Intel rebrands its Silverthorne, Diamondville chips as 'Atom'

US chip giant Intel Corp. on Sunday announced it has christened its latest low-power ultra-small chips “Atom.” The new brand name Atom will be used for the chips family’s two members, previously codenamed ‘Silverthorne’ and ‘Diamondville’.

The new family of low-power processors with two members is designed specifically for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and a new class of ultra low-cost and small notebook and desktop personal computers.

The first Intel Atom processor, previously known by the code name Silverthorne, is a low-power mobile processor, which is designed to be the calculating engine for pocket-sized gadgets that Intel calls mobile Internet devices.

Atom processor based on Silverthorne incorporates a new low-power state, allowing it to essentially shut down in between processing tasks and limit power consumption. It will have a thermal design power (TDP) ranging from 0.6W to 2.5W and will top out at 1.8GHz depending on customer need.

The second chip that will carry the Atom brand, code-named Diamondville, is a single-core processor, which is designed for low-end laptop and desktop computers that are expected to cost around $250. It is a tiny 45-nanometer processor that employs a simpler design than standard Intel processors.

The Silverthorne and Diamondville chips that are expected to be released later this quarter are so small (less than 25 square millimeters) that 11 of them would fit in a space the size of a US penny. The new chips are made on Intel's 45-nanometer process with hi-k metal gate technology.

“This is our smallest processor built with the world’s smallest transistors. This small wonder is a fundamental new shift in design, small yet powerful enough to enable a big Internet experience on these new devices. We believe it will unleash new innovation across the industry,” Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Intel, said about the Intel Atom processor.

Intel Corp, the world's largest semiconductor company, also rebranded its Menlow chip as the Intel Centrino Atom. The Intel Centrino Atom is a low-power companion chip with integrated graphics, a wireless radio fitted in a compact design, as well as thinner and lighter designs.

Santa Clara, California-base Intel boasts the Intel Atom processor has potential for future revenue opportunities in consumer electronic devices, embedded applications and thin clients, even though most of the new chips are intended to work in MIDs, netbooks and nettops.