TAIPEI, Taiwan — In his keynote session at Computex this week, vice president of the Intel Architecture Group and general manager of the Embedded and Communications Group, Doug Davis called Taiwan an innovation hub.
“What we see emerging from here is wave after wave of innovation,” he said, adding that with each new wave came new opportunities and new devices which would continue evolving over time.
“There is an immense opportunity here,” Davis said, outlining Intel Corp.’s (INTC) vision for what the firm is now calling “companion computing” – devices that are highly customizable, always connected and always on.
“We don’t all like the same things,” said Davis, pressing the need for differentiation in the tablet space. For one thing, he said, going back to Intel’s ‘port of choice’ mantra, the software stack for tablets “has to offer the user a broad range of choice.”
Indeed, for Davis, when it comes to hardware and software for personal devices “it’s about having choices.”
“Now it’s getting personal,” he proclaimed noting that it was of utmost importance that companies worked hard to combine both hardware and software for a better, more optimized device experience.
Davis warned people not to expect too much too soon, however, noting “we’re still at the very early stages of companion computing.”
Davis, also spoke about Intel’s near-relentless drive to not only keep up with Moore’s law, but surpass it, with its tick-tock model, delivering a new process technology every two years.
Speaking about the next generation of Intel chips, Davis called the upcoming 22nm process revolutionary, saying it allows for a 37% performance increase and more than 50% active power reduction over current versions of Intel Atom.
“We’re accelerating our roadmap and will deliver Atom capabilities faster than Moore’s law,” he promised, saying consumers could look forward to “stunning performance and dramatically lower power.”
But perhaps to answer those critics claiming Intel is all talk and no ARM competitor, Davis also said his firm was “not just waiting for new technology, but already announcing devices.” Indeed, Intel’s booth was packed with a plethora of no-name tablets from the likes of Compal, Foxconn and others, though whether they get much play in the market remains to be seen.
Despite not being quite able to crack the mobile market yet again this year, Intel is not exactly brooding, having just announced 100 million Atom processors shipped in just three years.
The chip firm said it would now focus its efforts on developing chips capable of “contextual awareness,” which would add incredible value to verticals such as education and healthcare.
Intel also said it hoped to improve battery life in the near future.
