Intel Hosts Engineers at Developer Forum

Intel Corp. kicks off a conference for hardware and software engineers today in Silicon Valley at a twice-yearly gathering hosted by the world’s largest chip maker to spur technology using its microprocessors.

Intel is expected to release more details on the first processor for laptop computers it has designed from scratch, code-named Banias, unveil faster Pentium 4 chips and demonstrate the next version of its Itanium processor designed for heavy-duty computing, analysts said.

Called the Intel Developer Forum, the conference in recent years has gone global, and is held around the year in Taipei, Moscow, Tokyo and Shenzhen, China.

An Intel spokesman said the company expects about 4,000 attendees--flat with last spring’s developer forum--and said that the vast majority were engineers.

The conference comes as the personal computer industry, which represents Intel’s major market, remains mired in the doldrums, following a slack 2001 when worldwide shipments of PCs declined year-over-year.

Intel is expected to reveal more details about the Banias chip, which is more than just a microprocessor, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at market research firm Insight 64, adding that Intel probably will talk up wireless connectivity using the 802.11 standard, which allows for high-speed wireless connections to the Internet and networks.