FollowThe fact that portable electronics are getting to the point where battery life is simply not a concern is absolutely wonderful. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re so, so close. Intel is working on a new processor architecture that can run itself using nothing but light: no plugs, no batteries, just solar power.
Intel’s ultrabooks will soon be sporting a new chipset called Haswell. The Haswell CPU will have a 22 nanometer 3D architecture, the upshot of which is that it’ll consume twenty times less power than current chips. Yes, that’s twenty times less. That picture up there is showing a Haswell CPU humming along, powered exclusively by that itty bitty solar panel. Park the thing under the sun (or a lightbulb) and it’ll happily crunch numbers for you until the sun explodes.
