Intel Shows Skylake, Sets the Stage for 2015 Computers

At its annual Intel Developer Forum this week in San Francisco, Intel seemed to focus on expanding the concept of computing into everything from wearables and the Internet of Things to large high-performance computing. But if there was overarching theme, it was how the company seems to understand that the way computing is performed at almost every level needs to be rethought, due to the growth of mobile computing, such as tablets and smartphones, and Web-scale cloud computing. To that end, it promoted the new products in all of these areas. But perhaps, more surprisingly, it offered a new look at how it expects traditional personal computers - notebooks and desktops - to evolve to fit into this new world.

As it has been for the past couple of years, Intel continues to push the concept of 2-in-1s - tablets that turn into clamshell desktops through the additional of a keyboard.

Kirk Skaugen, general manager of Intel's PC Client Computing Group, continued to point out how the systems were quite light and flexible, working for content consumption and creation. He reiterated the mantra of how a 2-in-1 can be 'a tablet when you want it, and a laptop when you need it.' He did point out the need for 2-in-1-aware applications, those that have different user interfaces when used on a tablet than when they are used in a clamshell orientation, but while he showed off a game that did offer touch-screen navigations, I wish we would have seen more. Without more applications, including the standard productive applications, I'm not sure 2-in-1s really solve the problem.

Much of the focus was on the recently announced 14nm Core M processor, based on the Broadwell architecture, and the new machines that support it, most of which were shown the week before at the IFA conference. These systems should start shipping next month.

For traditional notebooks, Skaugen reiterated that the company was also planning on producing 'millions' of full-power chips in the Broadwell family, to be sold under that traditional Core i3, i5, and i7 brand names, with plans to formally introduce these chips in the first quarter of 2015.

He also highlighted the recently introduced Extreme Edition ('Haswell-E') desktop processors, led by the company's first 8-core, 16-thread chip aimed at the gaming market, the Core i7-5960X, including a demo of using it to play Tomb Raider across three 4K displays. '12K gaming' is pretty impressive. That, of course, uses high-end discrete graphics cards. For the lower end of the market, Skaugen said Intel's integrated Iris and Iris Pro graphics could do '80 percent of what discrete cards can do.' That's fine for many games, but I think serious gamers will still likely want discrete graphics chips and cards.

At Intel CEO Brian Krzanich's keynote, he and Skaugen introduced the follow-up to Broadwell, which will be known as Skylake. Like Broadwell, this will be produced on Intel's 14nm process, but will include the next-generation microarchitecture. According to Skaugen, 'You should expect a significant increase in performance, in battery life, in power efficiency, all on this new product.'

At the keynote, he demonstrated a reference system with an early version of the chip running 3Dmark. In a later presentation, he showed off a 2-in-1 running a game at 4K that will be a software development vehicle using Skylake with Intel's Iris Graphics that he said will be available in 'high volume' in the first quarter of 2015. He said actual customer systems were on track for launch in the second half of next year.

One big advantage of this platform, he stressed, would be the concept of 'no wires.' Skaugen held up a bunch of wires, chargers, and connectors he said he takes with him as he travels, and said one big goal was to get rid of all of these over time. One technology that Intel has been pushing for some time is Wireless Display (Wi-Di), its version of the Miracast technology that transfers video signals wirelessly. He said Intel expects to ship 300 Million Wi-Di-capable PCs by end of 2016, and said the firm was working on inexpensive adapters for TVs, building the capability directly into smart TVs, and a Pro version for IT projectors, including security features.

Another technology coming is WiGig, a wireless standard for docking stations of data transfer that Skaugen said is 10 times faster than Wi-Fi. (He didn't mention it, but it's also shorter distance, but that's fine for docking solutions). He showed how by just putting it near a dock, which in turn connects to an external monitor, it could be connected. He said this would be built-in to Core M and Core M vPro systems early next year, though again the real focus seems to be when Skylake systems are coming.

Perhaps most importantly, he really pushed the concept of wireless charging for notebooks and tablets, citing the involvement of Intel and most of the big PC makers in the Alliance for Wireless Power, which offers the Rezence standard for magnetic resonance charging (as contrasted with the Wireless Power Consortium's Qi, which offers inductive charge). The advantage of magnetic resonance charging is that you have a wider field on which to put the devices, and Skaugen showed a variety of implementations, including covers for smartphones. But the focus from Intel seems to be on tablets, notebooks, and 2-in-1s.

Other features he championed include face recognition and other biometric information as a replacement for passwords, promising the 'end of the password' by the end of 2015. (The technology may work in many markets by then, but it's highly unlikely to be ubiquitous). He also discussed voice recognition, and Intel's 3D RealSense camera -two interesting features that I doubt will have widespread use anytime soon.

On tablets, the company reiterated its plans on shipping chips for 40 million tablets this year, and there were a number of demos of the Bay Trail Atom platform. Perhaps most interestesting, Dell CEO Michael Dell joined Krzanich on stage to introduce the Dell Venue 8 7000 series, which was described as the world's thinnest tablet at only 6mm thick, weighing 310 grams. This has a 8.4-in 2,560-by-1,660 OLED display and features the RealSense 3D camera.

Intel really didn't discuss Cherry Trail, the follow up to the Bay Trail platform designed to use the 14nm version of Atom known as Airmont, but a spokesperson confirmed that it still expected to ship by the end of the year.

Looking forward, Skaugen said the company has 'line of site to 10nm' and in another talk, Intel Senior Fellow Mark Bohr, explained that he was now working on the even later 7nm process, suggesting Intel's 10nm plans were already pretty much settled.