LAS VEGAS – During his keynote at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show last night, Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini outlined his company’s vision of technology in the future with a series of demos that ranged from 3-D TV to a smart meter concept for centralized home control.
As the demos moved further into the smartphone and MID category, Otellini showed the world’s first demonstration of the LG Electronics GW990 smartphone to help show the performance and software compatibility of “Moorestown,” Intel’s next-generation platform for handhelds and smartphones. He also showcased a smartphone reference design from Aava Mobile and a tablet reference design from OpenPeak.
Moorestown is scheduled to launch during the first half of the year, with devices coming to market in the second half.
Otellini stressed the importance of netbooks as an emerging market that continues to thrive. He said that more than 40 million netbooks shipped in 2009, and he doesn’t expect that growth to slow anytime soon. To this point, Intel will be rolling out an application store called AppUp, which is tailored to netbook development.
According to Otellini, Intel is also working with Samsung, Asus, Acer and Dell to develop netbook storefronts through the AppUp catalog, which is up and running in a Beta version now.
Early enthusiasm for the Intel Atom Developer Program has been strong. Within 30 days of offering the program, more than 2,500 developers signed up and downloaded the starter kit, and more than 350 apps have since been submitted for validation or review.
Otellini went on to stress the importance of upgraded networks to power the proliferation of mobile devices, including technologies like WiMAX, in which Intel is heavily invested.
“Smartphones truly embody personal computing,” Otellini said. “Wireless connectivity is critical and 3G is great, but it’s not fast enough; 4G technologies like WiMAX are needed to deliver on the promise and potential of these new devices.”
All of the Internet connectivity for demonstrations in Otellini’s keynote used the Clear 4G mobile Internet service that has been available in Las Vegas since July. The WiMAX Forum forecasts more than 700 million people covered by WiMAX at the end of 2010.
