DailyTech - Intel Centrino Pro Announced

Submit News

Hardware Intel Centrino Pro Announced
Brandon Hill (Blog) - April 4, 2007 12:58 PM

E-mail

del.icio.us

18 comment(s) - last by mlau.. on Apr 11 at 3:03 AM

Intel brings wireless management and security to IT administrators

Intel is expanding its Centrino branding today with the announcement of Centrino Pro. Centrino Pro will take its place beside the existing Centrino and Centrino Duo brands in Intel's mobile lineup.

Centrino Pro is analogous to Intel's vPro platform on the desktop. Centrino Pro is based on the Santa Rosa platform and supports Core 2 Duo processors with Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) running on an 800MHz front side bus. Intel's 965 Express chipset (GM/PM) is paired with the ICH8M-Enhanced southbridge, which also features Intel Active Management Technology 2.5 (AMT).

AMT works by storing vital software and hardware information in non-volatile flash memory. IT administrators can then access vital system information or "heal" systems that have been taken out of commission due to an OS failure -- remote management is possible even when a system is powered off. AMT also incorporates System Defense, which actively blocks incoming threats while also quarantining infecting machines before they are allowed to infect others on the network.

Wired networking duties are handled by Intel's 82566N GbE controller which supports AMT; wireless networking is handled by the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN. The 4965AGN was announced in late January and can provide data rates of up to 300 Mbps. Intel also managed to double the operating range of its 802.11n solution over existing 802.11g solutions while also increasing battery life due to enhanced sleep states.

"Intel Centrino Pro processor technology brings the best of our offering with Intel vPro processor technology and adds it right into our highly successful Intel Centrino brand for laptops," said Mooly Eden, Intel's vice president of Intel Mobile Products Group. "This is an ideal time for this product as we continue to see notebook penetration rates increasing in business."

Intel will launch its Centrino Pro brand during Q2'07.

In Q2'08, Intel will launch the next iteration of Centrino Pro based on the Montevina platform. It will support Penryn processors with Intel VT-x/VT-d and Intel Trusted Execution Technology. Intel's Cantiga GM/PM chipset will feature Intel Turbo Memory 2.0 and an ICH9M-Enhanced southbridge supporting AMT 4.0. Networking duties will be handled by the Boaz GbE adapter, Echo Peak WiFi/WiMAX combo adapter or the Shirley Peak 802.11a/g/n WiFi adapter.

Comments

Threshold

Username
Password
remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

well

By sprockkets on 4/4/2007 2:18:16 PM , Rating: 2

I cannot see how you can remotely and wirelessly manage the computer while it is off seeing as how that means you just what do it via MAC? Seems that you need to use the higher layers to work via wireless, but whatever, wow or surprise me as to how you do it.

RE: well

By Puddleglum1 on 4/4/2007 2:32:40 PM , Rating: 2

By bringing the configuration settings to the low-level (non-volatile flash memory) it seems that you can do this.

quote:
AMT works by storing vital software and hardware information in non-volatile flash memory.

As long as the unit still has power running to it, it can do this similar to how Wake-on-LAN works.

Parent

RE: well

By mlau on 4/4/2007 3:00:00 PM , Rating: 2

There's a "Microcontroller" in the southbridge, which listenes
on a specific TCP port for connections, completely OS-independent. (A few people reported NFS failures when the
portmapper would put NFS on that particular port).

You can read/write to harddisks and upgrade bios, among other
things with it.

Parent

RE: well

By Creig on 4/10/2007 8:18:11 AM , Rating: 2

Wonderful. So now you can have your computer hacked even while it's off. That used to be one of the few times your computer was actually safe from intrusion (disconnected from a network being the other).

Parent

RE: well

By mlau on 4/11/2007 3:03:58 AM , Rating: 2

Well I guess this is intended to be used within the
administrative network (which should not be connected to
the outside world in any way) and it uses at least some
rudimentary form of authentication.

Parent

Details on new GPU?

By jak3676 on 4/4/2007 4:20:16 PM , Rating: 1

Rumors have been floating around for a while now about the new intel GPU scheduled for release along with the Pro platform.

GMA 950 needs a complete rebuild. Intel is really lagging behind the AMD/ATI and Nvidia imbedded GPU's lately.

Hopefully the pro platform GPU will make this a real competetion again forcing AMD/ATI and Nvidia to step it up even more.

RE: Details on new GPU?

By Anonymous Freak on 4/4/2007 8:15:39 PM , Rating: 2

This uses the same core as the desktop X3000 GPU in the G965 chipset. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#GMA_X3000

Parent

RE: Details on new GPU?

By Wolfpup on 4/5/2007 9:33:23 AM , Rating: 2

They lag behind them "lately"? :D They've been lagging behind them since they first introduced GPUs back in '98 or whenever it was. :D

Parent

I don't get the point.

By Spinne on 4/5/2007 4:27:27 PM , Rating: 2

Centrino's a mobile brand. So why on Earth would you need these features? If I'm an executive with a laptop, I don't want people accessing my laptop and fiddling with my settings remotely. If I run across a problem, I'll take it to the tech help desk myself, or get my assistant to do it, or call the tech guys in to do it. I just don't see the point of this technology.

RE: I don't get the point.

By maxusa on 4/6/2007 1:00:11 AM , Rating: 2

You haven't considered other use patterns. Basically, most mid-sized and large enterprises these days convert to notebooks with docking for office, travel, and home (office). Because of being a moving target, various uncontrolled exposures, elevated user rights, versatile use, and high dependency upon, notebooks are pain in the butt for IT support. Anything in the systems management feature set helps. These are great features, which can make the support organization more efficient, hence improve end-user satisfaction and decrease support costs. The case is very strong in the corporate environments. For the retail segment and do-it-yourselfers these features are less useful.

Parent

Sooner than expected

By dcalfine on 4/4/2007 2:40:15 PM , Rating: 2

Just in time for Apple to use this new chipset and announce it for NAB

RE: Sooner than expected

By BucDan on 4/4/2007 10:35:47 PM , Rating: 1

overall im looking forward to all of this... more mobile competetion with amd fighting for my money

Parent

Wifi supports ______.

By crazzyeddie on 4/4/2007 1:34:29 PM , Rating: 2

handled by the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN which also supports.

AMT?

Typo

By Jellodyne on 4/4/2007 3:52:34 PM , Rating: 2

> which also features Intel Active Management
> Technology 2.5 (ATM)

I suspect that should read AMT.

References............

By crystal clear on 4/4/2007 10:29:42 PM , Rating: 2

Intel® Centrino® Duo Pro Processor Technology Quote Sheet

Microsoft*

"Intel has been one of the best in terms of understanding and internalizing manageability and building manageability into their platforms with Intel vPro processor technology, and now Intel Centrino Pro mobile processor technology extends this management capability to mobile PCs," said Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Windows Enterprise Management Division. "With new Intel Centrino Pro processor technology support in SMS* 2003 and System Center* 2007 products, this combination will help enterprises realize the promise of dynamically managing their infrastructure."

HP*

"Intel and HP are committed to providing solutions that will enable IT to provide faster software updates, reduce the need for desk-side visits and significantly improve the overall level of client platform security by actively protecting PCs from rapidly-spreading malware, while ensuring that critical management agents are always up and running," said Deborah Traub, vice president, management software, Software, HP. "As such, Intel and HP Software are partnering to deliver powerful PC configuration management solutions through its HP Out of Band Management Console, which leverages the new remote management and diagnostics capabilities built into notebooks with the Intel Centrino Pro processor technology."

http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20...

BMW

Evaluation tests from BMW revealed that by integrating Intel® Active Management Technology, a feature of Intel® vPro™ technology, into its PC environment, BMW could significantly increase its remote management capabilities and further strengthen security.
See how BMW has used Intel vPro technology › (PDF 224KB)

http://www.intel.com/business/vpro/casestudies/bmw...

The difference between PRO & DUO

By crystal clear on 4/4/2007 11:24:48 PM , Rating: 2

"the existing Centrino and Centrino Duo brands in Intel's mobile lineup"

I think you should have done some memory refresh by mentioning the difference between the two (brands),namely

Centrino Pro & Centrino Duo

That would make you article even better.

RE: The difference between PRO & DUO

By crystal clear on 4/5/07, Rating: 0

.http://www.intel.com/pressroom/

By crystal clear on 4/4/2007 10:38:00 PM , Rating: 1

Intel Serves Up 'Pro' To Go

Intel® Centrino® Pro Gives IT Managers Wireless Management and Security Capabilities

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 4, 2007 -- Under a new brand called Intel® Centrino® Pro processor technology, Intel Corporation today announced it will extend its innovative and popular features designed for desktop business PCs called Intel® vPro™ processor technology into its forthcoming high-performance laptop offering. IT departments will be able to reliably manage both desktops and notebooks and deal with what plagues them most – security threats, cost of ownership, resource allocation, and asset management -- and do so wirelessly.

"Intel Centrino Pro processor technology brings the best of our offering with Intel vPro processor technology and adds it right into our highly successful Intel Centrino brand for laptops," said Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel Mobile Products Group. "This is an ideal time for this product as we continue to see notebook penetration rates increasing in business."

http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20...