New Intel Chips Promise Longer Battery Life

Intel said on Tuesday it had made changes to its manufacturing process that would allow for the production of processors that use very little power, and would extend battery life of mobile and small form factor devices.

To decrease power consumption of its chips, Intel had to improve the design of the transistor. Energy leaks from these transistors, even when in the off state waste electrical power. Through the new design process, engineers at Intel were able to reduce leakage by 1,000 times over the standard construction.

"People typically embrace mobile platforms that maximize battery life," Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of the Intel Mobile Platforms Group said. "Such products will be greatly enhanced by our new ultra-low power manufacturing process."

Intel will use a 65-nanometer process to produce these chips. In comparison, normal chips are produced in a 90-nanometer process. While it does not sound groundbreaking at first glance, the chipmaker will be the first to attempt to produce both architectures in the same factory.

Factories historically have not been able to switch midstream, like Intel will attempt to do, without slowing production down considerably. However, the company appears confident it would be able to use the same assembly line to produce both types of chips.

Also, the switch to an emphasis on power consumption is a change from the Intel of the past. Previously, the company focused on making its chips faster, while relegating the issue of power consumption to the backseat. What resulted were power-hungry chips that could not be easily implemented into mobile applications.

The release of new energy efficient chips delivers on a promise Intel CEO Paul Otellini first made at the Intel Developer Conference in August.

"You're going to see Intel combine its R&D innovation, manufacturing and technology leadership with energy-efficient micro-architectures and powerful multi-core processors to deliver unique platforms best tailored to individual needs," Otellini said at the time.