Intel moves to provide everything smart and connected at IDF

Intel has focused on enabling a world where everything is smart and connected at its annual technical conference, the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), in the US.

“With our diverse product portfolio and developer tools that span key growth segments, operating systems and form factors, Intel offers hardware and software developers new ways to grow as well as design flexibility,” said Krzanich. "If it’s smart and connected, it is best with Intel.”

During the keynote, Krzanich was joined by Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell, for a preview of an upcoming Dell tablet. The new Dell Venue 8 7000 Series with Intel RealSense Snapshot is the world’s thinnest tablet and will be available in time for the holiday season (editor's note: roughly November to December). Intel RealSense Snapshot is an enhanced photography solution that creates a high-definition depth map to enable measurement, refocus and selective filters. 

Source: Intel. A Dell Venue 8 7000 Series tablet
with Intel RealSense Snapshot.

The agenda and technology showcase content has expanded beyond PCs, mobile and the data centre to include the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables. 

Highlights include:

· The new Intel Reference Design for Android programme to offer tablet users a high quality, consistent experience based on the latest Android operating system. Intel will help scale the deployment process of Android for tablet manufacturers by providing the software engineering work, streamlined access to Google Mobile Services, as well as support for updates and upgrades to future Android releases.

· A look at the developer platform for wearable device analytics that will accelerate development and deployment of new wearable applications. The platform includes tools and algorithms from Intel and data management capabilities from Cloudera CDH, all deployed on a cloud infrastructure optimised on Intel architecture. Developers of Intel wearables can use the analytics developer platform free of charge.

· Commercial availability of the Intel XMM 7260 modem, now shipping in the Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphone. The Intel XMM 7260 and Intel XMM 7262 modems deliver Category 6 data rates up to 300 Mbps. The modems are Intel’s second-generation LTE platforms and provide device manufacturers a high-performance, power-efficient solution for the coming wave of LTE-Advanced networks and devices.

· Availability of Intel Edison, a postage stamp-size computer with built-in wireless that was announced at CES. The platform simplifies the design process, increasing durability and providing additional cost savings. 

Source: Intel. The Edison computer.

· Intel Wireless Gigabit Docking – a full wireless experience that includes wireless docking, wireless display and wireless charging – was demonstrated via an Intel reference design based on a 14nm next-generation Intel processor.

· Developers also received a preview of the next-generation 14nm Intel Core processor for 2015.

· Renowned Physicist Stephen Hawking joined the conference via video to discuss how technology for the disabled is often a proving ground for the technology of the future. In connection with Hawking's video attendance, Intel revealed the Connected Wheelchair Project, a proof-of-concept from the Intel Collaborators programme. 

In the spirit of the IoT, the project demonstrated how to transform standard items (things) into data-driven, connected machines using the Intel Galileo Development Kit, based on Intel Quark processors and Intel Gateway Solutions for the IoT, featuring Wind River and McAfee security products.