In a bid to improve the wireless connectivity of the Intel (News - Alert) based laptops, Intel today announced Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N network connection, which is an upgrade to the Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology and other Intel-based laptops. The company believes that this new product will help its customers connect to the wireless networks in a better way.


Over the years, Notebook PCs have undergone a sea change in their usage and performance. They are now used to download Internet content such as music, movies and other files involving heavy bandwidth usage. This calls for superior connectivity and enhanced performance on the part of laptops. Catering to this need, the Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N technology offers five times the performance and twice the wireless range of the existing Draft-N products. Of course, more download requires more battery life. The new product from Intel offers an extra hour of notebook battery life too.

Intel has not limited itself just to the product development and design this time. It has initiated a new program called “Connect with Centrino,” wherein the company works with the leading wireless connectivity vendors such as Netgear, Buffalo, Belkin, Asus, and D-Link to ensure optimum connectivity and enhanced performance. These Access Point (News - Alert) (AP) vendors have to pass Intel’s rigorous real-world testing certification criteria to be eligible for this partnership. After passing the test, they will show a “Connect with Centrino” identifier on their product. This will allow the customers to make an informed decision while choosing the AP vendor for their Intel based laptop.

Intel’s wireless-N product is certified to work with multiple APs.

Intel believes that Intel Core 2 Duo processor caters to the customer’s needs by delivering enhanced features such as multitasking abilities, speed and coverage. With an increasing number of houses and businesses opting for laptops over PCs, these features may be well in demand. Also, the “Connect with Centrino” logo provides an assurance to the customers that they are buying a compatible wireless-N system.

The Wireless-N technology is particularly useful in the home network scenario when multiple users connect to the wireless spots and simultaneously use the bandwidth consuming applications such as audio and video files. In such a scenario, Intel enhances the performance of Next-Gen Wireless-N product by reducing the “Dead Spots” in the house, improving battery life and optimizing high-definition (HD) entertainment experiences such as streaming HD movies. It also improves the battery life for longevity and lets the customers work with the existing 802.11 a/b/g access points.

Inside Intel

Intel achieves these enhanced performances with the help of Intel Core 2 Duo processors. These processors have two processing cores, which can handle multiple tasks in less time and with more ease. When integrated into Intel Centrino Duo-based systems running wireless-N, the Intel Core 2 Duo processors can deliver a whole new range of enhanced performances such as playing back HD video and speed up conversion of songs into a digital format. This digital format can be uploaded to an MP3 player.

Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N technology coupled with “Connect with Centrino” feature will be delivered with new notebook computers from OEMs such as Gateway, Asus, Acer, and Toshiba (News - Alert). These laptops will hit the market in late January and they will come with the new Vista from Windows.

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Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.