Power is always an important aspect of any electronic device and we have seen more and more products become more energy efficient in the past few years. This week, during the Intel Developer Forum event in San Francisco, the PC processor maker showed off an experimental chip that has a very low power requirement. Wired.com reports that the chip is called the "near-threshold voltage processor" which basically allows it to run even at very low voltage levels.
The demonstration during the IDF conference showed a Linux-based PC running on this new processor, which has the code name Claremont. The chip ran on the power provided by a small solar cell that was the size of a postage stamp. An Intel spokesperson said that the processor could run on organic power sources such as lemon juice. You could even run a PC with such a chip on a potato, much like how elementary school kids discover that hooking up a potato can power up a radio.
While the near-threshold voltage processor may never actually be released as a commercial product, Intel is using its development as a way to help the company create future processors. Intel says that in 10 years we might see PC processors that will have power requirements 10 times less than those in current PCs. A PC with such a chip inside could always be on in some form, allowing for PC applications and processes to continue even when the device is in a super low power state.
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