Intel to make smarter chips for range of devices

The Economic TimesU.S. technology bellwether Intel Corp on Thursday unveiled plans to build small, Internet savvy computer chips to be used in a variety of ways ranging from industrial robotics to small consumer devices.

The California-based company said it will make "smarter" System on Chip (SoC) designs that offer better performance and energy efficiency than traditional SoCs. Target areas for the new chips are Intel's computing businesses, consumer electronics, mobile Internet devices and embedded markets, it said.

The company earlier this year debuted its low-power, tiny microprocessor family called Atom, which is built on Intel Architecture (IA) -- a fundamental semiconductor platform the company is eager to use in its new chips too. More than 15 SoC projects are planned, Intel said, many of which will be based on Atom.