Smart talk
This was the week of Intel's developer conference in Taipei and that predictably set the tone for technology news.
The main theme of this IDF was Intel's desire to become the processor of choice in an ever shrinking size of smart device. It has already cornered the booming market for netbooks with its low power Atom processor, but Intel has its sights set now smartphones too.
Things started calmly enough with Intel showing off its Moorestown platform, which includes a processor that uses ten times less power, when idle, than the Atom. This is a necessary evolution if Intel does want to crack the smartphone market as the power requirements of the Atom would have a prohibitive effect on battery life if used in a standard smartphone.
This fact didn't stop Shane Wall, one of Intel's top ultra-mobility guys, from comparing the Atom with ARM processors, which is the type most commonly found in smartphones today. The tasty bit came, however, when his colleague Pankaj Kedia said the Apple iPhone has shortcomings, which he blamed on its ARM processor.
After some internal soul-searching, and possibly some irate correspondence from Apple, Intel eventually decided Kedia had got a bit carried away and issued what amounted to an apology for the statements.
