Intel’s Kirk Skaugen, GM of the Client Computing Group, will be giving the opening keynote at Computex in Taiwan at 2pm local time and, as always at Computex, it’s an important one for Intel. The Internet of Things and wearables will feature in the keynote but we’re also likely to see some important mobile-PC related topics. The ultimate ‘reveal’ would be an Intel-based Windows 10 Mobile device, even a phone, but there are other things to think about too. Here’s a check-list of what you can expect. The keynote will stream live here.
Design wins on Atom X3, X5 and X7. You’ll probably see the Surface 3 highlighted as an example of an Atom X7 tablet but as this is Computex you’ll probably see a new Acer Switch 10 or the Asus T100HA being shown as examples of progress on Atom X5. Android tablets and phones will cover Atom X3 but there’s a possibility that Intel will use the chance to show a Windows 10 Mobile device, possibly a phone, possibly a tablet, running on Atom X3. That would be news!
Skylake, the 6th-generation Core, has to feature in the keynote somewhere. At IDF in Shenzen Intel demonstrated a Y-series ‘no-wires’ reference design with WiGig, wireless charging and an e-ink rear panel. It would make sense to show that again because it might be too early to show a real product for this Q4-targeted processor. Note that Y-series Skylake is the second generation Core M which was launched a year ago.
Intel will want to highlight progress with RealSense and that it can be used for Windows Hello authentication on Windows 10. RealSense is integrated into Asus’ new AIO and as the latest RealSense developer challenge just finished, there are good demo opportunities for security and gaming.
The Quark-based platforms Edison and Curie will need to be shown and you’re likely to get your fashion hit at that point. The Maker community will probably also get a mention.
NUCs, the Intel Compute Sticks, Big Data and the Taiwan PC ecosystem are likely to get mentions.
Let’s hope for some nice surprises, in just an hour from this post! The livestream should play through the embed below. If not, go here.
Update:
So the phone didn’t happen, but there were a few interesting things announced.
Acer Predator 8 runs on Atom X7
Panther Mountain next-gen reference design from Intel.
A big tablet? (next-gen AIO reference design)
Intel platform overview.
The Microsoft Hello / Realsense demo was quick and slick.
Last but not least, the most interesting were the intel ‘phablet’ refererence designs with built-in RealSense. These are likely to be targeted at the Android market but, think about Windows 10 Mobile. Could these be the Intel / Microsoft phones were were looking for?
