Convergence Of Computing And Communications Into The Mainstream
End-user Benefits of Convergence and New Technologies Outlined at Forum
AUCKLAND, Tuesday, October 14, 2003 – At Intel’s Developer Forum (IDF) in Taiwan, John Antone, vice president and
general manager of Intel Asia-Pacific, said the next wave of innovation – converged products for digital homes that
combine computing and communications – could be developed here in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
“Last year at IDF we said APAC’s developers would continue to play a role among the world’s leading convergence
developers,” said Antone to 1,800 developers attending this weeks Forum. “This year we’re saying companies in APAC have
the opportunity to lead how this industry designs and markets products to an increasingly global customer base. Not only
will the digital homes and offices of tomorrow be developed here in APAC, those home and office products are more likely
to be consumed here in APAC – than in the U.S. or Europe.”
Greater Asia is already the number one market in the world for telephone lines, mobile phones, and cable television said
Antone. By 2010, he expects China to be the largest consumer of PCs, and the Asia region to consume more than the
Americas or Europe. “There is a huge opportunity to drive worldwide innovation into all of the world’s digital homes and
offices from right here in Taipei,” said Antone.
“Our business opportunity is a worldwide opportunity,” said Antone. “We must work together to drive the
regulations and policy issues all over the world, to ensure that products work together, and provide real value for our
customers wherever they are.”
IDF will offer more than 70 sessions of technical tracks covering the areas of desktop, mobile, enterprise, software and
solutions, communications and wireless.
Senior Intel executives will also deliver keynotes during the two-day event, sharing their vision and unveiling
strategies and the latest technological developments focused on the convergence of computing and communications.
Convergence of Computing And Communications The convergence of consumer electronics, mobile computing, communications
and desktop platforms is driving new usage models and enabling access to new services. In today's "connect
anytime/anywhere" society, silicon solutions, software solutions and hardware solutions are being integrated into the
home, the office and virtually across all wireless devices. Access to personal digital content anywhere in the home is
being made possible by new devices, platforms and technologies developed in Taiwan. Today, Louis Burns, Intel vice
president and general manager of Desktop Platforms Group demonstrated a new Intel platform, a next-generation chipset
codenamed Grantsdale. Digital Home Intel is focusing resources and attention on three areas that will provide
significant opportunities for the IT and consumer electronics industries in the coming years. Specifically, Intel plans
to introduce new products, support new standards and invest in initiatives surrounding enterprise computing, mobile
Internet clients and the digital home.
In the digital home, the development of standards will be essential to sharing content across multiple devices. Intel’s
involvement with organisations that span the content and consumer electronics industries, such as the Digital Home
Working Group, will help shape standards that benefit consumers. As an example, the DTCP/IP standard will for the first
time, enable home users to share content downloaded from the Internet wirelessly to various consumer electronics devices
in the home. By working with content providers and others in the industry, this technology is likely to be a cornerstone
to expanding digital home entertainment and enhancing how individuals experience digital content. During his keynote,
Burns demonstrated the reality of the digital home with a range of industry-specification-based interoperable products
and services that are now available or will be soon.
Enterprise Information technology executives and developers today heard Intel Vice President of Enterprise Platforms
Group and General Manager of Platform Products Group Abhi Talwalkar talk about Intel’s industry-leading technologies and
solutions addressing the key areas of security, reliability and flexibility. Talwalker discussed wide-scale and flexible
Itanium® processor-based solutions deployment, technology leadership in enterprise I/O architectures, memory and other
core platform elements supported by critical advancements in the solutions areas of software, manageability, modularity
and industry leading high- performance computing.
Communications Mike Ricci, vice president and general manager of Business Development in the Intel Communications Group
discussed how the application of modularity to an industry could have a profound impact on reduced product costs,
improved design efficiencies, and ultimately increased profitability. He discussed how Intel and other industry leaders
believe that the time for modularity in the communications equipment market has arrived. For many years communications
equipment required a customised design approach due to the regional nature of most equipment sales. With the growing
availability of standard modular components designed with the needs of the global market segment in mind, companies
today have a range of development choices from silicon, software and platform level building blocks. Ricci discussed the
availability of standard modular components in communications equipment, the broad ecosystem Intel and the industry have
established for this market segment, and the opportunities available for developers to accelerate design cycles for
next-generation wired and wireless network equipment at reduced costs.
Ricci also discussed the importance of wireless communications as a catalyst for the next growth stage of the industry.
Mobility Mobility is mandatory for consumers and businesses today as it allows anytime, anywhere communication. Mobile
users today includes teenagers gaming on a cell phone against someone half way around the world, executives connecting
to the corporate database through a wireless PDA and an entrepreneur running a voice over IP call and account review on
a notebook computer in a virtual office at the local cafe. Designing for mobility is changing the characteristics of
products from technology and design of hardware to functionality and portability of software. This is changing existing
businesses and creating new ones.
Research Bringing on a Radio Renaissance Future technology businesses, usages models, and devices are increasingly tied
to the growing global wireless infrastructure. Wireless connectivity will connect users across cities, throughout their
workplaces, and in their homes. Drawing on the value of this new future is an emerging platform of converged
communications and computation products. Justin Rattner, senior Intel Fellow and director of Microprocessor Research,
will discuss the innovations that will transform the radios, devices, and applications of the future. Rattner will
demonstrate converged technologies that adapt to the wireless channel, adapt to traffic, and adapt to the dynamic needs
of its users. The combination of these technologies will significantly increase the range, bandwidth, capacity, and
reliability of wireless networks and transform the user’s experience and usage models. These technologies will be built
on the foundation of Intel’s industry-leading silicon process technology, Moore's Law.
About IDF The Intel Developer Forum is the technology industry’s premier event for hardware and software developers.
Held worldwide throughout the year, IDF brings together key industry players to discuss cutting-edge technology and
products for PCs, servers, communications equipment, and handheld clients. For more information on IDF and Intel
technology, visit http://developer.intel.com.
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications
products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.