After Intel Inside, it’s Centrino in the air

After dominating desktops with its range of processors, Intel is now looking to straddle the wireless space with the recently launched Centrino—technology that could change the face of wireless connectivity. Srikanth R P has the details

For nearly two decades, computing has been a stationary, desktop-based activity. Even the introduction of wireless technologies has not changed the scenario in a major way. But the introduction of Centrino, a product that Intel claims is second in importance only to the Pentium chip, could change the face of wireless connectivity in a major way.

Intel’s strategy of playing in wireless in a big way also assumes significance when one looks at the PC segment, one where growth rates have been stagnant for some time now. On the other hand, sales of notebooks have been registering growth rates of over 30 percent in India (Source: IDC India). Hence, Intel with Centrino can not only drive sales of its mobile processors in notebooks but more importantly, give Intel a lead in a market that till date has been growing at huge rates but has been fragmented.

The launch of Centrino is a significant event for Intel since this is the first time that Intel is playing in the applications platform space rather than the familiar processor space. The Centrino kit includes the Pentium mobile processor Pentium M, the Intel 855 chipset and an 802.11-compliant wireless Ethernet adapter and radio. With an integrated platform promising better battery performance and increased security for the notebook, Intel surely has the opportunity to establish built-in wireless as the standard feature on all notebooks. (See box: Technology Inside)

With Intel Centrino, Intel believes that it can create awareness and utilisation of public wireless LAN infrastructure at qualifying locations, says G B Kumar

Intel’s entry into the wireless market could also change the way the wireless access market is looked at. For one, Intel is throwing its weight behind a technology that has been fragmented and known by names like Wi-Fi, WLAN or simply 802.11. Secondly, Intel is going one step forward and even investing in infrastructure to create wireless hotspots. For instance, the processor giant has been working with leading wireless network service providers, hotels, airports and restaurant chains to accelerate deployment and increase awareness about wireless public hotspots. The company expects to have more than 10,000 verified wireless hotspots. The third and most important part of the strategy has been Intel’s decision to invest in companies in the field of wireless computing—last year the company created a $150 million fund to invest in companies specialising in this field.

With this strong focus, analysts believe that Intel has the firepower to accelerate the growth of wireless computing and make it a standard. Most analysts also believe that Centrino could kill the market for players specialising in providing add-on wireless access cards. As Centrino-powered notebooks enter the scenario, the difference between the prices of Centrino-enabled notebooks and vendors offering standard notebooks would narrow, giving Intel, with an integrated platform, a competitive advantage over others.

More importantly, wireless access points have always been seen as insecure and network managers have faced problems with respect to vendor interoperability. Centrino, with its integrated architecture and security validation shows the promise of solving these problems.

With India registering a growth rate of 30 percent year-on-year with respect to notebook sales and wireless access catching on in campus networks and the hospitality industry, Centrino could drive growth of wireless access in these parts. The key difference between earlier launches of any Intel product and Centrino is the fact that Intel is investing in a huge way by spending on creating infrastructure for creating wireless hotspots to accelerate the growth of wireless connectivity.

Says G B Kumar, general manager, Internet Solutions Group, Intel Asia Electronics, “Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi alliance are currently the most recognised independent references to public wireless LAN infrastructure. With Intel Centrino, we believe that we can create awareness and utilisation of public wireless LAN infrastructure at qualifying locations. In line with the global strategy, we have plans for working with service providers in India too and we are in early-stage discussions with some service providers for the same.”

Neeraj Sharma says that Centrino is a good choice for customers who want an industry-standard 802.11b solution that provides a strong balance of system performance, battery life and wireless performance

Giants in the notebook segment—firms like IBM, Acer and Toshiba, have already pledged their support to incorporate Centrino in their notebooks. IBM has already introduced Centrino-powered notebooks in India. Says Neeraj Sharma, country – Brand, Marketing and sales operations, Personal Computing Division, IBM India, “We have already introduced notebooks with Centrino and they are select models in the T40, R40 and X31 range of IBM ThinkPads. We believe that Centrino is a good choice for customers who want an industry standard 802.11b solution that provides a strong balance of system performance, battery life and wireless performance.”

The flip side
While Centrino does present a paradigm shift and promises to change computing habits, there is one small thing that competitors are pointing out as a drawback compared to other vendors offering wireless connectivity on notebooks. Centrino currently supports only 802.11b, which operates in the 2.4 Ghz band and has data transfer rates of 11 Mbps per second. Competitors feel that as Intel does not support 802.11a or the 802.11g standard, both of which support higher speeds (54 Mbps), it has a disadvantage with respect to competitors who can offer all the three frequencies.

However, Intel has a roadmap for supporting 802.11a and 802.11g. Explains Kumar, “At launch, it will support only 802.11b but our roadmap has support to 802.11a during the latter part of the year. Intel will support 802.11g when it becomes an IEEE standard. At this time 802.11g is not an IEEE standard or certified by the Wi-Fi alliance. Intel will support dual band, tri-mode with 802.11a/b/g after standard ratification.”

For the moment, vendors like IBM have countered this issue by offering both Centrino-based notebooks and notebooks powered by other wireless vendors. Explains Sharma of IBM, “For us, a wireless offering of our product depends on the needs of our customer. For those customers interested in the new high higher-speed 802.11a technology while maintaining backward compatibility with existing 802.11b networks, we offer a dual-band 802.11a/b solution based on Atheros technology. We continue to offer Cisco Aironet 802.11b for our customers who prefer end-to-end Cisco infrastructure and client solutions. However, all IBM ThinkPads would be supported with an Intel processor.” Whichever way you look at it, Intel wins as it means an increase in mobile processor sales. And if it manages to convince customers to sign on to Wi-Fi networks, Intel surely can look at unwiring the future in a big way.