective next-generation notebook "platforms". For Intel it's Centrino 2, which is a tad troubled, although there are a few here in Taipei, to be sure. For AMD it's Puma, which will get a proper send-off in a few hours and which is likely to be available in volume before Intel gets its act together.

Puma represents AMD's effort to follow Intel's lead in delivering a notebook "platform". The holistic approach, Intel's Dadi Perlmutter called it. AMD exploits its expensively-acquired ATI expertise to the full to deliver the platform, which consists of processor, graphics and chipset around which OEMs can wrap their plastic. OEMs will also have to source a wireless receiver from somewhere, but that, apparently, is not hard.

"It's well known that Intel's wireless isn't very good," a spokesAMD told us recently. "Our open platform provides a better solution," he said. So what's the spec? we asked, "Better than Intel's?"

"Cough!" was roughly the answer.

We'll tell you more about Puma in a few hours time.

Meanwhile, things are going on apace in the hot new area of cheapo laptops, kicked off last Computex, according to show organiser, Walter Yeh, by Asus with its EEEbygum machine.

The Eee thing was undoubtedly a response to the OLPC project and, with hindsight, it's no surprise that Asus announced the Eee on an Intel stage here last year.

Intel looked at the OLPC and evidently thought - if you'll excuse us - " Bugger that! We're having none of that charity shenanigans when there's money to be made here."

The talk last year was of the next billion Interweb users. It still is. A few of these may have been able to afford low-cost laptops like the Eee and its brethren. But most of these devices have been sold to wealthier and tighter-walleted folk who cottoned on to what we've been banging on about here for years - you don't need all that processing power and a cumbersome operating system if all you want to to is get wired up and wibble about a bit.

That brings us to the Atom. Intel's "Smallest announcement yet". This wee chip is getting a launch here too, after first being unleashed onto the world in not-so-far-away yet not-really-in-the-same-country-really Shanghai. It's tiny, it's low-powered and it is quite possibly enough to power your future laptop as well as your (i)phone.

We know it's being (re)launched here because we wandered into the room where they were still hanging drapes and tweaking the soundtrack for the big event. Since we were there, we shot some footage until we made the mistake of pointing our camera at some of the products on display, at which point we were ejected.

We're not sure the footage is that interesting, but it does give an insight as to what goes on behind the scenes to make these events the smoothly-running, highly-polished affairs they appear to be. And the fact that it'll annoy someone is good enough reason for us to Youtube it up. Here. µ