Intel and other hardware and software firms have already started producing data-protective chips for personal computers. The desktop chip technology is code-named "LaGrande" and Microsoft is developing software to support the new chips.

But some observers see this as part of a strategy to make personal computers more amenable to anti-piracy measures, at the behest of the entertainment industry.

This is because specially designed music or video files could use the protected portions of these chips to restrict users' ability to copy or forward them. Some critics say such restrictions unfairly encroach upon computer user's rights to control their own machines.

Bulverde processors also include features borrowed from Intel's range of desktop computer processors that are designed to make graphics and audio applications run more quickly.

Intel's Wireless MMX technology provides programmers with a set of instructions that can be used to more easily access parts of the chip that process 3D and audio data. Read the full article here