CES 2014: Intel’s SD-Sized PC Edison Signals Move Into Wearable Tech

Intel’s press conference at CES was full of announcements, as CEO Brian Krzanich took to the stage to outline a number of new products and initiatives.

This included the Edison, an SD-card sized dual-core PC based on the company’s Quark 22nm technology, offering built-in wireless capabilities and support for multiple operating systems. Available from this summer, Intel hopes that Edison will form the basis for a wide range of wearable technologies – from fitness to child safety.

Described by Krzanich as, “a full Pentium-class PC in the form factor of an SD card”, Edison will come with built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, and will also have its own dedicated app store.

L0oking to the future

All of this forms part of Intel’s move into the wearable technology space, as the company’s presentation demonstrated several ways in which developers could use Edison for applications in everyday life. This included a smart headset linked to an always-on voice recognition system, and smart earphones that can harvest energy from the user whilst providing fitness information.

There was also a demonstration of  “Nursery 2.0”, where an Edison chip relays information on a baby’s health and wellbeing gathered from sensors built into a onesie, as well as a smart ‘charging bowl’, which detects when a compatible device is dropped into it and begins charging automatically.

The company has also announced a partnership with the Barneys New York clothes store and the Council of Fashion Designers of America which it hopes will help accelerate the development of new smart wearable technologies, whilst also increasing cooperation between the fashion and technology industries. Krzanich also announced the beginning of the Intel ‘Make it Wearable’ challenge, a global effort aimed at accelerating creativity and innovation with technology.

“Wearables are not everywhere today because they aren’t yet solving real problems and they aren’t yet integrated with our lifestyles,” Krzanich said. “We’re focused on addressing this engineering innovation challenge. Our goal is, if something computes and connects, it does it best with Intel inside.”

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