Intel touts embedded systems

The future is a world we don't even notice technology in as it has embedded into the fabric of society, according to Pat Gelsinger, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group.

Speaking at a keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Gelsinger highlighted the ever growing trend toward increasingly embedded and mobile technology.

Research suggests that the number of notebooks is about to surpass the number of desktops available, and Intel predicts that by 2015 there will be 15bn internet connected devices in use around the world.

According to Gelsinger, this accelerating shift toward mobility, computer power and connectivity means that technology will increasingly become seamlessly embedded into almost every aspect of our daily lives.

"The most powerful technologies are those that disappear, becoming embedded into the fabric of society," he said.

During his speech, Gelsinger demonstrated several new and developing systems in this field, including face recognition entry home automation systems, which use facial recognition for security and climate adjustment, IP media devices and in vehicle info-tainment systems that span media, 3D GPS, localised information and personal updates such as calendars and email.

The presentation went on to specify some of the major barriers that developers still face in this arena. Reliability and long life; scalability; power and cost; privacy and data security; IPv4 addressing and closed standards were all marked as potential stumbling blocks to the continued growth of embedded computing.

However, Gelsinger went on to explain how Intel is addressing each of these issues with the development of its architecture and close working with other developers in the industry on topics and open standards for things such as encryption, IPv6 and WiMax.