Intel promises to 'upgrade your life'

Intel is planning to "upgrade your life", having established itself as a player in the market for digital entertainment.

In a keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Intel chief executive Craig Barrett said: "We are going to upgrade your life and upgrade some of the equipment in your life."

Surprise appearances by Steve Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith and filmmaker and actor Robert Redford during Barrett's speech aimed to further emphasise that digital technology is having an impact on applications that have traditionally been the realm of consumer electronics manufacturers.

To underline his point, Barrett showed several digital media adapters from industry partners, paying special attention to a device made by start-up company Mediabolic.

The appliance transports PC applications to the living room, notifying the user when they have been outbid at an online auction or forwarding alerts from a home security system.

The advent of dual-core processors next year will enable even more advanced applications than those consumers can access today, Barrett promised.

The Intel chief went on to demonstrate a prototype of a living room PC using a dual-core processor. The device featured a touch screen and 3D user interface that allows easy navigation through the content offered, both locally and through online services.

Dual-core processors are the next big thing in chip design, effectively bundling two processors onto a single chip. The technology allows for better performance with only a limited increase in power consumption.

The demonstration marks the first public appearance of a dual-core Intel processor in a client. Intel plans to launch a dual-core Pentium 4, codenamed Smithfield, later this year.

Except for the dual-core demonstration, there was little in Barrett's keynote that the company hadn't spoken about on earlier occasions.

Last year Intel used the stage at CES to hype a new project that would have Intel moving into the market for large television screens through the use of liquid crystal on silicon technology. The project was abandoned 10 months later.

See also:

Intel promises light-speed computing

Chip maker claims world's first continuous wave silicon laser  18 Feb 2005

Intel fires up multi-core production

Systems due in the second quarter of this year  08 Feb 2005

Consumer Electronics Show 2005

Gadgets galore as top tech firms gather in Vegas  06 Jan 2005

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