Powering many of the intelligent devices in these market segments are technology solutions from Intel’s Embedded and Communications Group (ECG), led by Ton Steenman, vice president and general manager.

Recently I traveled to San Francisco with Steenman to meet with a small group of reporters and discuss the success and growth opportunity for Intel’s embedded business.

With over billion dollars in annual revenue, Steenman predicts sales to grow at a rate of over 25 percent per year over the next three years – a rate faster than the embedded market overall. Much of this growth he attributed to design wins secured over the last few years that are just now coming to fruition due to the long lead time for devices hitting the market in the embedded space.

Steenman also believes that working directly with leading brands to discover challenges the various market segments are facing, Intel is able to showcase the innovative ways in which technology can be integrated to develop a compelling solution to solve their business problems. A terrific example of this model coming to life is the adiVERSE virtual footwear wall developed with adidas. Using Intel technology adiVERSE allows adidas to offer shoppers their entire shoe collection within the confines of a traditional retail wall space. View the demo here.

Additionally, by offering a scalable product line from the low power Intel Atom processor family, to the Intel Core and Intel Xeon families, the embedded group is able to meet the wide range of needs. Though Intel Core and Intel Xeon represent over 40 percent of the group’s sales today, Steenman predicts the Intel Atom processor becoming 50 percent of volume growth within the next five years.

Enabling innovation in this space from intelligent farm tractors and autonomous robots, the Intel Atom processor has quickly become the fastest ramping product in Intel’s embedded history with over 5,400 design engagements – over 60 percent of those being conversions from a different architecture.

By bringing these innovative products and technology to the marketplace Intel’s embedded solutions aim to enrich our lives by putting intelligence into billions of devices that can be connected, secured and managed – creating a world embedded with innovation. So tell me, how could innovative Intel technology help you in your everyday life?

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Technology@Intel

This speed of development and innovation will help push Intel ahead of the pack in the tablet market. Today, the dialogue around tablets is focused on battery life – for good reason. The newly launched Atom Z670 (codenamed “Oak Trail”) provides up-to all day battery life1 – but as Intel begins this acceleration, battery life will quickly become a moot point. What was “all-day” will become all week or even all month battery life. Once this happens, Intel believes the key differentiation in tablets and other connected devices will be found in the features that are integrated into the silicon, and pure performance which enables a range of consumer benefits. This traditionally has been, and continues to be, Intel’s strength.

This industry is in the early stages of development, and has yet to realize its full potential. We believe that what lies ahead is far greater than what we’ve seen so far. With the launch of the Atom Z670 processor this week, we showcased a variety of new tablet innovations, including the Razer Switchblade gaming device, which incorporates a multi-touch screen with a dynamic keyboard that adapts and changes with the games being played.

Once was only for consumers, tablets are also finding their way into the workplace more and more. Traditional vertical businesses like healthcare are using tablets to help increase efficiency, improve productivity and save time. Motion Computing’s mobile clinical assistant is one such example of how tablets allow medical staff to directly input data into patients’ electronic files and avoid paper charting.

In the future, tablets may not even look like they do today. Other “hybrid-like” devices will offer consumers the choice of designs that flip, swivel, spin and slide providing both touch-screen and keyboard interfaces.

With so many new, innovative uses, and designs in store for tablets and other companion devices, one thing is clear: Intel’s current and future technologies will play a key role in the tablet market segment today and in the future.

What do you want from your next tablet?

1Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more information go to http://www.intel.com/performance.

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Technology@Intel

If you can think back to the pre big-screen HD movement, consumers more or less purchased TVs with a bigger (and really heavy) screen, once color became common.

But look at four recent developments, and one wonders if the TV can evolve to match the computing industry’s Moore’s Law-like speed — aka the opportunity for major innovations about every 24 months, or less.

Sure, the HD phenomena happened a while ago. But like my incredible vision after laser eye surgery many years ago that still sometimes awes me (especially at night when I can see the time from across the room), I still am occasionally wow’d by the picture I get on my TV.

How about three more recent innovations. First, today’s news. Smart TV, brought to you buy Intel (and the Atom processor), Google, Logitech and Sony. I’m not sure some of the ideas are going to take off, like a big public screen to IM or Tweet versus my nice private screen on my laptop or netbook, but the beauty of this is there will now be endless ideas, apps, searching, personalizing and other software people can innovate with the TV.

Second, 3-D TV. Have you experienced it? I don’t have one, and wearing the glasses is a bit annoying. But it’s a very cool experience, and it’s only just the beginning, as content is limted and the price is a bit high.

And then there’s the technology Intel introduced in January, that comes with our Core i7 processors. It’s called Wi-Di, or Wireless Display. Best Buy has been a big advocate of it, as the technology lets you wirelessly and easily beam you laptop screen to your TV screen. Check out Best Buy’s ad and description here.

It’s a fascinating time in TV land. According to Google, more than 4 billion people are TV users. That’s higher than cell phone and computer users combined. Americans watch TV about 5 hours a day, and spend many more hours on the Internet – often doing both at the same time.

So opening up the smart TV; letting people seamlessly beam their laptop screen and content to their TV, and viewing 3-D, high-definition content is upon us. And my guess is, we will see 10X more innovation on the TV in the next five years versus the past 5-10 years.

What do you think?

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Technology@Intel

Intel’s launch at CES of its Intel Core family of processors marked the first time systems based on 32 nm were made available and now you can find Intel’s 2010 Core(r) Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) processors also based on 32 nm. The chip design and unique manufacturing delivers 32 percent slimmer laptops and more than 32 percent better performance, in an ultra thin laptop. Some laptops will include other breakthrough technology that Intel pioneered with the Core processors: Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Intel HD Graphics and Intel Hyper-Threading Technology.

In addition to being smarter and faster, ultra thin laptops with Intel’s Core processor measuring about 0.8 to 1 inches thick, these lightweight computers weigh 1 to 2 pounds less than your traditional laptop.

To illustrate the power and performance, I encourage you to visit us as Computex in June to see our Ultra Thin systems on display or you can hear Mooly Eden present the technology in a replay of his recent webcast.

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Technology@Intel