SAN FRANCISCO — Intel has largely lost out in the smartphone and tablet markets. It s hoping history doesn t repeat itself with the Internet of Things.
At a media event here on Tuesday, the company touted its vision for this emerging new market. If the company has its way, in the Internet of Things, or IoT, smart wearable products, home automation gadgets and connected cars using its chips would communicate over networking equipment that run on Intel processors with computers in data centers that also run on Intel chips and use Intel software to analyze data and keep it secure.
Intel is delivering a comprehensive set of building blocks with a strong ecosystem to address the IoT opportunity, Doug Davis, senior vice president in Intel s IoT Group, said in a statement.
To help promote and move toward that vision, Intel at the event announced a collection of new chips designed for Internet of Things devices. The Quark D1000 and D2000, available now and by the end of the year, respectively, are standalone microcontrollers. The Quark SE system on a chip, which will be available in the first half of next year, includes gyroscopes, accelerometers and pattern matching software in addition to a microcontroller.
Intel also announced that Wind River, a maker of software for so-called embedded systems, will offer a pair of operating systems for Internet of Things devices that will allow them to tap into the company s cloud-based platform. That platform will allow the devices to tap into the processing power of cloud-based computers to run apps and analyze data.
At the event, Intel demonstrated how its companies could use its Internet of Things technology. A project from Honeywell, for example, showed how firefighers could wear sensors running Intel chips to monitor their environment, location and vital signs all in real time. That information could be communicated to commanders to allow them to more quickly help firefighters in distress or to better fight blazes.
Just as it did in smartphones and tablets, Intel faces a tough challenge from chipmakers designing chips using designs from ARM. ARM-based chips underly the Apple Watch and many other wearables, as well as many smart home products. Meanwhile, Nvidia and other companies are targeting the connected car space.
Photo: Sign from stage at Intel s Internet of Things event (Troy Wolverton/Mercury News).
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