Intel pledges Classmate PCs with Pine Trail CPUs

Chipmaker Intel will soon release updated Classmate PC netbooks with its Pine Trail Atom CPUs. Apart from the new, more efficient and quicker chips, the netbooks will also be redesigned, strarting with the 10.1-inch Convertible Classmate. The challenge will be to make the devices lighter while keeping them rugged enough to withstand drops and other abuse from schoolchildren.

The new Atom processors are 60 percent smaller than the chips they replace predecessors, and use 20 percent less power. At the same time, Intel will add 3G mobile broadband and WiMAX capabilities to the netbooks, and the chipmaker is looking into releasing versions of the Convertible Classmate with larger screens.

A competitor to Intel's Classmate PC lineup is the One Laptop Per Child XO-1. Since launching the Classmate PC, Intel has offered it as a reference design for PC makers in developing countries to make low-cost PCs.

CTL makes a version of the Intel Classmate PC and has introduced a new model with some of the updates mentioned above. The 2go E101S uses the new 1.66GHz Atom CPU, a 10.1-inch screen and a spill-resistant keyboard. But CTL also showed off a new notebook, the 2goPC QW6, which gets a larger 11.6-inch screen and a Pentium dual-core CPU. Another fresh model is the 2goPC TW9, a full-size notebook with a 15.6-inch LED-backlit display and a choice of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors. [via PCWorld and Slashgear]

By Electronista Staff