Ultra mobile: Intel hoping new chip technologies rev up tiny portable computers

LAS VEGAS — Intel Corp. is betting on a big expansion of "ultramobile" computing, an idea that could hinge on how many gadgets people are willing to tote around.

In an interview Monday at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Intel's chief executive officer Paul Otellini said energy-efficient, Web-connected computers with full keyboards and screens in the 4-inch neighborhood can give people more of what they want from the Internet than cell phones can.

To help stimulate development of the technology, Intel plans in the next few months to begin shipping processors and associated "chipsets" that demand relatively little power and are smaller than standard PC processors, allowing them to be crammed into tinier devices, which would be built by other companies. Intel, with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., employs about 300 workers in Riverton and about 1,800 workers in its Lehi-based joint venture with Micron Technology, IM Flash Technologies.

Eyeing a similar market for tiny computers, wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc. also has built prototypes of little Web devices. Its chief operating officer, Sanjay Jha, said he expects manufacturers to take up the blueprints and begin selling what he calls "pocketable computers" by the end of this year.

So far, so-called ultramobile computers, smaller than average laptops but bigger and more fully featured than most cell phones, have gotten a tepid response.

With the devices' prices often beyond $1,000, many potential buyers have found little reason to scale down from their notebook computers or up from cell phones that have been improving their Web browsing experience.

"How do you make people realize that this is something advantageous to them and different from the notebook experience?" said Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC, a market research firm. "That's the trick. Nobody's been very good at that yet. ... It's not as widely compelling as it needs to be if they want it to compete on the level of a phone or a PC."

But Otellini said such distinctions will cease to matter, especially since smaller Web devices can incorporate cell-phone functions. And he said Apple Inc.'s iPhone showed that combination devices can be elegant.

"You're projecting an end stage on an early technology," he said. "That's a risky thing to do."

To be sure, even with cell phones in nearly every pocket or purse, another gadget could be appealing, if it does something particularly compelling. For example, more and more cell phones play music, but plenty of people are willing to carry MP3 players along with their cell phones, because the players do their job better.