Intel Will Expand ‘Wireless Display’ Technology to Support Blu-ray

Intel’s “Wireless Display” (WiDi) technology will boost its content protection as it adds support for Blu-ray and other technologies, CEO Paul Otellini said in a conference call. Intel unveiled WiDi at CES as a technology built into Toshiba and Sony notebook PCs that when paired with a Netgear receiver can wirelessly port data and video to an HDTV. The Netgear Push2TV PVT1000 attaches to an HDTV via HDMI or RCA jacks. The notebook syncs to the Push2TV receiver via pre-installed WiDi software that can be activated via a button on the keyboard. Once a connect button is hit, a notebook PC environment is ported to a TV.

Instead of wireless USB, Intel took an advanced-N 6200 wireless card -- a WiFi chip that works with Intel-based notebook PCs -- and programmed the WiDi software on top of it. The connection is based on Intel’s My WiFi, which creates a personal area connection between an Intel integrated graphics chipset and the wireless chip. Before the notebook data can be transferred, the TV has to be paired with a four-digit code. Copy-protected content can’t be ported over to the TV, Intel said.

Best Buy’s Blue Label program has a six-month exclusive on selling WiDi-equipped Toshiba E205-S1904 ($899), Sony Vaio VPCS111FM/S ($1,049) and Dell S1572249CPN ($949) notebooks. The notebooks, which are packaged with the Netgear receiver ($99), each contain an Intel i5 Core processor, 4GB DDR memory and 500 GB hard drive. The Dell notebook has a 15.6-inch display, while the Toshiba has a 14-inch screen and the Sony a 13.3-inch. The initial WiDi products have been “well received” by Best Buy customers, Otellini said. More WiDi-equipped products and distributors will be added “over the course of the year,” he said. “I think it will be a must-have feature for holiday timeframe,” Otellini said. “It may come down in price a bit but generally speaking I think it is going to get broader before it gets a lot cheaper. In terms of other vendors trying to do similar technology, I would say good luck. This took us quite awhile to be able to develop and to be able to get this done."

While Q4 sales of Intel’s Atom processor, which is at the heart of many netbook PCs, declined 19 percent to $355 million, the technology will expand to new applications this year, Otellini said. There are expected to be dual-core versions and Atom chips running on Google Android, Microsoft Windows 7 and MeeGo operating systems. The chip will find its way into tablet PCs and cellphones, he said. “I still think there will be significant growth in the netbook business year-over-year,” Otellini said. “I think that, rather than pricing, we would look to features and integration as a technical novelty or twist” with Atom processors. You will see us use technology to make the platform a bit better each time or to integrate more features and make it cheaper."

Intel has developed an Atom-based system-on-chip embedded application. The Tunnel Creek design combines an Intel Atom processor, a memory controller block, graphics and video ICs into a single chip with PCI Express. It also has active noise cancellation for some applications. The IC allows companies to connect their own custom-built ICs to an Intel chip. Tunnel Creek, which is expected to be available in Q4, is targeting in-vehicle infotainment and IP media phones. The Atom SOC is expected to be manufactured using a 45-nanometer process and have power consumption of three watts.

Intel will ship a successor to its Nehalem processor, Sandy Bridge, in volume by late this year. It will use the 32-nanometer process technology championed by Nehalem, but with a new design, Intel officials said. Intel’s shift to 32-nanometer production is moving faster than earlier projections, with two factories on line another two are expected to be in place by year-end, Otellini said.

Intel’s Q4 net income soared to $2.4 billion, up 244 percent from a year ago as revenue jumped 44 percent to $10.3 billion. PC Client Group sales rose to $7.6 billion from $5.3 billion a year earlier, while those from the data center group increased to $1.87 billion from $1.26 billion.

Intel’s gross margin improved to 63 percent and is expected to finish the year at 64 percent, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said. While Intel earlier expected a decline in average selling prices to have a 2-3 percent impact on annual gross margin, it has since reduced that to 1.5 percent, analysts said. The improvement was largely due to strong sales and high initial prices for Intel’s Core i5 and i7 chips, Smith said. Intel also has boosted is estimate for PC sales growth this year to nearly 20 percent from the mid-teens, analysts said.