Both Nokia and Intel will hold their flagship events this week, and mobile strategy will be a centerpiece of Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, in the light of the deal to acquire Infineon's wireless business.
Intel will also show off its first Atom processor fully targeted at smartphones, the Moorestown model, which comes with integrated graphics processing.
This is “important in the context of the continuing move to mobility as it allows for tighter integration between the CPU and graphics components, delivering better performance and power management,” said an Intel spokesperson.
This will be just one element in a much-needed program to convince developers and the markets that Intel has a robust response to ARM, whose processor cores are the basis of most mobile chips. ARM unveiled its aggressive Eagle roadmap last week, eying high-end devices and even servers.
So Intel may need to fend off ARM licensees in its heartland markets, not just in mobile devices, where it starts as the outsider.
It is expected to outline its latest x86 architecture, the 32nm Sandy Bridge, at the Forum, as well as showing off Moorestown and unveiling another Atom system-on-chip. Many expect it to show Groveland, an Atom variation aimed at set-top boxes.
Sandy Bridge is Intel's first architecture to merge graphics and x86 cores on a single die, and to support new generation vector graphics and AES security.
It will take on the new x86 cores from AMD, Bobcat and Bulldozer, and Intel CEO Paul Otellini aims to upgrade its architecture every four years, with a new process introduced halfway through that four-year cycle.
Another highlight should be security, says EETimes, with Intel talking through its planned acquisition of McAfee and explaining how it could compete with ARM on enabling a full chip-to-apps trusted software stack in PCs and smartphones.
This article originally appeared in Rethink Wireless