Intel talks up PC-based webpad

Intel has joined the growing band of chipmakers developing a PC-based webpad to illustrate its 'extended PC' concept.

Intel has joined the growing band of chipmakers developing a PC-based webpad to illustrate its 'extended PC' concept.

The pad, announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Jose, is a rectangular panel, roughly the size of an A4 magazine, with a touch-sensitive screen and no keyboard. It shares the same network connection as a desktop PC by means of a wireless link.

The tablet features StrataFlash memory, which is a low-power, high-speed, high-density writeable memory. Intel claims that using StrataFlash for data storage, rather than a hard disk, increases tablet security.

It also uses Intel's StrongARM SA-1110 32-bit processor, a low-power, high-performance processor suitable for use in a battery-powered device. The webpad uses an embedded Java-based Espial Escape web browser.

While delegates agreed that wireless devices which draw most of their resources from the server will allow greater freedom in the workplace, users at the Forum were more concerned with finding a device which does its job effectively, rather than just keeping up with new technology for the sake of it.

"The user on the move needs a full suite of applications and quite advanced communications. All the accessories change so rapidly and never quite connect to each other properly, so there are always hopes that the next model will solve that problem," said Phil Corringham, international systems manager at Nalco/Exxon Energy Chemicals.

Intel's webpad will go on sale in the US later this year, with a European launch to follow.