New Strategic Investment, Software Certification Service also Disclosed at Shanghai IDF
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, Shanghai, April 3, 2008 –
Intel Corporation unveiled a new design of the Intel-powered classmate
PC today at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. As announced in a
keynote by Andrew Chien, Intel vice president, Corporate Technology
Group and director of Intel Research, the second-generation
Intel-powered classmate PC is an affordable, fully functional, rugged
Internet-centric computer platform. These simple-to-use PCs have
wireless capability, longer battery life, water resistant keyboards and
are more shock resistant if dropped. Intel is calling this category of
PCs "netbooks."
The Intel designed computer offers different choices to
manufacturers so each can tailor laptop models for a variety of
education needs. The new classmate PC blueprint is the latest
innovation and educational tool for parents and teachers to use
technology, computers and Internet access to better educate students
around the world.
"Only 5 percent of the world's children today have access to a PC or
to the Internet," Chien said. "Education is one of the best examples of
how technology improves our lives. We have seen how technology helps
teachers create fun learning experiences more efficiently. We have also
been touched by children's excitement when they are inspired by
technology. The Intel-powered classmate PC is one of the ways we
support the IT industry in spreading the benefits of technology in
education for children around the world."
The second-generation classmate PCs are built on Intel® Celeron® M
processor with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and mesh network capabilities. The top
range of these netbooks includes a 9-inch LCD screen, 6-cell battery
life, 512 MB memory, a 30 GB HDD (hard disk drive) storage and an
integrated webcam. An Intel powered classmate PC supports Microsoft*
Windows* XP and variants of the Linux* operating environment. When
pre-installed with the education software stack, these netbooks are
ideal for classroom-learning environment. Software and content will be
available in more than eight languages.
More than 80 software and hardware vendors, content providers,
educational services providers and local OEMs have been working with
Intel to develop a complete infrastructure that supports the
Intel-powered classmate PC. They were present at today's announcement
in Shanghai.
Chien also said future Intel-powered classmate PCs will be built
with the Intel® Atom™ processor. It is an energy-efficient, low-cost
computer chip designed to provide wireless capability to small mobile
computing devices such as netbooks.
The updated child-sized computer will continue to be deployed as
part of the Intel World Ahead Program, a global initiative aimed at
spreading digital accessibility and educational opportunities.
The Digital Transformation
Chien also discussed how the second-generation classmate PC is a proof
point of the digital transformation he believes is underway today. He
highlighted several more digital advances including the use of a
cascaded silicon Raman laser as a low-cost Methane gas detector and
talked about a novel "holistic" platform power management technology to
significantly improve the energy efficiency of a wide range of
platforms. He addressed emerging digital consumer applications such as
personal robotics and computational photography as fronts where this
transformation is taking place by demonstrating "Fuwa," a personal
robot from the Fudan University and ReFocus Imaging's light field
camera.
Intel architecture is also transforming with the multi-core movement
in mainstream, parallel computing. This will require new programming
techniques and languages at the heart of Intel's tera-scale computing
research program. Chien, along with Dr. Zhang Xia, chief technology
officer of Neusoft Co., demonstrated Ct, a new parallel programming
language from Intel research that will make programming for many-cores
more efficient than what is possible today. Chien says Intel's research
is poised to tackle both the opportunities and the challenges that lie
ahead with the Digital Transformation.
Renee James: Software: Unlocking the Opportunities on Intel Platforms
Also at IDF, Renee James, vice president and general manager of Intel's
Software and Solutions Group, illustrated the crucial role software
plays in unlocking the power of hardware and ultimately creating a
better computing experience. She highlighted visual computing and
mobile applications for MIDs as two important, rapidly growing areas of
software development and announced the Intel® C++ Software Development
Tool Suite for Linux* OS Supporting MIDs.
James also announced the Intel® Certified Solutions program. This
new software testing and validation service will enable Intel® Software
Partner Program members to deliver high-quality solutions that are
certified to meet rigorous standards for security, interoperability and
maintainability, and are optimized for Intel technologies. This new
service offering, provided by SpikeSource*, will help software vendors
reduce development costs and produce more trustworthy solutions that
work well on Intel platforms. In conjunction with this certification
initiative, Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, has
made an additional investment of $10 million in SpikeSource. Intel
Capital originally invested in SpikeSource in 2005 and has played an
active role to make the company successful through company building and
customer introductions. Intel and SpikeSource are initially offering
the service as an early adopter program with broader availability
expected later this year.
Intel and Epic Games launched the "$1 Million Intel Make Something
Unreal Contest" for aspiring game developers to create modifications
("mods") for the PC version of "Unreal Tournament 3." Winnings are
valued at $1 million and include an Unreal Engine 3 license and other
cash awards and prizes, including Intel® Software Development Products
and PCs based on Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core processors.
Photos, videos and more facts are available on the IDF Shanghai press kit at www.intel.com/pressroom/idf.
About Intel
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies,
products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and
live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.
Intel, Intel Atom, Intel Core, Celeron and the Intel
logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other
countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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