There’s an interesting story over at News.com today about a stealth startup called Montalvo Systems. It seems that the company is developing new low-power techniques for x86 compatible CPU architectures that they will design and hand out to a third party to make. A ‘fab-less’ (not fabuous!) semiconductor company, as they are known. Basically, they want to do exactly what Centaur and VIA have just started with the Isaiah architecture for low-power computing. The article gives some good pointers about the history of various similar startups that have failed to compete in Intel’s back-yard.
Montalvo systems’ website is here but there’s not much on it right now! Hopefully the link will have Google-value for them in the future because I tip my hat to anyone that is brave enough to enter the low-power computing market right now because the importance of power drain in the CPU is fading. Intel’s Silverthorne CPU already means that graphics processing, backlighting, storage, radios, software design and motherboard design are now the most important factors in keeping the power drain of a mobile computer down. Not the CPU.
Personally, I think they’re going for the patent portfolio or a licensing-deal (AMD?) rather than a real product.
Source: News.com
