DeviceGuru

In his Jan. 7 keynote talk at CES in Las Vegas, Intel CEO Paul Otellini focused on the continuing disruptive influence of the Internet on consumer electronics and entertainment. These changes create business opportunities for “those who embrace it,” he suggested.

“We’re now in the midst of the largest opportunity to redefine consumer electronics and entertainment since the introduction of the television,” observed Otellini. “Increasingly, computing and communications are coming together, bringing a new level of capabilities and intelligence to the Internet experience. The personal Internet of tomorrow will serve you – delivering the information you want, when you want it, how you want, wherever you are.”

“When computing became personal, the industry changed — innovation, collaboration and standards drove growth beyond what anyone could imagine,” Otellini continued. “I believe that the Internet is following the same path.”

Otellini invited the audience to envision Internet-enabled translation gadgets, social networking-based gaming devices, and other futuristic Web 2.0-based marvels. Technology hurdles that must be overcome in developing such devices, according to Otellini, include:

• Microprocessors need to become more powerful while consuming less power
• Wireless broadband infrastructure needs to become ubiquitous
• The Internet must be more intelligent and proactive so finding information is no longer a hit or miss proposition
• More natural user interfaces need to be developed, so people can use their voices and gestures to engage with the Internet

Otellini reminded the audience of “Moore’s Law,” which postulates that the number of transistors that fit on a chip doubles every 18 to 24 months. This increased gate density enables more functions to be integrated into a single chip, and is now fueling highly dense “system on chip” (SoC) components.

This set the stage for Otellini to demonstrate — for the first time publicly — Intel’s x86-based SoC codenamed “Canmore.” This SoC, he said, implements a complete “[consumer electronic] system and an Internet system” on a single chip, and targets applications such as set-top boxes, media players, and TVs.

Otellini said Canmore integrates a PC-class processor core, along with…

• Dedicated audio/video processing capable of playing 1080p video with 7.1 surround sound
• A 3-D graphics unit for rich user interfaces and online games
• Technologies to enable broadcast TV

The SoC is expected to become available in the second half of 2008, he added.

“Packaging several important functions — such as computing, graphics and audio-video processing — into a single chip will help devices do more while taking up less space and energy,” Otellini added.

Otellini also noted the expected arrival of “Menlow,” Intel’s silicon platform for “mobile Internet devices,” expected to arrive in the first half of 2008. Menlow comprises a single-chip chipset, codenamed “Poulsbo,” plus an x86 processor, codenamed “Silverthorne.”

Otellini’s CES keynote talk can be viewed online here (requires Windows Media Player).