A Sneak Peek into Intel's Future

posted by Ken Kaplan on March 19, 2008

The Intel Developer Forum has been one of the most tech inspiring gatherings I’ve participated in since joining Intel in 2000. The latest incremental advancements, demonstrations that show visionaries are not creating pie in the sky, and the roadmap updates. Yes, the roadmap updates. What gets me zooming is the swirl of the people who come from around the world. Thousands of top hardware and software engineers upgrading their multicore skills and teaming up to build the next new thing — from supercomputers to tiny Mobile Internet Devices to the ever better performing wired and wireless world connecting us to the Internet. The technology is awesome, but the people attending IDF make it meaningful.

I’m remaining at headquarters as IDF 2008 kicks off in Shanghai April 2-3, but there are plenty of ways to get first-hand experiences live from the event by checking into this blog and its siblings, Research@Intel and Mobility@Intel. If you’re a software developer, check in with Josh Bancroft and friends at the Intel Software community. IT pros will be sharing war stories on Open Port. And for those fortunate enough to read simplified Chinese, the real action from the event is being shared here.

If it’s videos you like, we’ll help our bloggers post videos on channelintel. If you prefer the Facebook experience, please join our group or event page. Follow IDF on Twitter and we’ll follow you back. There’s also the one-stop Tumblr stream of online activity. As the event kicks off, fresh photos, videos, news and other materials can be found at the Intel Pressroom.

Business and tech press, and tech reviewers and bloggers who follow Intel just got a sneak peek at some of the technologies Intel is working on for IDF Shanghai. It’s interesting to get their take on how things are progressing, what’s working, what challenges are ahead.

I asked a few friends from various groups inside Intel what they were interested in, and here’s what they shared:

• Nehalem — Intel’s code name for its next entirely new chip design

• Dunnington — code name for six-core processors for servers and workstations

• Itanium — Intel’s family of processors for big servers

• Virtualization — a new learning track at IDF this year

• Montevina MIDs — Mobile Internet Devices built on Intel Atom and Intel Centrino Atom processor technologies

• WiFi/WiMAX wireless switching — see video I shot at IDF 2007 in San Francisco Multi-threading

• High Performance Computing

• Computerized digital camera (research)

• The social media crowd might enjoy MashMaker — see a video I shot at IDF 2007 in San Francisco

Is there something on the list you’re most interested in? Is there something you’d like to add to the list? What do you think will be the most important technologies demonstrated at the show?

Hope you can make it to Shanghai (register here) or join our team online as we share the IDF experience.

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tagged: Developer, Hardware, IDF, IDF2008, IDFShanghai08, Innovation, Intel Atom, Mobile Devices, Mobility, Nehalem, Shanghai, Tukwila, virtualization, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Wireless