Intel's 45nm Chip due in 2007

Intel announced today that they had made a 45nm chip using new techniques:

The fingernail-sized memory chip is etched with 1 billion transistors that are only 45 nanometers wide -- about 1,000 times smaller than a red blood cell, said Mark Bohr, a leading Intel engineer.

Intel's recent release of the Core Duo processors feature processors made with a 65nm process. The smaller chip making process typically increases clock speeds and decreases costs and power consumption. Plans for the production of the 45nm chips are targeted for the second half of 2007.

Meanwhile, Apple's former chip-partner, IBM, had previously announced a partnership with Toppan Printing Co Ltd to jointly develop a 45-nm chip making process for production by mid-2007.