Intel 'delays' Centrino 2 chipset to Q1 2005

Alviso 'held back'- again

Intel's 'Centrino 2' chipset, codenamed Alviso', has once again become the subject of schedule-slip allegations.

This weekend, Reuters claimed the part will not surface until Q1 2005, citing "a person with knowledge of the delay".

The chipset was originally scheduled for an "autumn" launch, according to Intel's mobile products chief, Anand Chandrasekher, in February this year. However, in June, Taiwanese notebook manufacturer sources claimed that Alviso had been put back to Q1 2005.

Alviso is the third of three key components of Sonoma, Intel's second-generation Centrino platform. The others are the 90nm Pentium M processor - aka Dothan - which has already shipped, and theCalexico 2 Wi-Fi adaptor, which, like Alviso, is not yet available.

While Alviso is a Sonoma component, it may also be released separately as an upgrade to today's Centrino i855 chipset family. However, it's broadly assumed that, unlike the Dothan and perhaps Calexico 2, Alviso and Sonoma are inseparable.

Alviso is essentially a mobile version of Grantsdale, the i915 desktop chipset family Intel launched in June 2004. Alviso will increase the Pentium M's frontside bus speed to 533MHz, add support for DDR 2 SDRAM, PCI Express and Serial ATA, and incorporate Intel's Hi-Definition Audio and third-generation Media Graphics Accelerator 900 technology.

No reason was given for the previous Alviso delay claims, but this time the source said the schedule had been changed for technical and marketing reasons, though they did not specify exactly what those reasons are. ®

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