Transmeta Corp. will offer a processor with embedded security features as the semiconductor design company races against its much-larger rival Intel Corp. in the market for chips custom-made for mobile computing.

A new version of Transmeta's Crusoe TM5800 processor with the built-in security features will be available in the second half of the year, said Walter Sun, a senior product manager at Transmeta.

In September, Intel announced plans to offer security technology built into its microprocessors, code-named LaGrande, within the next few years.

"If security is not inside the processor and it's in another chip it's a weak link because you have to communicate with that chip," said Matthew Perry, president and chief executive of Santa Clara, California-based Transmeta. "Putting it inside the (main) chip is inherently more secure."

[ Read more ]