Project Athena, Ice Lake processor: How Intel has upped its computing game at CES 2019

Intel shared its vision of the future for computing at CES 2019, unveiling the company’s first Ice Lake 10nm PC processor. The 10nm processor brings with it a new architecture named Sunny Cove. Intel also announced an SoC specifically engineered to perform edge computing tasks inside 5G base stations. So far, Intel’s announcements at CES 2019 have been voluminous in number but light in detail.

Project Athena
Project Athena is expected revolutionise the future of ultrabooks. Project Athena is built for the ongoing generations of Intel low-power U- and Y-series processors with an aim to provide all-day battery life. Project Athena’s overarching mission includes helping improve your ability to focus, adapting to your changing needs and roles throughout the day, providing all-day battery life and minimising the time between the moment you open the lip to your first action on the device.

Ice Lake
Intel’s new Ice Lake processor is based on Sunny Cove architecture. It will incorporate the next generation of WiFi (WiFi6) and AI acceleration techniques and technologies. Ice Lake is a member of Intel’s Xeon family, which include processors primarily used in data centres. A client version of Ice Lake will enable manufacturers to put deep learning on client devices.

Lakefield
The compute elements of Lakefield are built on Intel's 10nm processor and stacked atop a 22nm chipset. Lakefield is tiny and compact but is quite capable. Intel unveiled a Lakefield-powered product, the world’s smallest PC motherboard ever. To get a full idea of its capabilities, think of a PC motherboard less than half the size of your palm that doesn't need an external power source. The potential for Lakefield are endless as a device that runs on Lakefield doesn’t yet exits. Start with portable PCs or two-in-one form factors, dual-screen devices, tablets and laptops with screens under 11 inches, foldable smartphones, with Lakefield the possibilities are infinite, giving manufacturers more reason than ever to begin innovating.

Intel 9th Gen Core CPU
Intel’s 9th generation of Core processors ditch integrated graphics to run cooler and use less power. Graphic-less CPUs make a lot of sense in 2019 and might just give the new generation of Core CPUs a slight edge. All mid-range and high-end desktop are equipped with dedicated graphics cards; budgeted GPUs are even being added to low-end machines, making the integrated graphics on CPUs virtually useless. Graphic-less CPUs will no doubt cost less to manufacture and can be distributed at a more affordable price tag, which in turn may help Intel win back some of the value-oriented market segment that it has recently been losing to AMD.