Emerging Tech

The World According to Intel

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich keynoted a marathon opening address earlier this week at CES, where he demonstrated a wide variety of new technologies and laid out the company’s vision for where the industry is headed.

There is a rapidly growing role for technology that is at once transformative, unprecedented and accessible,” he told the CES audience. “With people choosing experiences over products more than ever before, Intel technology is a catalyst to making amazing new experiences possible, and ultimately improving the world in which we live.”

The 90-minute address, comprised of Krzanich’s speech, video and mostly live technology demonstrations with special guest speakers, offered a compelling look into how Intel sees the tech industry transitioning.

The trend is away from a world dominated by personal computers and mobile phones toward a world in which technology will enhance real-life human experiences, ranging from television and music to healthcare and emergency response operations, to sports and high-definition video gaming, according to Intel.

Krzanich introduced a number of live demonstrations involving sensors, drone technology, high-end gaming and interactive viewing of live sports.

Measuring Performance

Intel and ESPN President John Skipper previewed a plan to be announced at the X-Games on Jan. 28: Intel’s low-power Curie model will provide real-time performance data in the Men’s Snowboard Big Air and Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle competition, including jump height, speed, rotations and other functions.

Intel also demonstrated a collaboration involving Replay’s freeD technology, enhancing and rotating the action in a basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, to allow viewers to see the game from multiple angles in a three-dimensional court or field-level view.

One of the most compelling demonstrations involved Yuneec International’s new hobby drone, the Typhoon H.

The all black, six-rotor drone comes equipped with a 360-degree gimbal with a CGO3+ camera that can take 12-megapixel photos and 4K video. The drone has retractable landing gear and collision avoidance capabilities, thanks to Intel’s RealSense technology.

During the live presentation, a mountain biker rode around an artificial forest environment full of trees and other obstacles. The drone first followed ahead of him and then behind. Suddenly a tree was thrown in front of the drone to demonstrate its ability to maneuver away from obstacles in real time.

“We really believe we’re on the verge of a drone revolution and this technology is what will fuel that,” Krzanich told the audience.

The Typhoon H will be available for purchase during the first half of 2016 for US$1,799.00, according to Yuneec International.

The company also partnered with New Balance to create a Digital Sport division that will develop customizable 3D-printed midsoles for running shoes. There also are plans for a smart sport watch for release by the 2016 holiday season.

Reinventing an Industry

Intel is in the midst of a transformative process, observed Mario Morales, program vice president for enabling tech and semiconductors at IDC. The company is trying to put its marker down on a future world of technology that is still undefined.

“It’s more about setting the vision,” Morales told TechNewsWorld. “Intel missed out heavily on the mobile phone market, and they don’t want to do the same thing [now].”

Intel is exploring opportunities in mobile-focused markets where the company can innovate in volume in order to continue to be profitable, suggested Pund-IT analyst Charles King.

“Leveraging existing Core and Atom CPUs, along with its new Curie chips in the various sensor-based solutions and complex drones it demonstrated,” he told TechNewsWorld, “was just the tip of the iceberg.”

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.

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