Intel plans to show ultramobile PC devices based on its upcoming Menlow chip platform running Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and the Ubuntu Linux distribution at the Intel Developer Forum this week.
The demonstrations will offer a clearer view of what Menlow devices may look like and the capabilities they will offer when released.
Due to hit the market in early 2008, Menlow is based on the dual-core Silverthorne processor and single-chip Poulsbo chipset. Intel is betting this package will spur demand for small, portable computers with long battery life and wireless connectivity.
It hopes to see many of these devices run Linux instead of Windows, and Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, is scheduled to be joined on stage by Mark Shuttleworth, the CEO and founder of Canonical, to show a device running on an alpha version of Ubuntu Mobile, a Linux distribution designed for ultraportable PCs.
Chandrasekher also plans to demonstrate a Menlow-based device running Adobe Systems's AIR, a runtime environment for Web applications that function like desktop applications and work on a range of operating systems. AIR applications can be written using HTML, Flash and AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
As part of the AIR demonstration, Chandrasekher is expected to show a device running the Adobe Media Player, an AIR application that can download and play "premium content," Intel said.
