Last week, I was introduced in person to Intel’s latest creation aimed at the maker movement – the low-power, small-format Edison chip. In a hands-on event in Shoreditch, London organised by Intel, I got to explore capabilities of the tiny computer, not much bigger than an SD memory card. It is clearly a very capable device, providing x86 compatibility to a wide range of products, and as such provides an alternative to Arduino and Raspberry Pi products. However this is not really the aim for the Edison product, as there is not a great amount of money to be made for a company like Intel in making kits for hobbyists and education. The true ambition for this chip and its successors is to become the workhorse in the world of wearables and Internet of Things, in a similar way as Intel carved up the PC space. As Intel have been unable to make appreciable headway against the joint forces of Arm and Qualcomm, losing $1 billion in the third quarter this year, the relatively greenfield landscape of new connected devices gives them the opportunity to grow share in a brand new category – one that, as discussed in a previous post, promises to grow to several billion units over the next five years.
So how likely are Intel to succeed in this space? The entire product is compact and contains WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The size of the device, its power consumption and performance of the device rule it out of low-end wearables such as fitness bands, and lacks the power found in smartphones and tablets. However it appears well-suited for more sophisticated devices such as smart watches, or industrial wearable clothing, where significant computing power is required. Moreover, as most wearables and ‘things’ will not require cellular connectivity, the lack of a single-package modem & processor solution which held back Intel in the Smartphone and Tablet space, should not hamper them here.
Instead of looking at the Edison as a one-size-fits-all solution for wearable devices, consider it as the first product in a category that will span a wide range of form factors from button-sized devices to augmented reality glasses. Intel’s initial aim to build credibility about the platform and persuade creators of new products to commit to this chip. The recent news in the Wall Street Journal that Google will launch a new model of its Glass headset based on an Intel chip seems to confirm this trend. The Edison chip does not seem to have the horsepower to support the sophisticated functionality of a Glass headset, so it is likely that it will adapt one of its smartphone processors. This announcement was followed by news that Intel has agreed a multi-year R&D partnership with Luxottica, one of the leading manufacturers of premium glasses frames. These partnerships are also very significant in terms of what it means for Intel’s prospects. Smart glasses have extremely demanding power consumption / performance requirements, marrying high-end functionality with only small batteries, an area that Arm have made their own over the past five-ten years. If premium-brand manufacturers of sunglasses release attractive products based on Intel technology, then it will be a high-profile statement that perhaps Intel is turning a corner beginning to successfully compete outside its PC and servers heartland.