Transmeta unveils power-saving Efficeon chip

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 12 Aug 2003 at 17:07

Transmeta has unveiled the brand name for its latest power-saving, cool-running processor.

The Efficeon will be a crucial product for Transmeta, as it attempts to pull back market share from the likes of Intel, which have recently made real headway in establishing their power-saving mobile chips.

Transmeta attempts to dismiss the MHz myth in the same way as AMD has done with the Athlon XP, claiming its eight instructions per clock cycle outperforms its predecessor by 50 per cent in 'typical real-world applications'. For multimedia applications, Transmeta claims a performance gain of 80 per cent.

Dr. Matthew R. Perry, president and CEO, Transmeta Corporation, said, 'Efficient computing is what the mobile market is demanding - uncompromising application performance, extended battery life, low heat, appealing ergonomic designs, ultra-small form factors, fully integrated functionality, and more dependable products with fewer components. Naturally, all of this has to come at an appealing price point.'

The company says it will disclose pricing and benchmark data in the coming weeks and that products incorporating the Efficeon chip will emerge in the fourth quarter of this year.