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Intel wants to bring the 'net to your pocket
Author: Tim SmalleyPublished: 8th January 2008
Intel says that the Internet could change quite drastically in the next three to five years.
At the same time, he explained how the Internet’s shift to a more personable place will create new business opportunities to those that embrace it. “We’re now in the midst of the largest opportunity to redefine consumer electronics and entertainment since the introduction of the television,” he claimed.
“When computing became personal, the industry changed – innovation, collaboration and standards drove growth beyond what anyone could imagine,” said Otellini, while making direct comparisons between the early days of the personal computer and the future of the Internet. “I believe that the Internet is following the same path.”
The first glimpse into the future that Otellini demonstrated live on stage was of a tourist visiting Beijing who couldn’t speak or read Chinese. In order to get around, the tourist used a small mobile Internet device to audibly and visually translate building signs, restaurant menus and conversations in real-time.
After that demonstration, Otellini was joined onstage by Steve Harwell, lead singer of Smash Mouth, in order to demonstrate how, in the future, the Internet could provide more natural social interaction and shared experiences with others. The two showcased a social networking site where musicians can play together over the Internet, even when they are in different locations.
Smash Mouth played together live over the Internet in a 3D virtual world using photo-realistic avatars controlled in real-time by tracking the person’s movement using a number of cameras. Harwell said that the potential for such a thing in the future “was amazing” after his performance.
Otellini ended by saying that there are four obstacles that Intel needs to overcome in the next three to five years in order to make these usage models possible on mainstream computing devices. He outlined that processors need to get smaller, yet more powerful while consuming less power in order to make it into sleek and small multi-function devices. A wireless broadband infrastructure needs to be deployed to make high-speed Internet available wherever you are in the world.
The Internet needs to become more intelligent and proactive, so instead of you finding the information, the information you require finds you – this means that getting information is no longer a hit or miss affair. Finally, Otellini explained that more natural user interfaces need to be designed so that people can engage with the Internet in more realistic ways.
Do you think that a more personal Internet is out there in the future? I know the natural reaction is to be worried about change, but there are some interesting opportunities for the Internet to become an even more useful place than it is today. Discuss in the forums.
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Comments (6)
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We allready have that. It's called Spam ;)
I'm actually waiting for a good, usable portable Internet...something like the iphone offers, but without an iphone pricetag.
Cheers Xir
Now where did I leave that occipital jack?..
Is it crappy site design? I don't think that is necessarily the case considering that the natural assumption of many web designers is that they are targeting a PC. As we get the new web tech, will the current crop of mobile devices be able to keep up? On the other hand, might the wireless provider use software upgrades as a means to get you to buy a new device rather than updating your existing, perfectly functional gizmo?
Being able to carry an x86 device that is internet connected in my pocket would be nice (if only the eee PC was a bit smaller...and a tablet).
I know I can't use my phone to VNC or VPN into my home network. I have yet to try SSH thought, but I'm not expecting much there either. It would be nice to be able to administer my home systems remotely, access the PCs on my nework, and maybe even pull files down without having to set up services specifically for mobile devices.
But UMPCs may not be all they are cracked up to be. They will be competing in the PDA and PDA phone space so they will need to be priced competitively, but because they are PCs, they will need to have enough power to run the PC internet applications. So far, OQO, Samsung, and Sony have failed to deliver a real competitor IMHO.