Apple's Schiller on stage at Intel IDF

Apple exec Phill Schiller jointed Intel CEO Paul Otellini on stage at Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco, where he discussed how Apple has been able to innovate with sleek form factors and leverage the Intel Core family of processors across their entire computing product line. It was the first ever appearance of an Apple executive at IDF. Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, touted Intel's Core architecture and performance of the new Core-based chips and explained how the Core architecture has helped Apple's design process, following Intel's $1 million Mac mini design challenge. Schiller said it was "just the beginning of the things that Intel and Apple can do together to bring to market the best computers that consumers and professionals have ever seen," according to one report. Otellini also looked ahead to Intel’s next-generation 45nm technology, which he said was on track for production in the second half of 2007. Otellini disclosed, for the first time, that the company has 45nm products already in development across desktop, mobile, and enterprise segments. In addition the chip giant's CEO, struggling to fight off AMD's growing marketshare, touted power efficiency and said it would ship the first quad-core processors for desktop PCs and high-volume servers in November.

"The industry is going through the most profound shift in decades, moving to an era where performance and energy efficiency are critical in all market segments and all aspects of computing," Otellini said. "The solution begins with the transistor and extends to the chip and platform levels."

Citing recent trends, Otellini showed how processing power is becoming more relevant than ever. The advent of new operating systems, more lifelike games, online video and high- definition video continue to drive the need for more processing power. A single You Tube stream today will hobble a PC from just a few years ago, said Otellini. "As we move to high definition video, users will need eight times greater performance just for encoding."

Core 2 Duo is fastest ramping Intel product

"More than ever processing power matters, even as the need to reduce heat, extend battery life, and reduce electricity costs in data centers becomes more critical," Intel's CEO told developers. "Silicon technology is at the heart of the solution. It is how we get there."

When it comes to performance and energy efficiency, Intel's new Core micro-architecture and flagship Intel Core 2 Duo processor have set a new standard for the industry, Otellini said. He showed where Core2 Duo benchmarks led across a wide range of applications and said it was now the fastest-ramping product in the company's history, with 5 million units shipped since it was introduced less than 60 days ago.

"With Core2 Duo we have the best performance, from the thinnest notebook to dual processor servers, and we are very pleased with the way this product is ramping."

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