Ooooo, It’s So Shiny: Gadgets, Gizmos and Gelsinger

“This one’s for the gadget-lovers in the audience.” That’s what very well could have been the opening line of Pat Gelsinger’s keynote, as Gelsinger entered the auditorium through a door complete with a face-recognizing security system. Blingy? Yes. The biggest bling of the keynote? Not even close…

The next stage of a connected, always-on Internet experience was the focus for much of Gelsinger’s chat as he opened by focusing on the expansion of what he calls the “embedded Internet.” Gelsinger’s , and Intel’s for that matter, vision of the not-too-distant future is filled with devices enabled on and designed for an embedded internet that will be with connected individuals 24×7.

For those who need a bit more “vroom” with their technology, Gelsinger showed off the Intel chopper (courtesy of Orange County Choppers), which was built to celebrate 30 years of Intel embedded technology. The bike – tricked out with GPS, audio and video capabilities, and more – was part of a two-episode build by Paul Sr. and his crew.

On the higher-end scale of the toys was a new BMW complete with an Intel-based in-car infotainment system. Going beyond the traditional “turn left in two-hundred feet,” the in-dash system offered three-dimensional views of San Francisco and even served up facts about known landmarks via connectivity with Encyclopedia Britannica. Move over KITT – the future is here and it’s got Intel inside.

The Nehalem architecture and corresponding Core i7 processors due out in Q4’08 took the stage next, only they didn’t hit the usual talking points. Instead, Gelsinger and Intel Fellow Rajesh Kumar talked about the inherent turbo capabilities and dynamic power management that is changing the way multi-core processors are handling workloads.

The new architecture allows unused cores to power-down to zero, enabling the extra computing power to be transferred to active cores, giving a turbo boost to the processes being handled. More compute power where you need it + energy savings where you don’t = getting more done with less energy spent. That’s math that I’m sure anyone can agree with.

Gamers in the crowd were treated to not one, not two, but three game-related Nehalem mentions. A live demo of Lost Planet: Colonies showed near seamless play on a laptop – something usually reserved for desktop configurations.

Keeping with the innovation theme, the talk focused on the truly leading-edge areas where Intel products and development are pushing ahead and changing the way people connect with each other and the world around them.

For the full rundown of Gelsinger’s keynote, surf over to the video section