BANGALORE, INDIA: In his keynote at Computex 2009 at Taipei today, Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Intel Corp. discussed the ambitious efforts called Project Blue undertaken by Intel to bridge the digital divide.
Through this program Intel is addressing the digital divide problem with the help of affordable computing and broadband combined with the various usages of the Internet which create strong desirability to own a PC.
"This is a very exciting time for India," said R. Sivakumar, MD, sales and marketing, Intel South Asia. "We believe Intel’s Project Blue is going to help us end the digital divide in India by increasing PC penetration in the country ten-fold by 2012. The initiatives we are introducing offer compelling and unique value propositions for our customers in India."
Connectivity in India
In May 2008 at the World Congress of IT at Kuala Lumpur, the government laid out a bold vision of 500 million Internet users, (a ten-fold growth from current 49 million users), 100 million broadband connections (a thirty-fold growth from current 3.6 million) and 100 million connected devices all by 2012. Referred to as the 511 vision, it has today led to national consensus that broadband penetration will be the next big driver of economic growth.
Despite all this, today we have a 2 percent broadband and a 3 percent PC penetration rate across households in India. Project Blue is an effort to address this in a manner which resolves issues of both cost and connectivity.
Project Blue: 10x PC penetration by 2012
Under the aegis of Project Blue, Intel India is undertaking a number of efforts to bridge the digital divide.
To address these issues, Intel is developing Internet centric computing devices: Nettops that are WiMAX enabled. Integrating WiMAX connectivity into Nettops makes not only access affordable but also makes them easy to use and to deploy.
At Computex today, Intel showcased concepts from HCL Infosystems of nettops integrated with WiMAX, designed specifically for first-time PC users in markets like India.
HCL Infosystems' chairman Ajai Choudhary, said: “We are pleased to work with Intel to bring these solutions to the Indian market. The WiMax–enabled nettops from HCL Infosystems, based on the Intel Atom processor will provide the next billion users in India with their first experience of computing and the Internet and we look forward to supporting all efforts in bridging the digital divide.”
Intel expects these nettops to be available in India from OEMs in the second half of 2009 at very attractive price points. Additional information on specific devices will be announced in the coming months.
Showing posts with label Project Blue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project Blue. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Intel's Maloney outlines industry growth opportunities @ Computex
COMPUTEX, TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Intel Corp. executive Sean Maloney today said his company's relentless commitment to innovation will help drive tremendous future growth throughout the computing and communications industries, particularly in mobile and wireless.
During the opening keynote speech at Computex, one of the world's largest technology trade shows, Maloney, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer, Sales and Marketing Group, unveiled a new family of ultra-low voltage mobile processors. The mobile processors will enable lightweight, attractive and ultra-thin Intel-based laptops less than 1 inch thick at a variety of new and more affordable price points.
Maloney also conducted the first public demonstration of "Pine Trail," the next-generation Intel Atom processor-based platform for netbooks and nettops. These affordable devices –- combined with broad-reaching communications networks such as WiMAX -– can help bridge the digital divide. Intel is also planning new desktop PC chipsets that will make high definition (HD) available to mainstream desktop systems by the end of the year.
Maloney also congratulated Taiwan on shipping more than 1 billion Intel processor-based motherboards1. He pointed out how Taiwan's technology industry has become the "innovation hub" for the global IT industry and challenged Taiwan's tech industry to take advantage of emerging technology transitions to create continuing demand and growth.
Intel will also deliver the "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" processors in the second half of the year and ship "Westmere" chips based on Intel's 32nm manufacturing with the company's second-generation Hafnium-based high-k metal gate transistor formula soon after. Combined, Maloney said the technology industry will have an almost infinite number of opportunities to create and ship new products into markets worldwide.
"Business growth has always come from new technology transitions in our industry," Maloney said. "This year, we have a series of new technologies based on second-generation, high-k metal gate, as well as new software and WiMAX developments."
One such growth opportunity is the Intel Atom processor. In the year since Intel introduced Atom for netbooks and created this new category, the Intel-based devices have taken the world by storm with more than 75 netbook designs in retail stores and tens of millions units sold.
Netbooks are compact mobile devices designed for basic Internet-related tasks such as browsing, listening to music, e-mailing and viewing videos. They are suited for first-time Internet users and people who desire an extra PC. They can also be used for playing basic online games, social networking and making voice-over-IP phone calls.
While demonstrating "Pine Trail" running on a netbook, Maloney said it would have improved performance, lower thermals and a reduction in average power for longer battery life. It will also feature an increased graphics core frequency for improved visuals. "Pine Trail" will be a two-chip platform versus today's three-chip platform, with graphics and memory controller moving onto the processor, resulting in a smaller overall footprint that enables smaller, thinner designs and lower platform cost.
In addition, Maloney showed a beta version 2.0 of the Moblin operating system project for netbooks. The Moblin project features a rich, new user interface, better system responsiveness and fast boot times.
To demonstrate how easy and fun the Intel-based netbooks can be to use, five children joined Maloney to do an online scavenger hunt. Maloney also mentioned that children or second and third computers in the home were a mostly untapped growth market.
Maloney invited Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager, Mobile Platforms Group, on stage to show off the latest Intel-based laptops including ultra-thin systems, which Intel believes will be a new major volume sales market for the company.
These Intel-based ultra-low voltage notebooks can measure under an inch thick, weigh less than 3 pounds and can include wireless options such as Intel My WiFi or WiMAX.
For computer users particularly interested in thin and light platforms, these products offer the best possible tradeoff between space, weight, performance, power and price. Intel has offered ultra-low voltage processors for more than eight years, and last year introduced a smaller version of these chips for ultra-thin systems -- thin enough to even fit inside an envelope. With this new introduction the starting price for sleek ultra-thin systems can be as low as $499, more affordable for mainstream consumers.
Regarding the future of desktop PCs, Maloney said, "Our next-generation chipsets are taking our 32nm processor performance to mainstream PCs with products such as 'Clarkdale' and 'Arrandale' dramatically improving the PC experience."
Maloney said despite the slowdown in the world economy, HD video is growing at an incredible rate. In fact, HDMI is the most popular interface technology for HD and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 23 percent through 2012.
Intel's next-generation processor, "Lynnfield," will deliver stunning HD to mainstream desktop PCs and become available in the latter half of this year. Maloney said that compared to last year's "Penryn"-based mainstream solutions, computer users can expect more than 40 percent better performance2.
Another growth area is bridging the digital divide, the more than 5 billion people around the world who have never had access to or used computers. Maloney believes the best way to solve this problem is to address both cost and connectivity challenges.
He disclosed an initiative Intel is working on in India called "Project Blue" that combines affordable nettops based on the Intel Atom processor with WiMAX connectivity.
During the opening keynote speech at Computex, one of the world's largest technology trade shows, Maloney, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer, Sales and Marketing Group, unveiled a new family of ultra-low voltage mobile processors. The mobile processors will enable lightweight, attractive and ultra-thin Intel-based laptops less than 1 inch thick at a variety of new and more affordable price points.
Maloney also conducted the first public demonstration of "Pine Trail," the next-generation Intel Atom processor-based platform for netbooks and nettops. These affordable devices –- combined with broad-reaching communications networks such as WiMAX -– can help bridge the digital divide. Intel is also planning new desktop PC chipsets that will make high definition (HD) available to mainstream desktop systems by the end of the year.
Maloney also congratulated Taiwan on shipping more than 1 billion Intel processor-based motherboards1. He pointed out how Taiwan's technology industry has become the "innovation hub" for the global IT industry and challenged Taiwan's tech industry to take advantage of emerging technology transitions to create continuing demand and growth.
Intel will also deliver the "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" processors in the second half of the year and ship "Westmere" chips based on Intel's 32nm manufacturing with the company's second-generation Hafnium-based high-k metal gate transistor formula soon after. Combined, Maloney said the technology industry will have an almost infinite number of opportunities to create and ship new products into markets worldwide.
"Business growth has always come from new technology transitions in our industry," Maloney said. "This year, we have a series of new technologies based on second-generation, high-k metal gate, as well as new software and WiMAX developments."
One such growth opportunity is the Intel Atom processor. In the year since Intel introduced Atom for netbooks and created this new category, the Intel-based devices have taken the world by storm with more than 75 netbook designs in retail stores and tens of millions units sold.
Netbooks are compact mobile devices designed for basic Internet-related tasks such as browsing, listening to music, e-mailing and viewing videos. They are suited for first-time Internet users and people who desire an extra PC. They can also be used for playing basic online games, social networking and making voice-over-IP phone calls.
While demonstrating "Pine Trail" running on a netbook, Maloney said it would have improved performance, lower thermals and a reduction in average power for longer battery life. It will also feature an increased graphics core frequency for improved visuals. "Pine Trail" will be a two-chip platform versus today's three-chip platform, with graphics and memory controller moving onto the processor, resulting in a smaller overall footprint that enables smaller, thinner designs and lower platform cost.
In addition, Maloney showed a beta version 2.0 of the Moblin operating system project for netbooks. The Moblin project features a rich, new user interface, better system responsiveness and fast boot times.
To demonstrate how easy and fun the Intel-based netbooks can be to use, five children joined Maloney to do an online scavenger hunt. Maloney also mentioned that children or second and third computers in the home were a mostly untapped growth market.
Maloney invited Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager, Mobile Platforms Group, on stage to show off the latest Intel-based laptops including ultra-thin systems, which Intel believes will be a new major volume sales market for the company.
These Intel-based ultra-low voltage notebooks can measure under an inch thick, weigh less than 3 pounds and can include wireless options such as Intel My WiFi or WiMAX.
For computer users particularly interested in thin and light platforms, these products offer the best possible tradeoff between space, weight, performance, power and price. Intel has offered ultra-low voltage processors for more than eight years, and last year introduced a smaller version of these chips for ultra-thin systems -- thin enough to even fit inside an envelope. With this new introduction the starting price for sleek ultra-thin systems can be as low as $499, more affordable for mainstream consumers.
Regarding the future of desktop PCs, Maloney said, "Our next-generation chipsets are taking our 32nm processor performance to mainstream PCs with products such as 'Clarkdale' and 'Arrandale' dramatically improving the PC experience."
Maloney said despite the slowdown in the world economy, HD video is growing at an incredible rate. In fact, HDMI is the most popular interface technology for HD and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 23 percent through 2012.
Intel's next-generation processor, "Lynnfield," will deliver stunning HD to mainstream desktop PCs and become available in the latter half of this year. Maloney said that compared to last year's "Penryn"-based mainstream solutions, computer users can expect more than 40 percent better performance2.
Another growth area is bridging the digital divide, the more than 5 billion people around the world who have never had access to or used computers. Maloney believes the best way to solve this problem is to address both cost and connectivity challenges.
He disclosed an initiative Intel is working on in India called "Project Blue" that combines affordable nettops based on the Intel Atom processor with WiMAX connectivity.
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