Intel’s code named project “Santa Rosa” today is being replaced by the real name: Centrino Duo. It will be used in over 230 laptop models and has some pretty nifty features including: additional “accessory chips” that display more realistic computer graphics, the latest wireless chip 802.11n that is five times faster than current wireless, extended battery life up to nine hours, and “Turbo Memory” for faster boot time.
Brett McAnally, Dell’s marketing manager for the Latitude product line, says Dell will announce two new laptops today that take advantage of this technology. Both will be about 15% faster than previous models. He also explained that the laptops will start at around $1,200 and that they can be configured to have six or nine hours of battery life.
HP, in the mean time, has a $2,999 entertainment notebook ready for release that will include a 20.1-inch display, battery life extended by 90 minutes, remote management software/hardware integration, and a new backlighting technology that will help with battery life. And Fujitsu has a $1,750 LifeBook notebook / tablet (pictured above), which will use the Centrino Duo technology.
Perhaps the most exciting technology is the “Turbo Memory” which will use flash memory to help laptops boot up much faster. Microsoft’s Windows Vista supposedly takes advantage of this new technology. And it’s a good thing too. So far, Microsoft hasn’t seen much of a positive response for Vista in terms of performance compared to XP. The glossy new look can be nice, but analysts think wider adoption will only happen when performance increases are noticeable.
