10 Cool Products That Turned Heads At Intel Solutions Summit 2016
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Intel's products aim to transform how users experience devices -- but Intel's Technology Provider partners are the ones taking those devices and offering solutions, as well as identifying viable business applications.
From wireless charging technology, to RealSense 3-D cameras, to small-form-factor PCs, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is pushing the limits on today's products in client computing, data center and the Internet of Things. The company showed off its latest technology during Intel's Solutions Summit last week in Orlando, Fla.
Following are the 10 coolest products, and how they are being utilized in the workplace, that Intel showed off during its partner conference last week.
Wireless Charging
Since last year, Intel has tried to eliminate the tangle of wires and cables in businesses as part of its vision of a more mobile-friendly work environment. At Intel Solutions Summit, Intel showed off one technology that accelerates its vision of workplace transformation: wireless charging.
On the show floor, Intel displayed an example of its 5W wireless charging base on a Mini-ITX-based All In One PC. Wireless charging capabilities eliminate the need for charging cables, so that a user just needs to place the device on the charging pad base of the desktop.
RealSense Technology
Intel showcased its RealSense depth-perception technology, which has a variety of applications, including 3-D cameras and virtual reality gaming.
The Intel RealSense 3-D depth camera, introduced at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, is powered by ultra-thin processors and a depth sensor to provide enhanced 3-D camera features. Using this technology in VR, consumers can use the camera's spatial technology to pick up or drop various objects in the virtual room, allowing them to actually interact with the VR world itself. RealSense is on the market and is mostly used in PCs for facial recognition and finger tracking.
Intel Wireless Display
As part of its vision of workplace transformation, Intel showcased its wireless display, dubbed Pro WiDi. Pro WiDi is aimed at improving the user experience in conference rooms by eliminating the need to use cables or trade seats when sharing content from transmitter devices, like laptops, Ultrabooks and tablets, as well as facilitating collaboration in less formal meeting areas.
Powered by Intel's latest Core vPro processors, Pro WiDi is designed to enhance security by offering a secured Wi-Fi Direct connection to Intel Pro WiDi-enabled displays, adapters and projects. In addition to security, Pro WiDi features the PROSet IT Admin tool for IT manageability.
Intel Inside Devices
During ISS, Intel showed off how its Intel Inside branded technology is driving new experiences in the client computing space. For instance, mobile devices powered by Intel contain an array of features, such as "face beautification," which is a smart, automatic real-time special effect feature for video chat.
Other consumer experiences that Intel technology powers in the client computing space include camera settings that allow users to make their eyes look larger and faces appear slimmer, as well as lighten and smooth the appearance of their skin.
Intel technology also powers multi-app support, which is usable across popular video conference apps, and enables a unified user interface.
Skull Canyon NUC
Intel took the wraps off its Skull Canyon NUC, its latest Next Unit of Computing mini PC kit that system builders can gear toward digital signage, media centers and kiosk solutions.
Skull Canyon will start at $650 and be available in May, according to Intel. An Intel spokesperson confirmed that it will be available to the channel. On the processor front, Skull Canyon packs a sixth-generation Intel Core i7-6770HQ processor that expends 45 watts -- a higher-end processor than those in previous NUCs.
Intel's NUC now contains support for newer ports including Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 and DP1.2. There also are four USB 3.0 ports and a full-size SD slot.
Compute Stick With Skylake
Intel also showed off its Compute Stick, which thecompany dubs its "PC on a stick’ form factor.
The $150 Compute Stick is essentially a USB drive for HDTVs and monitors that can double as a low-powered Windows 8.1 PC. Most recently, Intel lifted the curtain on new renditions of the Compute Stick -- this time sporting Intel's new, more powerful Core m3 and Core m5 Skylake processors.
These new Compute Sticks, which will be available in May, offer higher performance and a more powerful computing experience, Intel says.
Enthusiast Gaming
Intel displayed its new enthusiast-based technology for gamers, through its sixth-generation Intel Core unlocked processors. According to Intel, enthusiast systems running on Skylake processors can have a quad-core base frequency of 4GHz, 8 MG of cache memory and support for up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM memory, as well as the ability to run two video cards.
Intel has also revealed its enthusiast-targeted NUC, Skull Canyon, which packs a sixth-generation Intel Core i7-6770HQ processor that expends 45 watts -- a higher-end processor than those in previous NUCs.
Intel Braswell Fanless Mini PC
Mini PCs played an important role in Intel's client computing segment at ISS this year, and Intel showed off an array of examples of Mini PCs that pack desktop power into tiny packages and offer faster meeting starts, wireless connections and multiple display capabilities for workplaces.
Intel's Braswell mini PC, one such product, runs on a quad-core Celeron N3150 processor and packs Intel HD graphics, with 4 GB of DDR3 memory and 128 GB of internal storage. The mini PC also runs Windows 10, and contains a USB 3.0 port as well as microphone and headphone jacks.
Intel Scalable System Framework
Intel showed off its Scalable System Framework configurations, which allow partners to reimagine the idea of high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure.
Intel's Scalable System Framework provides balanced computing solutions with a combination of various Intel products, including the Xeon Phi processors, Intel Omni-Path Fabric and Intel Enterprise Edition for Lustre software. Intel's solid state drive data center family and Intel software tools for HPC are also part of its Scalable System Framework to help systems tout performance and scalability to enable larger system sizes.
Intel Unite
Intel aims to make workplaces more mobile with Intel Unite, new software to complement its vPro technology platform.
Intel Unite, software to power secure, connected meeting spaces, is the latest addition to Intel's vPro technology, which is powered by fifth-generation Intel Core vPro processors to promote a wireless and increasingly mobile workplace. Customers can use the software as an application for seamless collaboration to see and interact with content, as well as share screens wirelessly.
Intel Unite supports multiple operating systems, including Windows and Mac OS X.