Intel Corp. unveiled its another system-on-chip powered by its Atom processor aimed at Internet-enabled TV-sets at Intel Developer Forum 2009. The new SoC enables better functionality and performance than predecessor, however, Intel still does not have a single design win with either the new CE4100 or the old CE3100.

“Traditional broadcast networks are quickly shifting from a linear model to a multi-stream, Internet-optimized model to offer consumers digital entertainment that complements the TV such as social networking, 3D gaming and streaming video. At the center of the TV evolution is the CE4100 media processor, a new architecture that meets the critical requirements for connected CE devices,” said Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager of Intel digital home group.

Intel CE4100 media SoC can feature Intel Atom processor with 512KB of cache at up to 1.20GHz clock-speed while offering lower power and a small footprint to help decrease system costs. The CE SoC contains a display processor, graphics processor, video display controller, transport processor, a dedicated security processor and general I/O including SATA-300, USB 2.0, NAND flash controller and so on. The CE4100 supports hardware decode of up to two full-HD (1920x1080, progressive scan, 1080p) video streams as well as MPEG4 video that is ready for DivX Home Theater 3.0 certification. The CE4100 SoC also supports Adobe Flash as well as OpenGL ES 2.0.

Intel and its partners hope that the CE4100 and similar media processors will enable interactive Internet-enabled TV-sets that will revolutionize television as we know it today. However, so far Intel has not won any contracts for its media processors.

Intel CE media processors provide a full-featured software framework called Widget Channel for the development of Internet applications, or TV widgets. Broadcast networks such as CBS are expanding the gallery of TV widgets to help their viewers find and connect to premium content in a more personalized manner.

"Intel's CE technology and our new TV Widget platform are designed to help people find the shows they want and discover new programs that are relevant to their interests. What's more, the TV Widget gives us another platform to connect and interact with our audience while delivering an exciting new television experience," said George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing.

Intel is working with the industry to expand Widget Channel to provide consumers a range of services such as movies, music, games and personal videos. TV Widgets and services shown at IDF were from Accedo Broadband, The Associated Press, BIGSTAR.tv, CBS, CinemaNow, Dailymotion, Immediatek, Mediafly, MyVideo, Netflix, PlayJam, RadioTime, RallyPoint, ShowTime Networks, Tagesschau and WhereverTV.

Tags: Intel, HDTV