Intel's Otellini unveils Hermon, a cellular chip

INTEL PRESIDENT and COO Paul Otellini unveiled a new cellular chip at the 3GSM World Congress 2004 in Cannes and repeated the company's mantra that the future will be a multiplex of wirelessnesses.

"The wireless industry is evolving from a web of independent networks into a single, integrated wireless network with multiple standards," Otellini said. "There won't be a battle of competing technologies. It will be a requirement that Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 3G coexist; and that coexistence," he reckons, "is going to enable a host of exciting new applications and business models."

The chipmaker also showed off a new chip, or a whole family, in fact. Code-named Hermon, the dual mode UMTS/wide-band CDMA (WCDMA) cellular and baseband processor also features videoconferencing capabilities.

Otelini also unveiled a new three-radio reference design for cell phones with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GSM/GPRS capability built-in. The phone supports multiple operating systems, plays MP3 music files with PC-quality sound, and includes a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera for pictures and video.

Otellini said Intel would focus on WiMAX over the next several years. He predicted a WiMAX "inflection point" in the 2006-2008 timeframe. He said WiMAX capability would be available in notebook computers by 2006, followed by handsets in 2007. Intel will begin shipping its first WiMAX chips later this year. µ