14 DAY TRIAL // When it showcased for the first time the Switchblade concept at the CES 2011 fair, Razer was very secretive about the hardware used in this gaming mini-PC, but now the company has come to confirm that the device is indeed powered by an Intel Oak Trail CPU.
The chip in question is actually the yet unreleased Oak Trail Atom Z690 which features a single x86 processing core with Hyper-Threading support, clocked at 1.7GHz, and a GMA 600 integrated graphics core.
This GPU is based on a redesigned PowerVR SGX 535 graphics unit, that is built using the 45nm fabrication process and run at a higher than average frequency.
As a result, the chip supports the OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL 2.1 and OpenVG 1.1 standards, as well as hardware acceleration for MPEG-2, VC-1 and AVC video streams.
In Razor's concept, the Intel Atom Z690 SoC is paired together with a multi-touch seven-inch screen and an innovative adaptive tactile keyboard that is actually build on top of an LCD panel.
“Intel is very excited to be working closely with Razer on the next generation of mobile handheld PC gaming,” said Brad Graff, consumer marketing director, Netbook and Tablet Group, Intel.
“The Razer Switchblade concept takes advantage of the Intel Atom processor, providing the performance needed to run 3D PC games in a small and light form factor to enable mobile gaming at significantly less power than a traditional laptop,” concluded the company's rep.
Razer currently has no plans to sell the Switchblade mobile gaming device, but the company is confident the concept could spawn a few worthwhile designs, which may end up in the retail market.
To help with the development of these devices, Razer has announced that several Chinese software vendors have pledged to optimize games for the Switchblade User Interface.