ARM 'will beat Intel on power drain and price'

ARM-based netbooks will beat those using Intel's next-generation Moorestown platform on price, match it on performance, and enable a new class of device costing as little as $150 (£100), the UK chip designer has predicted.

Both companies were at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week showing sample mobile internet devices (MIDs) and netbooks based on their architectures.

Netbooks, with elements of both notebooks and handsets, have pitched companies steeped in mobile-phone design against those coming from the PC world. The rivalry will come to a head next year when Intel, which admits it has yet to match ARM on battery drain, releases its Moorestown platform with the promise of a tenfold decrease in idle power.