Intel forms new mobile unit to focus on phones, tablets

By Geoff Duncan December 15, 2011

Intel Atom Z6xx (front and back) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Chips from Intel Corporation may power the majority of desktop and notebook computers, but despite substantial investment and lots of big talk, the company is essentially a non-entity in the world of mobile phones and tablet computing, where devices powered by power-sipping chips based on designs from ARM rule the industry. Now, Intel is going to try—again—to get its foot in the mobile industry, announcing a new Mobile and Communications Group headed up by current executives who came to the company with experience from Infineon and Apple.

As reported by Fortune, the new unit will be formed by reorganizing four of Intel’s existing divisions: mobile communications, netbook and tablet, mobile wireless, and ultra mobility. The reorg is designed to increase Intel’s operational and design efficiency, as well as enable clearly communication between the groups, which often have overlapping goals. However, it’s not clear whether streamlining its mobile organization will be enough to make Intel competitive in the mobile arena, where ARM-based designs are already well-established, and (starting next year) will be supported by Windows 8 Metro.

The new Mobile and Communications Unit will be headed by Hermann Eul and Michael Bell. Eul came to Intel from Infineon, where he was a member of the company’s wireless technologies board—Intel high-profile announcements about shoehorning itself into the smartphone business, then failed to deliver, in part as relationships with the likes of Nokia have faltered. Intel has also lost high-profile executives like Anand Chadrasekher and Eric Kim, who were responsible (respectively) for Intel’s smartphone push and efforts to get Atom processors into consumer electronics devices.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Mobile
Intel

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

Intel is oddly enthusiastic about AI replacing everyone’s jobs

An Intel executive presenting at Intel Vision.

"Many people in [Silicon Valley] refer to this as, in the future, we'll have a billion-dollar unicorn that will only have one employee," said Sachin Katti, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Network and Edge Group. Katti is talking about generative AI, if the context clues weren't strong enough, in one of the most obvious examples of saying the quiet part out loud.

In a briefing with press prior to Intel's Vision event, which is happening right now at the time of publishing, Intel laid out its vision of the future of generative AI. And that future is filled with generative AI "agents," as Intel calls them, replacing people's jobs.

Computing

Gamers are reportedly returning Intel Core i9 CPUs in droves

Intel Core i9-13900K held between fingertips.

Intel's recent Core i9 CPUs are facing some dire issues, at least according to a new report from ZDNet Korea. In speaking with the outlet, an anonymous source in Korea responsible for customer service on Intel CPUs says that customers are returning more than 10 of Intel's 13th-gen and 14th-gen Core i9 CPUs daily, largely hailed as some of the best gaming processors you can buy.

The problem centers around Tekken 8, at least in Korea. According to the report, gamers using a CPU like the Core i9-13900K or Core i9-14900K will face an error message saying "not enough video memory" when launching the game, forcing it to close. This is even when the PC has plenty of video memory to run the game.

Computing

Intel’s new CPU feature boosted my performance by 26% — but it still needs work

The Intel Core i9-14900K slotted in a motherboard.

A 26% increase in frame rates from your CPU sounds far-fetched. If that's not enough to catch the attention of PC gamers, I don't know is. But trust me -- according to my own testing -- that's exactly what Intel's Application Optimization, or APO, delivers.

What started as a niche feature only supported by Intel's flagship chip and two games has since been broadened, with unofficial support for older CPUs and a much longer list of titles.