The smallest microprocessor from the largest chipmaker

Intel Corp is rolling out five new Atom microprocessors and a collection of chips designed for portable gadgets that access the Internet and for other uses, as the world’s largest chipmaker uses its marketing muscle to help create a new market. The low-power, tiny Atom chips will come in speeds of up to 1.86 gigahertz and Intel says that speed, plus other technologies designed into the chip, make it the fastest processor that consumes 3 watts of electricity or less. The recently named Atom family of processors is part of Intel’s effort to have chips designed with Intel Architecture — the fundamental blueprint of its semiconductors — in myriad computing devices — from what it calls mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, all the way up to high-performance computers.

That is where the Atom and Centrino Atom, come in. The Centrino Atom also includes a single-chip with integrated graphics called Intel System Controller Hub that allows for PC-like capabilities and long battery life for devices that fit in a user’s pocket. Major device makers are already planning to adopt Atom, with more than 20 manufacturers coming out with products using the processor. As far as MIDs, those will start shipping in May. Intel expects about 30 percent of those MIDs to have both WiFi — short range high-speed wireless Internet access — and WiMax — longer-range high-speed access designed into them. MID device makers include Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba, among others, and prices will probably average about $500, with some priced higher than that or lower, depending on the functions.