Brian Krzanich
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Intel wants to make your autonomous car rides more entertaining
Once autonomous cars can routinely take over the monotonous, minute-to-minute responsibilities of actually driving, what are their human passengers supposed to do with themselves? Well, if Intel has any say, people will spend their trips being immersed in interactive fantasy lands.
Intel CEO controls a swarm of robot spiders with gestures
Forget the Apple Watch. Forget the Pebble Time. What you really need is a wristband that gives you the power to control an army of scary-looking drones. At IDF in Shenzhen, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich put on a simple Curie-powered wristband with motion detection, which then let him commandeer four robot spiders. With some simple gestures, Krzanich was able to make them stand up, change the LED colors on the drones, make them do "fist" pumps and eventually go back to idling. Sounds cute, right? Maybe not so much when you actually see this in action -- we have a video right after the break.
Intel's made a tinier, longer-range depth camera for phones
Intel's been a huge backer of gesture control plus 3D scanning, and so far it's managed to integrate its RealSense technology into select desktops, laptops, tablets and even drones. The missing piece of the puzzle? Smartphones. But that's no longer the case with Intel's latest RealSense camera, as showed off by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich at IDF in Shenzhen today. The new module is significantly smaller and slimmer than the previous version, has a lower thermal output, and claims to have a longer detection range as well. As such, Intel's able to fit it into a 6-inch smartphone prototype, though Krzanich, an exec known for taking risks with live demos, didn't turn on said device on stage.
Intel hands control of its mobile chip division to its Ultrabook chief
Intel may be king of the PC and laptop chip hill, but ARM's the reigning daddy when it comes to smartphones and tablets. Mostly this is because Intel's technology still lags behind ARM's ultra low power silicon, and because mobile software is predominantly geared toward the platform. So much so, in fact, that Intel's smartphone chip business lost $1 billion in the last quarter, but that isn't enough to deter the outfit from continuing. In fact, Brian Krzanich is taking the bold step of announcing that he's... reorganizing the company's chip divisions. In a memo, reported by the Wall Street Journal, the CEO has announced that the PC and mobile chip divisions will merge into a Client Computing group, with Kirk "Mr. Ultrabook" Skaugen at the helm. It makes a certain amount of sense, since Intel's PC division is raking in cash, and as Ultrabooks become more like tablets, there's a sensible level of crossover. Hell, maybe someone will come up with the idea of putting Haswell into a smartphone - which we're totally on board with.
Stephen Hawking asks devs to help Intel build a connected wheelchair
Why should developers be interested in developing on Intel's Galileo and Edison development boards? Because one of the smartest men on the planet thinks you should. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich paused the Intel Developer Forum 2014 keynote for a brief, encouraging message from renowned theoretical astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who introduced himself as "the guy who made black holes cool." His topic of choice wasn't space oddities, however -- but about how technology can be a life-changing force for the disabled. "Medicine can't cure me," Hawking said, "so I rely on technology. It lets me interface with the world. It propels me. It's how I'm speaking to you now."
Brian Krzanich takes the reins at Intel today
Today's the day, trivia fans, when "Paul Otellini" stops being the answer to the question "Who is the CEO of Intel?" A fortnight ago, after a prolonged bout of speculation, current COO Brian Krzanich was anointed as the Silicon Valley giant's sixth leader -- giving him a mere two weeks to order a new desk and buy a fancier sports car. He'll be joined by Renée James, who is assuming the mantle of company president today. The pair is taking control of a company that is top of the PC food chain, but which has yet to mount a credible challenge to ARM's mobile dominance -- but the strategic stuff can wait until tomorrow, once they've settled in. Update: Krzanich spoke with Reuters today and pledged to get Intel more competitive on the mobile front, going so far as to say that Intel "missed it" and that he will "make adjustments in [Intel's] architecture and our product choices."
