Intel introduced the first low power Braswell Celeron and Pentium processors with 4 to 6W TDP, meaning a lower power consumption compared to Bay Trail-M processors, and with better performance. The first devices and motherboards based on these have started to show up with Intel’s Orchid Island 2-in-1 Reference Design based on Celeron N3000, and three MSI motherboards: N3050I ECO, N3150I ECO, and N3700I ECO respectively powered by Celeron N3050 dual core processor, Celeron N3150 quad core processor, and Pentium N3700 quad core processor, all clocked @ 1.6GHz (base frequency) and with 6W TDP.
MSI did not release full details about their motherboards but we still now they’ll support H.265/HEVC hardware decoding up to 4K, Blu-ray playback and 8-channel HD Audio via an HDMI 1.4b port. Other connectors and interfaces include two DDR3L-1600MHz SO-DIMM slots (up to 8GB), two SATA III ports, one PCIe slot, Gigabit Ethernet, a COM port, a VGA port, and USB 3.0 ports. Pricing and availability have not been announced.
However. more information have been provided for Orchid Island, Intel’s 2-in-1 fanless detachable reference design based on the lower-end Celeron N3000 clocked @ 1.04 GHz and with 4W TDP.
Orchid Island specifications:
- SoC – Intel Celeron N3000 dual core processor @ 1.04 GHz (Burst: 2.08 GHz) with Intel HD graphics (Gen 8)
- System Memory – 4GB DDR3L (Dual channel)
- Storage – 64GB eMMC + SD card slot
- Display – 11.6″ embedded displayport IPS (1366×768) multi-touch
- Video Output – HDMI
- Audio – HDA based speakers, 1x audio jack, HDMI
- Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and optional GPS
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 port
- Sensors – ALS (Ambient Light Sensor), Accelerometer, Gryroscope, Compass
- Camera – 2MP front-facing camera, 5MP “world-facing” camera
- Battery – 37Whr
- Dimensions – 302 x 195 x 9.8 mm. Thickness is 9.8mm for screen only, and 19.3 including the keyboard dock when the laptop is folded.
- Weight – ~750 grams
The laptop is said to run “Windows 8.1 Non-Connected Standby 64-bit”, but Android and other Linux operating systems should also run on the platform. Battery life is said to be up to 11.5% better than equivalent systems built with Bay Trail-M processors.
The reference design is expected to be used in actual products that will sell for 1799 to 2199 RMB (~$299 – $349).
Via Liliputing and UMPC Portal
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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