When DailyTech reported
earlier this month that final ratification of the 802.11n wireless networking
protocol wouldn't
likely come until 2008, we wondered what the delay would mean for Intel's Santa Rosa platform. Santa Rosa, the next generation mobile platform from Intel, will
feature Merom 2 processors, the Crestline
motherboard chipset, and will feature 802.11n support courtesy of the Kedron networking
chip.
Mooly Eden, VP and GM of Intel's mobile platforms group told
CNET News in an interview that
Intel will go ahead with plans to launch its Santa Rosa platform with draft 802.11n support. Releasing Santa Rosa with a draft standard
networking chip could possibly lead to sporadic performance and a number of
interoperability issues as witnessed by the latest 802.11n testing
from eWeek.
Although the situation that Intel is being placed in and the
uncertainty surrounding 802.11n technology is far from ideal, the company is
confident that compatibility and performance issues with the draft standard will
be worked out by the time that Santa Rosa
is released in Q1 2007.