Mobility@Intel

Talkin' Mobile Internet Devices, Netbooks, WiMAX at IDF

2008-09-03T22:32:06Z

For me, the Intel Developer Forum is a place to witness real progress, talk with tech demo lab gurus and test drive new devices and services before many of them hit the market.

I learn a lot about the engineering wonders being built into the latest chips — turbo mode for the new Nehalem-designed chips — but getting my hands on things like new laptops, mobile Internet Devices and netbooks helps me set my sights on how new technologies can help me experience my interest (photos, video making, collecting information, travel) in new ways.

I got to spend time with the super nice and wise Steve “Chippy” Paine from UMPCPortal.com, who keenly tested and collecting information of just about every MID and Netbook at IDF.

Here, Steve talks with Ubergizmo’s Hubert Nyugen, who joined us for our Tweet Up at the W Hotel the night before IDF opened.

From the first time I saw an MID, I thought they’d be a great on-the-go capture and share tool for social media lovers. But when I see Netbooks, I think the bigger screen and keyboard might be better suited for me.

Intel mobility software community gonzo Jeff Moriarty has some interesting MID @ IDF stories, including an upcoming “Dig It” video with a group of people talking about what MID or netbook fits best with their style and needs.

Meantime, here is a collection of IDF tech demo experts talking about some of the latest in wireless Internet and mobility tech trends at IDF.

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Big Stuff from the Big Stage........

2008-09-03T00:00:41Z

So……I’ve got some big news today in the world of demos (and things demo related). We did a live piece of video at Intel Headquarters today for a sneak announcement from our friends over at BigStage.com. And your favorite demo guy has all the goodies for a new hot web and content tool that internet users can really get their heads into.

Big Stage allows users to create their online “@ctor”, a digital avatar of themselves from just a few clicks of a regular digital camera. Now, this is something we’ve seen for a while now, but BigStage takes it to the next step. With the tools from BigStage, you can alter and manipulate costumes and expressions to give life to your creation, and put that “actor” directly into internet content.

That’s right. Ever wanted to see yourself in the Mona Lisa? I’ve done it. Play a cameo on your favorite TV sitcom? Been there. Digitizing yourself over Michael Phelps, so it looks like you hitting the wall for your 8th Olympic gold, and then send to all of your Facebook contacts? Priceless.

Check out Johnathan Streitzel from Big Stage talk to us about today’s big announcement.

There you go. An internet application with nearly limitless possibilities, something that always makes a demo guy drool (……don’t say I never did anything for ya). And today, it available to the non-nerd, non-geek internet viewing public. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free? It is. So load it up now, and show the MySpacers and Facebookers out there something that will really make their jaws drop. Social networkers UNITE!!!!

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Online Communication Challenged No More!

2008-09-02T16:39:28Z

Lets face it, unless you have the time to really follow the technology space closely, its likely you have been left behind on at least one of the more recent online communication tools. Keeping up on texting to IM to MySpace to Twitter can be overwhelming and even intimidating. As a parent, it can be even more so as there is never enough time in a day to get everything accomplished you need to. Even as an aunt, technology is the one sure fire way to connect with my 14-year-old niece who seems to text more than any other human on the planet. Without text, I’m sure I’d ‘talk’ with her much less than I do.

Here at Intel, we’ve put together a great resource for parents to demonstrate that communicating with their kids (or family or friends) in an online world really can be easy and accessible. With kids back in school - it may be one of your best bets at reaching your child on the go. You can find the guide here. Don’t be left in the dark; check it out and start building your accounts on your Intel-powered PC, mobile phone or Mobile Internet Device (aka MID). And if you happen to need a place to check out the ins and outs of PC-buying as well as other tips and tricks, PC.com is my go-to. Happy back-to-school!

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New Hard Drive Takes Hard Ride To Show Benefits of Intel SSDs

2008-08-22T22:20:37Z

Even before the Intel Centrino mobile technology mantra hit the scene in 2003, driving up laptop performance and increasing battery life required more than better, more efficient processors. It took a holistic approach of building efficiency into just about every component and feature — from the integrated wireless chips to smarter screens, better batteries and hard drives.

At IDF this week, I was eager to learn more about solid state drives (SSD), which are starting to become available in new laptops and other computers hitting the market. I grabbed an Intel SSD on the IDF Showcase floor, even juggle a few the wallet-sized solid state hard drives. They are nifty.

During Dadi Perlmutter’s Mobility technology keynote at IDF, we learned that Solid State Drives that can store 80 gigabytes of data are expected to go into production in 30 days with 160 gigabytes before the end of the year. The prices look a little higher than the hard drive in my new laptop, but the performance is higher, too — both in writing speed and lower energy consumption. These SSDs are filled with NAND memory chips and have no moving parts. They’re lighter than the spinning disk hard drive I have inside my HP work laptop, and they’re more rugged — that’s why I was allowed to juggle them…and even drop them several times…no harm done.

The new drives that will likely bring benefits to true mobile computing enthusiasts and companies who want their big server computers to be more energy efficient — with no moving parts, these SSDs run cool and require less electricity. If you’re using an SSD today, please let me know what how it’s workin’ for you.

The middle video shows an Intel SSD strapped to an off-road motocross bike racing in the Baja 500 track in Mexico, plus there two other videos on the benefits of Intel’s SSDs.

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Innovation Community Can Help Bring Hope and Opportunity, Says Intel Chairman Craig Barrett

2008-08-20T00:20:33Z

Today, I was talking with CNBC reporter Jim Goldman, who called Intel Chairman Craig Barrett the Johnny Appleseed of Technology, describing Dr. Barrett’s travel record and devotion to helping governments grow from the benefits of technology.

Today on stage at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Dr. Barrett talked about some of the key places technology is being used, then how WiMAX is helping bring new services to people around the world. In this video, he describes the spread of WiMAX and that the technology is likely reach 50 million people by the end of this year and more than a million people by around 2012.

ZDNet asks: Has Intel’s Craig Barrett taken over Bill Gates’ role as the chief ambassador of IT?.

Click To Play

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Video: Sneak Peek at Intel Atom-Powered Devices Appearing at IDF

2008-08-18T15:55:35Z

Last September, just prior to the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco 2007, I met up with Intel’s Mark Parker, who gave us a sneak peak at a wafer filled with Intel Atom processors (back then codenamed Silverthorne). Seeing a few of the prototype devices helped open my imagination to what these future mobile Internet devices (MIDs) could do.

In March of this year, I caught up with Ultra Mobility Group guru Uday Keshavdas just as his team was packing up MIDs for IDF Shanghai 2008. In this video he cracks an Atom powered MID open so we could see the Atom chip and guts inside.

Uday met with me the other day to show three Intel Atom-powered devices that will be on hand this week at IDF San Francisco, the special Oylmpic edition Lenovo ideapad. See him touch the screen and finger scroll through the IDF Blog.

Intel Software Community’s Jeff Moriarty will have the special edition Lenovo in San Francisco later today and through Thursday. Watch for meet up Tweets and posts — more details in his recent IDF blog.

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The Power of 802.11 Draft-N 3x3

2008-07-30T16:44:28Z

802.11 Draft-N is hot – up to 300 Mbps of bandwidth today with up to 450 Mbps of bandwidth tomorrow. But did you know that not all 802.11 Draft-N products are the same? To be a connoisseur of these differences, a little background is required.

The dramatic performance and range improvements of 802.11 Draft-N didn’t just come out of thin air. Well, actually they did thanks in large part to MIMO (pronounced my moh). Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) is a wireless breakthrough that takes on the physics of wireless signals by exploiting a radio-wave phenomenon called multipath. When a radio sends a signal, that signal will start to weaken as the distance from the transmitter increases. In addition, that signal can also get reflected and/or absorbed by walls, doors, or other obstacles resulting in weaker copies of the original radio signal.

802.11a/b/g networks with their simple Single Input, Single Output (SISO) technology can only receive and decode a single copy of these radio signals (usually the strongest signal received). 802.11 Draft-N networks with MIMO allow multiple antennas to receive multiple copies of the same signal in order to reconstruct the original signal. The more signals processed, the higher the likelihood of reconstructing the original signal. As a result, MIMO enables at least a 2x increase in range compared to SISO technology.

MIMO also uses multiple antennas to transmit multiple data streams (called spatial streams). By transmitting data over multiple antennas, performance or bandwidth increases by up to 5x with 300 Mbps Access Points and 8x with 450 Mbps Access points compared to SISO’s 54 Mbps single data stream. To use a highway metaphor, SISO systems are single lane roads and MIMO systems are multi-lane highways. More lanes mean more vehicles (i.e. data) at any given time.

Another point of interest is that MIMO supports different antenna configurations. A 1x2 configuration refers to a wireless device with 1Tx (transmit) and 2Rx (receive) antennas resulting in a receive data rate of up to 300 Mbps. Similarly, a 3x3 configuration typically refers to 3Tx and 3Rx antennas for a data rate of up to 450 Mbps when connected to tomorrow’s 450 Mbps Access Points; that’s 50% more than today’s 300 Mbps data rate.

Of course, these are raw data rate numbers and as with any wired or wireless network, are impacted by all kinds of factors, including Laptop configuration, network overhead, user congestion, distance, obstacles, and other types of interference.

The Intel® WiFi Link 5300 adapter for the new Intel® Centrino® 2 platform taps the raw power of 3x3 on the client side. And while no 3x3 APs are currently available, with performance numbers like these it’s only a matter of time. In the meantime, you can connect to today’s 802.11 networks including Draft-N APs. The bottom line is that for my next laptop purchase, I want the Intel® WiFi Link 5300 adapter for future-proofing. This performance will definitely come in handy for today’s and tomorrow’s apps like streaming HD video, mega-pixel photos, extreme gaming, gigabyte music collections, backups, etc.

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Wi-Fi Gets Personal with Intel's Cliffside Technology

2008-07-27T18:50:34Z

Wi-Fi has given us the freedom to connect to other computers and the Internet without wires. Wi-Fi is now spreading its wings into the world of consumer electronic (CE) devices. Everything from MP3 players and digital cameras to printers and projectors are jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. And there’s much more to come.

Intel’s Cliffside project will take wireless freedom one giant step further with Wi-Fi PAN (Personal Area Network) technology that will transform an Intel® Centrino® 2 notebook with an Intel® WiFi Link 5000 Series adapter into your own personal wireless network for seamlessly connecting and managing these CE devices.

What makes Intel’s Wi-Fi PAN technology a breakthrough is an innovative wireless architecture that allows a single Wi-Fi radio to function simultaneously as both a standard WiFi LAN client as well as the “access point” for a Wi-Fi PAN. Unlike Bluetooth PAN technology, Wi-Fi PAN connections are fast enough for big stuff like digital media content, and long-range enough to use all over the house or office. And the great thing is that the 100’s of millions of Wi-Fi devices already available today can connect to Intel’s Wi-Fi PAN.

Bypassing the need for a network access point for your CE devices opens up a world of cable-free simplicity, convenience, and freedom. Point-and-click connections link you to any Wi-Fi enabled device, independent from your Internet connection, allowing content to move freely, securely and instantly among the islands of digital media on your devices and media cards. Having your own personal Wi-Fi network also enables all kinds of new on-the-go possibilities. Quick one-on-one impromptu connections when no network is available are easy for sharing files between notebooks, printing to a Wi-Fi enabled printer, or presenting on a Wi-Fi enabled projector in a conference room.

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Life's Moving Faster, So Make the Future Unfold Your Way

2008-07-20T04:28:05Z

What a whirlwind week! Centrino 2 was launched, second quarter closed and on Friday Intel celebrated its 40th birthday. Something new sprinkled with a look back at achievements from the recent and distant past.

Whenever we’re asked to embrace something new, it’s rarely good to blindly accept things without exploring the change as an opportunity for improvement. You take the opportunity to look back and carry forward the best stories and achievements. It’s like taking those ingredients mixed with a dash of where you want to go…and baking the future.

“We’re not very good at predicting the future,” said Intel Chairman Craig Barrett this week.

But we can see practical possibilities and that inspire us “create the future,” as Intel Mooly Eden says in this video shot on Monday at the Intel Centrino 2 event. In many ways, Centrino 2 is a dream come true for Mooly because he’s been instrumental in creating energy efficient, higher performing mobile technology with built in Wi-Fi that became the original Intel Centrino Mobile Technology first introduced in 2003. Now having a laptop with wireless Internet access and long batter life is what many of us can’t live without.

Creating the future is the main theme of every Intel Developer Forum. August 19-21 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center is the time and place to see the best collection of new Centrino 2 laptops, new WiMAX news and demonstrations and other fresh mobility creations like netbooks, mobile Internet devices.

This will be my eighth year attending IDF in San Francisco. For me it’s one of the best place to see world class collaboration. It’s where I get to see how creativity, created years in advance, gets stamped into silicon, tuned with software and fitted for device makers so they can make new gadgets that capture our imagination before becoming a common part of our every day lives.

Now we have a new team blog devoted to IDF, so…share your technology wishes and help IDF unfold into the future your way. Here’s a collection of IDF videos on YouTube from the past few years…that might help trigger some thoughts.

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What's the Laptop Frequency, Kenneth?

2008-07-17T04:18:17Z

All laptops were tuned to Intel Centrino 2 inside the Mezzanine in San Francisco on Monday. Good thing for me because I’m hunting for a new notebook, something small and powerful for editing HD video and photos on the go.

Most of us are eager to get the best bang for our buck, so when new technology comes out we’re forced to redo our homework. That’s how I felt at the launch event — see photos. There are so many sweet, new laptops to choose from with more on the way.

So far topping my list is the nifty Sony V series, but I’m digging around for at least another week. Please help me with my homework and share what’s topping your list. I saw lots of people on Twitter sharing their favorite Centrino 2 laptop picks already. Even Engadget has some rapid fire snapshots of many of the fresh notebooks, most of them in black or dark gray finish…just what I like!

At the launch event, I talked to some of my Intel pals showing new laptops to the crowd. There was this Centrino 2 Extreme electro-terrific, flashing red Toshiba Qosmio for performance freaks.

I ran into Jon “Wireless Traffic” Marshall, who was setting the Wi-Fi airwaves in order. I remember San Francisco was named the most Unwired City a few years ago, but on Monday night the Wi-Fi traffic cop only found one rogue access point! Here’s how he found it:

I also got to catch up with Intel Insiders Tom Foremski and Sara Meyers, who were on the scene. Sara got into the Intel WiMAX car and Tom sat close to the Centrino 2 vPro section, where he captured video highlights from the technology presentation.

Intel Centrino 2 vPro technology — almost like having an IT pro under the hood able to remotely fix, send updates or reboot your laptop remotely — prompted a great question from the audience: Will vPro ever be available in consumer laptops? The answer was a question: wouldn’t it be great? Heck, I’d like a laptop that can phone home!

There will be lots to soak up in the coming days and weeks. This is a good place to see photos and learn more about Centrino 2. Meantime, I’m looking around and asking for tips from my tech savvy friends.

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Intel Centrino 2 Platform Spreads Its Wireless-N Wings

2008-07-15T21:00:15Z

In San Francisco on July 14, the Intel Montevina project morphed into the Intel Centrino 2 platform. Beyond jacking up performance and improving battery life, this beauty spread its wireless wings with the latest in Wireless-N (Draft-N) technology.

At the Intel Centrino 2 processor technology launch, the Intel WiFi Link 5300 with its 3x3 power (3 antennas, 3 spatial streams) was wirelessly connected to the Monsoon Multimedia Hava HD that broadcasted live HDTV out of thin air. I’ve seen this up-close-and-personal watching HD “soaps” on a Intel Centrino 2 notebook in my cube. It’s awesome!

You should definitely learn more about the powerful performance and extended range capabilities of the Intel WiFi Link 5300 running on the Intel Centrino 2 platform.

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Intel's Smart WiMAX Car -- Mobility "Innovision" for Centrino 2

2008-07-12T21:14:08Z

Intel baked mobility smarts into a new, eco-friendly Mercedes-Benz Smart car to show the wonders of mobile WiMAX while tooling down the road. It’s the next iteration of an away-from-home and out-of-office moving conduit connecting us to Al Gore’s information superhighway — a.k.a. life on the Internet.

If you’re in San Francisco on Monday, July 14 between 4 and 6:30 p.m., come see the WiMAX car in action at the Mezzanine. That’s where Intel’s celebrating the release of Intel Centrino 2, the second coming of the original Centrino, which brought built-in Wi-Fi and great battery life to laptops, helping ignite the worldwide demand for wireless Internet access in cafes, airports, hotels and other private and public places back in 2003.

If you’re an interested member of the press or blogger in the area, ask for me at the door and I’ll try getting you inside the press event to see the collection of new laptops. Maybe we’ll see something like this CNET story showing the new HP laptop. I’ll keep adding more stories here collection of Centrino 2 stories.

Intel’s Smart car shows the capabilities of driving while connecting to the high speed Internet using a mobile WiMAX connection. It’s rigged with Centrino laptop computing technology and has a daylight viewable touchscreen display integrated into the dash.

There are two Webcams, including one hidden in the rear view mirror pointed at the driver and another directed out the front window. And the 5.1 surround sound system plus GPS navigation system keep you in the groove — it’s not always the destination, but the travel between.

Inside the car, we can make Skype voice and video calls, select music on demand or find episodes of TV shows using services available on the Internet.

Crazy or brilliant? That’s how Time Magazine described an earlier Intel mobility technology demo on NBC’s “Today Show,” where they showed off Intel’s Wi-Fi Surfboard chosen as one of Time’s 2004 Coolest Innovations.

We shot this video on a spectacular day when I pulled the tech demo team out to the beach in Half Moon Bay, California.

It’s fun to look back before turning and taking a leap ahead. Like a twist of the old saying: you know better where you’re going when you know where you’ve been.

If you can’t make out on Monday, we’ll shoot a cruise through the streets of San Francisco’s SOMA district, capture video and share it on this blog. Meantime, please share any mobility lifestyle “innovision” ideas you have.

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Extreme Mobility Art and Tech Reaching New Heights

2008-07-12T18:19:46Z

Note: This post was written by Intel’s Elvin Ong.

Intel has recoiled tightly and about to uncork a new level of mobile computing with Intel Centrino 2. It’s the latest essential ingredients inside laptops jacking up performance, improving battery life and increasing wireless Internet experience on the go.

That’s where Parkour comes to mind. Parkour is the art and practice of movement, which is similar to what we at Intel like to call “mobility.”

The Website How Stuff Works put it this way:

…what if taking a morning jog didn’t mean training for a marathon or wearing short shorts? What if it meant creative, individual expression through acrobatic moves like leaping from walls and over gaps, ground rolls and precision jumping? Instead of running laps around the community park, you’d navigate through the city, making the urban landscape your personal obstacle course, a playground for strength, freedom, courage and discipline.

Parkour practitioners overcome obstacles quickly and efficiently, without using extraneous movement. Individual movements are defined by their intention to get somewhere using the most effective moves with the least loss of momentum. Being highly mobile and adaptive is the name of the game, with control and freedom to move through urban environment the way you want to. We see this sport much like how we see the new Intel Centrino 2 technology hitting the streets next week: powerful, mobile, in control with freedom to step towards your next move.

Laptops with Centrino 2 technology will be among the first to use DDR3. The latest 802.11n helps connect faster to the Internet and roam further, and provides performance or energy efficiency when it’s needed to ensure your notebook keeps up with you.

I could always go for improving the way I move while keeping tapped into my Internet life…how about you?

We shot this video with a Parkour group based in Sydney, Australia, where there’s an Australian Parkour Assiciation.

Parkour is becoming an international “movement” with groups all over. Here are some cool things to check out:

Parkour.net the “Official Parkour Portal” (registration required)
American Parkour
Parkour TV
Parkour Generations
Parkour is even inspiring new games.

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Enterprising Intel Mobility at Cisco Live 2008

2008-07-10T20:29:43Z

While I was stuck down on the Jones Farm, my colleagues in the MPG Wireless Go-to-Market team were rock’n at the 2008 Cisco Live conference in Orlando, Florida. This event is the mothership for serious enterprise IT with more than 10,000 attendees.

The Cisco Live theme “Power of Collaboration” was the perfect backdrop for this first-time Intel mobility presence. Lyle Warnke, Jon Marshall and Sanjiv Gupta drove Intel’s Diamond Sponsorship that set the stage for Intel, the leader in mobile platforms and wireless clients, and Cisco, the leader in wireless IT infrastructure to connect in a big way on next-generation enterprise mobility.

Intel has a great enterprise mobility story to tell this year, from the Intel® Centrino® with vPro™ Technology platform with business-class Wireless-N (802.11n) to the next level of mobile productivity with Intel’s WiMAX Broadband-On-the-Go technology.

The coolest thing at the Intel booth was first-time-ever technology demonstration of a connection between an Intel® Centrino® notebook with Intel’s Echo Peak WiMAX client and the Cisco WiMAX base station. This link up promises to unleash new mobility usage models for the enterprise and emerging markets.

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The Netbooks Are Coming

2008-06-02T17:04:40Z

A sneak peek of video footage debuting at Computex this week. See cool new netbook systems and usage models.

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Centrino 2 live in the wild…..WiMAX gods smile down with envy and delight

2008-05-31T05:03:15Z

Live from Computex 2008 in Taipei, your favorite demo guy gets his hands on the real deal.

I’ve never said that being a demo guy doesn’t have its perks. And today I’ve got my privileged hands on a brand spanking new Asus Centrino 2 (“Montevina” for us nerds) system, as I blog away under the sexy glow of my new mobile powerhouse. Mmmmmmmm…..Asus M51VA with Penryn (drool); I can feel the high-K love quadrupling my words per minute as we speak. Well, not really. But I do want to finish up my post so I can get back to playing, er…testing, World of Warcraft over the live Fitel WiMAX network here in Taipei.

That’s right. You heard me correctly. Montevina, WiMAX; live in Taipei. Kind of strange to say it all in one mouthful, but it’s finally here.

When WiMAX ships with Centrino 2 later this year, no add on card required, the Echo Peak mini-card hidden under the hood (like the one inside this Asus) promises the “always on” connection we’ve been lusting for. And now my Fitel WiMAX connection serves up a steady stream of bits while I leisurely stroll with it around the TICC to put it through the paces. How’s the streaming video, you ask? Kobe looked pretty good scoring 39 to put the Lakers in the NBA finals from my Slingbox back in the States (place/time-shifting, oh how I love thee). Skype rings clear as a bell, except maybe for the drowning concert of scooter horns that screech from the busy Taipei traffic. But online gaming over a live carrier network has long been my holy grail around WiMAX. Here from my outside park bench, after downloading my Warcraft client, I’m able log into the game world to slay all manner of goblins and over sized gerbils. It’s not the raw speed I’m looking for in this scenario, but the responsiveness, so my game character isn’t cut to ribbons by a rabid squirrel while he scratches his head awaiting the next delivery of network packets to tell him to run the hell out of there (cough 3G cough).

The best part of it all? It feels like WiFi, but I’m outside, and I can’t even SEE a Starbucks from where I’m at. Freedom!!! Only thing I have to worry about is the rain.

Oh Montevina, you crafty minx. You broke our hearts with the launch delay, but with all the new Centrino 2 platforms to be shown this week at Computex, it won’t be long before we kiss and make up with the promise of what will be the highest performing and best connected Centrino yet. More to come on Fitel’s WiMAX network and the other Intel Centrino 2 models here at Computex. But for now, please excuse me. It’s WoW time.

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My search for the one device…..and the horrible failure that followed……

2008-05-15T05:05:05Z

It’s nice to ease into things after a long sabbatical break. It’s amazing the soul searching you can enjoy stepping out of the tech industry for a brief, fleeting spell. But I’ve brought back with me a few words of wisdom to this week’s blog from the fruits of my travels.

I hate my phone.

It used to be a sort of non-confrontational thing. I knew my phone was stupid, and I would forgive it, ‘cause it was only a dumb phone. But if we just made phone calls together, everything was lovely. Let’s say my expectations were low in the early stages of our relationship. And then there were smarter and smarter phones; keyboards, push mail, and touch screens (oh my!). Then I thought that my phone could be everything that I wanted her to be. The one device for everything I need while away from my laptop.

My 1st manager at Intel consistently wore 2 phones, a pager, blackberry (back when it was only a smart pager), mp3 player, and a belt around his waist. He always commented on how it made him feel like Batman to have a utility belt. I vowed that would never happen to me, ever. And the dream of the one device was born.

Ever feel like throwing your phone in the microwave? I do. Connect to Google in there, loser!

My newest phone does it all. GPS, WiFi, full QWERTY, Bluetooth, toothpaste dispenser, video, music; and it sucks at all of them. It does web, but not the pages I want to go to. It’s got GPS navigation, but sometimes it tells me I’m in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It can play videos and music, but if I do the battery gets sapped so bad I’m all out of juice so I can’t……um….oh, yeah. Make phone calls. And now I daydream about my phone from 5 years ago and think, “Wow. We used to be great together.”

I just had to glance over to my phone to make sure I wasn’t getting a call. She’s extremely temperamental lately, giving me fewer and fewer rings to answer incoming calls. Sometimes I think she’s laughing at me.

I’m done. I’ve tried them all. I demo gadgets, it’s my job. And I can’t find the one device that does it all for me. iPhone is soooooo close, but so far away. The promise of cool and sexy MIDs raises my eyebrows of what the possibilities might be coming, but as a confessed gadget freak, I treat the phone like a jilted lover. I’ve heard this story many times before, and it has the same ending. Something involving me crying.

So here’s what I want. It shouldn’t be too unreasonable. One device, and I want it all.

Ultimate Mobile Device Top 5

Mobile web dies in 2008. Give me the real stuff.

Full functioning browser. Phone browsers are the worst, let me open YouTube, and the other pages will follow. Safari on the iPhone is the closest, but give me PC java or don’t come at all.

Blazing fast connection…..to everything

3G is almost there, but performs like an Olympic sprinter who turns an ankle every 300ft. Fast…slow….fast….slow. Also, I want the same experience I have wired in; gaming, video streaming, remote access. Now that the Clearwire/Sprint deal is cooked, maybe we can finally see some WiMAX networks in ’08. Most of all, I think it’s long overdue to have a usable video conference for our mobile devices (it’s not like I’m asking for flying cars here).

Gaming

…and I mean a game that was not made before 1985, or a spin off of Tetris. What makes the industry think just ‘cause I’m mobile I must love Pong. If you don’t know what I mean by handheld gaming, take a look at the PSP.

Outside-in/Inside Out

I’ve got a Core2Quad at home connected to the most advanced home network in 3 counties. 2TB of pics, docs, TV, and movies. When I’m on the go, I want them all. And when my device is full, I want to upload my content back home or to the web. It all started with Slingbox, now there’s no excuse to not have it all.

Battery life, buddy!

The deal breaker for the single device. I feel slighted working at Intel with all of our hard work making higher performing, lower power processors, and introducing battery saving technologies in Integrated GFX and NAND flash disk drives. What have the battery guys done for us lately? We’ve been through 4 generations of power reducing mobile platforms, and I’m still using the same Li-Ion battery? Get to work!!! Toshiba was working on a new laptop battery powered by manure. No thanks, but at least someone is trying.

Oh, and did I mention it had to make phone calls, too? So that’s it. My last “smartphone” has just hit the bin, and I’m going back to a slim candy bar, circa 2002. It’s like a load has been taken off my shoulders, no longer forced to max 90min talk time and 15fps video. I’m looking forward to using a mobile device without contempt. I say let your phone be itself…….that is, until I find something better……

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Launching the Centrino based Asus Lamborghini VX3 in Style

2008-05-01T21:53:03Z

I missed out on one cool work related party last week filled with fast laptops and fast cars. Yes, I just said cool and work party in the same sentence. Just outside of L.A., California, Intel co-hosted the launch party of the sleek new ASUS-Lamborghini VX3. This was an all-out, true “L.A.” style celebrity studded affair. The lineup included Luke Perry of 90210 fame, Eric Roberts (soon appearing in the new Batman flick), and comedian Jamie Kennedy at the Orange County Lamborghini dealership. Here’s some sights and sounds from the event.

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What's in Your Pocket?

2008-04-25T18:34:50Z

After seeing all the new pocket-sized internet devices at IDF, I started wondering what people were carrying in their pockets on the streets of Shanghai. So on the last day of the event, with Josh videotaping and Helen providing the translation, we went outdoors and asked people “What’s in your pocket?” It was a fun way to be blatantly nosey. Take a look at some of the people we met. Oh, in case you’re interested, I currently have a lipstick, a cell phone, and a hotel address card in my pocket. Enjoy.

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MIDS Photo Shoot

2008-04-08T16:55:02Z

Back home from Shanghai with Bronchitis and feeling pretty bad but I did want to share some low-res photos of the new mobile Internet devices we photographed while in Shanghai. As my colleague, Josh Bancroft, pointed out in his blog, “Bonus Video: My First Hands-On with a MID (Mobile Internet Device)”, access to these devices is limited. So we had to schedule our professional shoot between IDF sessions from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Next step is to do some post-production work, add screen shots and we will be ready for the launch of products in Q2 and Q3.

I really liked how the devices felt in my hand. Screen size was perfect. They weren’t too heavy and could be easily carried in a pocket or in my case, a purse. I am looking forward to learning more about specific applications to be offered on each product. I understand that all will be centered around offering full internet access but they will be differentiated by the unique applications they offer like GPS or special entertainment services. And I did confirm that lost taxi cabs can be avoided with one of these devices at your side. I hope to have one before my next major trip.

Lenovo

Clarion Red

Clarion White

Clarion Black

Gigabit with sliding keyboard

BenQ

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VIDEO: Ingredients Improving Mobile Computing

2008-04-03T21:51:16Z

One chip architecture designed that works in servers down to tiny mobile devices?

Solid state drives?

Built-in, anti-theft asset and data defense technology — Ars Technica’s take.

WiMAX really coming this year? It’s being prepped for mobile computers, says Gizmodo from CTIA.

During his keynote at the IDF in Shanghai this week, Intel’s Mobility technology mastermind Dadi Perlmutter highlights of technologies he believes are helping drive improvement in our mobile computing lives.

See the keynote in its entirety here.

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VIDEO: Moorestown -- The Heart of Future Mobile Internet Devices

2008-04-03T20:00:31Z

Power and performance matter, especially in your pocket. Sounds like a line out of “American Gigolow.”

In his keynote at IDF in Shanghai this week, Intel Ultra Mobility maestro Anand Chandrasekher got the crowd fired up about little things. Tiny chips that will bring big changes to computing devices that let us carry small, but live large on the Internet. I’m dreaming of the day I get one, because I believe it will help me capture and share stories on my blog and with my networks easier, quicker.

Anand shares the latest on Intel Atom processor (new devices!) and holds up a “Moorestown,” what he calls “the heart” of future mobile Internet devices.

See the full keynote here.

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Are We There Yet?

2008-04-02T03:09:10Z

Hello from Shanghai. I am here attending the Intel Developers Conference and managing a photoshoot of mobile internet devices(MIDs) that will be launched later this year. This is my first time visiting China and my first time blogging. I am excited to see Shanghai but not sure about the blogging. Based on how my trip started here I know it all will be a great adventure.

It began with a crazy cab ride from the airport to my hotel. The hotel driver didn’t meet me so I had to get my own taxi. Usually no big deal but I didn’t have the hotel information in Chinese. A local contact for IDF helped me by providing instructions to the cab driver and I was off to the Eton Hotel. An hour and half later and several u-turns I knew my cabby was lost. Yes, not asking for directions is a universal affliction. And unfortunately I only know how to say “Are we there yet” in English and broken Spanish. Anyway my kindly cab driver finally stopped and asked for directions to the hotel. Meanwhile, I am sitting in the backseat feeling really foolish. I started thinking about the info I had in my laptop. I remembered the hotel website with driving directions and the IDF website with a map. Helpful stuff, I hadn’t printed out and didn’t have access to it when I needed it. Which leads me to why I am here at IDF—To learn more about the cool mobile internet devices available to buy later this year. Will these devices allow me to quickly pull up websites, get directions and help stubborn cab drivers? And most importantly, can they tell me where I can find designer handbags and shoes while I am here. Stay tuned.

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Centrino Atom awaits its unveiling

2008-04-01T23:00:45Z

As we prep for day 1 at IDF, the buzz is palpable. Of course, just being in Shanghai on the banks of the Yellow river is buzz enough. But when you walk around and see all the posters, companies and VIPs beginning to pour in, you know something is in the works.

I also got my hands on Lenovo’s promotional video on their new U8 product. Most of us have seen it, but rumor has it that the software has a significant update since we saw it last.

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VIDEO: Cracked An Atom, Then Packed for IDF Shanghai

2008-03-31T23:03:42Z

Friday at Intel headquarters, I met up with Ultra Mobile Man Uday Keshavdas to see what he was packing up for his trip to Shanghai for the Intel Developer Forum. In this video, we go inside his work area and see some of the devices his team demostrated at the Consumer Electronics Show. He’s fired up to see how people react to the new designs that will be revealed at Shanghai this week, especially the sleek, new user interfaces. Then he cracks open an mobile Internet device (MID) showing where the Intel Atom processor fits. That thumbnail area packs in the computing oomph many have yet to experience in such a tiny mobile device.

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