Very few competitors can even get close to Intel, one of the most valued and powerful chip makers in the world. If Intel does anything, the industry turns to look at them, and two weeks ago they held IDF (Intel Developer Forum), where they set the path for a couple years to come.
What is to come during this time? Most of the road is paved along the way and played by ear, but we got to see some announcements and projects that will sure make a difference. We published all the stories in our homepage, but there’s nothing like seeing all the content to see the bigger picture.
With that said, let’s take a look at our favorite and biggest posts from IDF 2014. You can always click on the titles to see the full stories and videos.
Dell Venue 8 7000 is the best Android tablet, yet no one knows it
Let’s start with the most exciting announcement for gadget lovers at IDF – the Dell Venue 8 7000. As the title entails, this happens to be the best Android tablet we have seen so far. Its specs, performance, build quality and aesthetics are up there with the best, but almost no one knows it!
The general public has no idea about this hidden Android jewel due to a few reasons:
- Dell is not known for making Android tablets.
- Intel is not known for powering Android tablets.
- The Dell Venue brand is related to Windows.
- It was announced around the same time period as IDF, a huge Motorola event and Apple’s iPhone launch.
This tablet is not only exciting for its pure awesomeness, though. It also proves Intel is all in on Android devices, a market it hasn’t been able to grasp.
This 8-inch tablet sports a 2K screen and the Intel chip powers it like a boss. Intel is truly ready for Android this time around.
Gaming for the power-hungry (and rich)
Gamers of the world rejoice. There is no better time for gamers and the future is only looking brighter for this popular industry. Of course, Intel is a huge part of the gaming industry, especially for PC gamers, and they really wanted to show us what they (and their partners) can do.
What we saw at the IDF 2014 was simply astonishing – it’s possibly the most powerful gaming PC you can currently have. It’s definitely the craziest we have ever seen!
This set-up includes 12K viewing (three 4K displays), a Haswell-E based Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition processor, 64 GB of RAM 4 NVIDIA Titan graphics cards and more. It’s a beast, and you can have one just like it for about 8-9 thousand dollars.
Multiple displays in a single laptop
The traditional laptop form factor is awesome, and manufacturers need to start thinking about making them evolve without getting rid of the overall design. If you don’t want 2-in-1’s but you want something unique, you may want to look into something like this in the future.
We ran across a 2nd Display prototype at the IDF show floor. At first sight it looks like a sleek and simple Ultrabook, but look closer and you will see it is very unique. It has two screens: the regular LCD one and an E-ink outer panel.
You can personalize your image, light it up, read digital books and access other data. It’s one hell of a concept and we hope to see more like this one in the coming years.
Exploring convertible gaming laptops with the MSI GS30 Shadow
We can all agree that gaming laptops are a bit annoying. They are hard to upgrade, and the really powerful ones are huge. MSI is getting rid of these issues with the GS30 Shadow. This laptop can dock into a base that gives it all the power you need to blow your enemies away in any game.
The laptop carries a powerful Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, a 2560x1440p display nd everything you can expect from a powerful laptop. The real trick is that the dock station has a PCIe x16 slot that supports amazing graphics cards.
It also sports a speaker system that will make pair amazingly with your performance and awesome screen. There’s also a larger set of slots and ports for your connectivity needs.
iKeg – drinking beer was never so smart
All the previous topics offered a good list of interesting products for the tech savvy, but Intel is not only targeting us geeks. They are entering the general consumer market with possibilities that will make businesses much more efficient.
Let’s take the iKeg as an example. This weight can keep track of your bar’s beers. Simply tag a keg and put the iKeg below it. Your systems will suddenly be able to tell you how much beer has been consumed, how much is left, what kind of beer the keg holds and more.
This will help business owners lessen waste, as well as keeping up-to-date with their stock and selection of beer. This is a huge industry, so ultimately it will benefit many of us.
New Intel technology
Those who are all into Intel’s chips will also want to read about Skylake. Intel’s new processor architecture was demoed and announced at IDF 2014. You can also check out our full report and benchmarks on the Intel Core M processor.
Final thoughts
It’s clear Intel is really moving forward. I am especially surprised to see them jumping deeper into the mobile market, where they have not been succeeding in the past. Previous attempts were less than acceptable, and I have finally seen an Intel Android device I actually like.
The rest of the products are awesome and I can see the evolution, but that Dell Venue 8 7000 really hit home for me. Which of these projects is your favorite?
