Intel’s Wireless Display, a superset of the Miracast wireless display standard is going to get a boost with Skylake and an on-board real-time video encoder. It should improve latency and efficiency and Intel thinks it will be good enough to extend WiDi to wireless-screen gaming.
There wasn’t a huge amount of ultramobile PC content for us at the Intel Developer Forum this week. IoT, robots and wearables were taking the limelight along with gaming, big data and, for the first time, cyber security. A breakthrough in storage technology could reach ultrabooks in 2016/2017 but before that happens there’s Skylake, the 6th-generation Core processor that will end up inside Ultrabooks and high-end 2-in-1 PCs, probably including Surface Pro 4. Intel didn’t reveal many details on stage but they’ve published a set of PDFs that we’ve already dissected. Skylake is the latest brand name to hit the ultramobile PC space but where does it fit into the big mix of ultramobile processors that Intel has? In one of the IDF sessions Intel presented a very detailed comparison of all the mobile CPUs, and that’s exactly what we’re going to take a look at in this article. Sit back and enjoy a tour through the complete range of processor, graphics, media, storage and memory technology capabilities that are on offer to ultramobile PC manufacturers.
This report may be updated with more Skylake information as information is released.
You’re looking at what is highly likely to be the processor details for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4. Intel have just released architecture and feature details for Skylake, the next generation 4W-to-64W mobile processor. Read on for a feature-by-feature insight.
If you want to jump to the details, these two links should take you directly to the Intel IDF slide-set PDFs. Skylake Architecture. Skylake Gen 9 GPU.
Intel’s Kirk Skaugen, GM of the Client Computing Group, will be giving the opening keynote at Computex in Taiwan at 2pm local time and, as always at Computex, it’s an important one for Intel. The Internet of Things and wearables will feature in the keynote but we’re also likely to see some important mobile-PC related topics. The ultimate ‘reveal’ would be an Intel-based Windows 10 Mobile device, even a phone, but there are other things to think about too. Here’s a check-list of what you can expect. The keynote will stream live here.
Did you know that Intel makes own-brand tablets, laptops and 2-in-1s? I’ve had a couple and they’re pretty good. The latest is built on the next-generation Core platform codenamed Skylake which is due in late 2015. Nicole Scott from Mobilegeeks got a close look at the prototype at Intel’s developer conference in Shenzen and I’ve just taken a look at a PDF presentation describing what’s inside. It’s inspirational, and that’s the idea because these products aren’t targeted at consumers, they are early showcases that are meant to stimulate product designers and software developers into creating the next-generation PCs that you and I might want to buy in 2016. Read-on to find about E-ink, WiGig, USB-C, wireless charging and other new technologies that you’ll find inside the Skylake reference design and might find in your next 2 in 1 tablet.
Intel Skylake 2 in 1. (Via Notebookitalia)
Skylake, the next generation Intel Core platform, has been teased a few times and it has usually been in conjunction with Intel’s ‘no wires’ marketing and 2-in-1 designs. I expect the platform to form part of a new Core M range (probably before any other laptop or desktop versions) and for it to be a big step forward in both processing capability and features. WiGig is coming of age as is USB-C but there are other technologies like wireless power, NFC and RealSense that Intel want to push. In a presentation at IDF 15 last week Intel even highlighted E-Ink secondary screens.
E-ink secondary screen on a tablet.
You’ll see it demonstrated in the video below but before you take a look at that, look at some of the details that Intel presented to attendees at IDF. The presentation PDF (available here but you might have to go through the session catalog here first) is titled “Integration of New Technologies for 2 in 1 Detachable Systems” and although it doesn’t directly reference Skylake, it’s clear that Intel are talking about next generation high-end architecture in the presentation.
Processor block diagram. Likely to be Skylake.
Note wireless charging in base.
Intel sees USB-C playing a big part in docking connectors for tablet and keyboards. In theory this could lead to some level of standardization. You might be able to plug a wireless charging keyboard into a tablet with a small USB-C cable, for example.
USB Type C can be used for docking keyboards to tablets.
The tablet internals showing RealSense camera, 34 Wh battery and more.
This ‘showcase’ doesn’t look as tidy as the new Macbook does on the inside but then the new Macbook doesn’t have RealSense, WiGig, GPS and (given that there’s a fan) a laptop-class processor in a dockable tablet design. Finally, there’s the wireless charging and WiGi to consider…
WiGig – Critical to Intel’s ‘no wires’ strategy.
Wireless charging on a 2-in-1.
Nicole Scott from Mobilegeeks got to take a look at the real thing at IDF 15 in Shenzen. Take a look at the video below and read Nicole’s article here. Let us know what you think of these new technologies in the comments below. Which of the features do you want first and how much are you prepared to pay?
Surface Pro 3 is an amazing piece of engineering. Even with the keyboard it’s one of the most powerful self-contained PCs by weight and with 5-6 hours of working battery life, fast storage and a digitizer it doesn’t cut corners. We’d all like to see a full SD card slot and for it to run a little cooler under load but unless you’re really doing a lot of ‘lapping’, it’s a true notebook replacement. Now that the Intel Core M has been launched we have an idea of what’s possible for 2015. Core M or Broadwell-U are highly likely to be in the Surface labs already as Microsoft try to work out where the next super-tablet should be positioned but there are other options too. Could Cherry Trail play a part in Surface Pro’s future?
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
| |||
 |
|