IDF: Intel touts embedded systems

Technology will disappear into the background, says Gelsinger

Ian Williams at IDF in San Francisco, vnunet.com 20 Aug 2008

Future technology will be embedded into the very fabric of society and we won't even notice it, according to Intel senior vice president Pat Gelsinger.

Speaking during his keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Gelsinger highlighted the ever-growing trend towards embedded and mobile technology.

Research suggests that the number of notebooks is about to surpass the number of desktops deployed, and Intel predicts that there will be 15 billion internet connected devices in use around the world by 2015.

This accelerating shift toward mobility, compute power and connectivity means that technology will increasingly become seamlessly embedded into almost every aspect of our daily lives, according to Gelsinger.

"The most powerful technologies are those that disappear, becoming embedded into the fabric of society," he said.

Gelsinger demonstrated several new and developing systems in this field, including home automation systems which use facial recognition for security and climate adjustment.

He also highlighted IP media devices and in-vehicle infotainment systems that span media, 3D GPS, localised information and personal updates such as calendars and email.

But the presentation went on to specify some of the major barriers that developers still face in this area.

Reliability and long life, scalability, power and cost, privacy and data security, IPv4 addressing and closed standards were all marked as potential stumbling blocks to the continued growth of embedded computing.

Gelsinger claimed that Intel is addressing each of these issues with the development of its architecture, and by working closely with other developers in the industry on topics and open standards on developments such as encryption, IPv6 and WiMax.

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