JustinRattner
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Intel research hopes to give computers human smarts, appreciate our idiosyncrasies
Intel's chief technology officer, Justin Rattner, doesn't own a smartphone. Well, not by his definition anyway. Talking in Tel Aviv, Rattner was evangelizing about the opportunities in machine learning, and outlining the goals of the firm's Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence. Working with Technion and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Intel plans to develop small, wearable computers that learn our behavioral patterns -- like where we left our keys -- and other things today's "smart" phones could never do. Intel's Israeli president, Mooly Eden, went on to claim that within five years, all five senses will be computerized, and in a decade, transistors per chip will outnumber neurons in the human brain. All that tech to stop you locking yourself out.
Intel testing context-aware API for smartphones and tablet PCs, teams with Fodor on dynamic travel app
Intel CTO Justin Rattner just described a future where your devices know more about you -- not just "where you are," but "where you're going," to use his words. Intel's working on a context-aware API that uses not only physical smartphone and tablet sensors (like accelerometers and GPS) but also "soft sensors" including social networks and personal preferences to infer what you're doing and what you like, and deliver these inferences to a "context engine" that can cater to your tastes. It's presently being tested in an app by travel guide company Fodors on a Compal MID that dynamically delivers restaurant and tourism suggestions based on these factors, and also in a social cloud service (demoed on a prototype tablet) that can show you what your friends are up to (using game-like avatars!) on the go. Rattner told us that the API itself is not quite like the typical experiments out of Intel Labs -- while there aren't presently plans to make the API publicly available, he said the context engine was made to commercial software standards specifically so it could become a real product should the technology pan out. In other words, Intel just might be agreeing to do all the heavy lifting for a new generation of apps. How sweet. %Gallery-102358% %Gallery-102357%
Intel demonstrates Light Peak on a laptop, says 10Gbps speeds are only the beginning
Folks in Brussels for Intel's European research showcase got to get their hands on the company's Light Peak this week, with the first demonstration of the optical cable technology running on a laptop. Outfitted with a 12mm square chip that converts the optical signal into data the machine can read, two separate HD video streams were piped to a nearby TV, which displayed them with the help of a converter box -- a necessary evil until the Light Peak chips are developed for the display side of things. According to Justin Rattner, Intel's CTO, the current 10Gb / second speeds are just the beginning. "We expect to increase that speed dramatically. You'll see multiple displays being served by a single Light Peak connection. There's almost no limit to the bandwidth -- fibers can carry trillions of bits per second."
Intel CTO predicts singularity by 2050
If Intel's CTO is correct, then man and machine could merge by the year 2050. Justin Rattner said that Intel's research labs are looking at human-machine interfaces and predicts that promising changes could come sooner than expected. For example, did you know that Intel is working on small, shape-shifting robots called "catoms" -- tiny inside the pocket, a million-strong team of micro-robots could one day reassemble into an earpiece, keyboard or say, full-torso heat shield that withstands the frictions of hyperspace (ok, we made that last bit up). During his keynote, Rattner said, "There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason, in the not so distant future." A date he pegs at 2050, not December 21st, 2012 as some would say. But with wireless power and 3-dimensional transistors on the horizon, well, who are we to argue? Besides, Intel has a pretty good record when it comes to predicting advances in technology, eh Gordie?
