Sandy Bridge to reach production by the end of 2010

During a keynote speech at Beijing's IDF conference on Tuesday, Intel shared more details about the upcoming microarchitecture that will succeed Nehalem. Expected to reach production sometime later this year, Sandy Bridge-based processors will use the second-generation of Intel's Hi-k 32nm fabrication technology and will span the next process transition to 22nm.

They will have Intel's sixth-generation graphics core and will be the first to feature Intel's Advanced Vector Extension (AVX) instructions, which accelerate image, video, and audio processing speeds. The new chips will also have AES-NI support and seven software instructions to boost data encryption and decryption.

Additionally, Intel said that its Atom-based SoC, Moorestown, is set to launch in the first half of this year. It will bring new power management and power gating, which will reduce idle power use by a factor of 50, and will use up to 10 times less power than its first-gen predecessor when it comes to audio playback.

Intel also mentioned other scattered bits at IDF, such as the Atom CE4100 SoC appearing in set-top boxes and Blu-ray drives, the company's partnership with Tongfang and Hanvon to co-develop a convertible Classmate PC with improved e-reading functionality, and Meego is reportedly "good to go" with a number of OEM partners lined up.