Intel Open Port: Open Port General Blog : Tags : idf2008

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Do You Deserve to Wear the Crown of Ultimate Geek? Join me at IDF to Find Out.

Posted by KellyFeller Jul 16, 2008

Never being one to shy away from any event brimming with buzz, I was excited to learn I'll be attending the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco August 19-21. This event is exciting for many reasons, the least of which is an opportunity to meet Intel and Open Port community members in person. But this year IDF brings some other exciting and tasty new treats that I'm anxious to check out:

Keynote by visionary Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
Discussions on the future of mobility and what it means to be "on-the-go"
A look at the digital enterprise and how embedded, dynamic, and visual computing fit in
And last, but not nearly the least is The Ultimate Geek Challenge!

As a self-described social media junkie I am addicted to my Twitter feeds (are you on Twitter? Follow me at KellyRFeller) and anxiously await a better way to consume them than through the tiny browser window on my Blackberry Pearl. It's why all this talk of the Atom processor for mobile internet devices has me fanning myself like a twitterpated schoolgirl. But I digress.

Probably one of the coolest IDF events to look forward to is the Ultimate Geek Challenge. This event has been brought back to IDF by request from the fans and pits geeks of all persuasions against each other to determine who is the geekiest of all. I doubt my geekiness can hold a candle to geekiness expertly cultivated by the uber geeks in the room. I'm just anxious to watch the fun as the Intel geek community (uh, that might be you) answers tech trivia, challenges the "mad gaming skillz" of Team Evil Genius, and tries for the top techie prize by completing a technical build of the most difficult sort. Rumor has it the winner will get a major big-time prize (shh, check back here and I'll try to find out what it is).

So what do you say? Care to join me? There's still time to register. And who doesn't love San Franciso in August?

1 Comments Permalink Tags: idf2008, ultimate_geek_challenge, mid, steve_wozniak, intel_idf, kelly_feller, twitter

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The promise of open source; how has it affected your business?

Posted by KellyFeller Apr 7, 2008

Travels, like life in general, can often be filled with coincidental meetings and accidental occurrences. My recent trip to the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai China was no exception. As I lumbered down the long skinny hallway of the jumbo jet that was to be my home for the next dreaded 13 hours, I approached my cramped middle seat in the very back of the plane to find a familiar face smiling at me from the seat next to my own.

Now it was no surprise to see other Intel employees on this entirely full flight to Shanghai, but it was nice to see a former colleague seated next to me. This meeting proved even more fortuitous as I later in the week ran into him once again just in time to sit down for a brief conversation about the important work his team is doing in the realm of open source software at Intel.

Ram Peddibhotla, Director of Intel's Open Source Technology Center, spoke with me about Intel's efforts in leading a variety of open source projectsincluding moblin.org, the open source project devoted to developing an open operating system for the mobile internet devices (MIDs) that were the talk of IDF.

In addition to moblin.org, Mr. Peddibhotla discussed the variety of other critical open source projects in which Intel experts are instrumentally involved, including lesswatts.org and as maintainers of the Linux kernel itself.

Certainly not new to many of you in the IT Community, open source software continues to drive more and more of the critical applications we use to power business everyday. So I'm curious:

How many of you have either adopted or are evaluating open source software for critical functions like customer relation management (CRM), business intelligence, communication apps such as email or other productivity tools?
Are there particular benefits or challenges you've faced when implementing this software?
And are there particular applications you wouldn't consider using open source software to accomplish?

3 Comments Permalink Tags: idf2008, moblin, kelly_feller, open_source, linux, web, 2.0, software, mids

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I want my M.I.D!

Posted by KellyFeller Apr 2, 2008

As I sat through the marathon keynote sessions in this morning's kickoff of the Intel Developer Forum, I tried to Twitter to provide you all some colorful realtime observations from the dark auditorium. About halfway through my Blackberry lost the ability to access the internet and thus...my voice was silenced, albeit briefly.

As I powered my way through my local grocery store last week--which I often do to grab the week's meal supplies, each time trying to beat my previous record (so far I'm still trying to beat my record in-and-out time of 7 minutes)--I realized I had forgotten to write down the ingredients I needed to make one of my succulent meals. Stomping my feet in disgust, I pined for some quick and easy way to jump on the internet right there in the produce aisle to look up the recipe and ensure I brought home all the requisite ingredients.

Both of these scenerios demonstrate my own personal longing for immediate and uncomplicated access to the internet; anytime, anywhere. And I don't think I'm alone in this desire. As I learned at IDF today, I'm happy to report that Intel is on it!

The three opening keynotes, delivered by Pat Gelsinger, Dadi Perlmutter, and Anand Chandrasekher respectively, all talked of innovative breakthroughs in technology and visions on how the future was going to be overwhelmingly different. But the topic on most everyone's lips was the exciting new mobile internet devices (MIDs) finally coming to market in the next several months.

It is easy to see why there is all this fuss about MIDs when:

60% of internet users in China play online games
3 billion minutes are spent everyday on social networking worldwide
88% of Japanese phone customers are dissatisfied with their access to the internet from their phones

Combine all this data with the recent announcement of the Intel Atom processor and you have one perfect storm of mind-blowing proportion. And with all the awesome different MIDs that were on display today at IDF, I can easily see this anticipation grow into a consumer-covetous frenzy.

Ok, perhaps I'm a bit too hyped up on caffeine to stave off my jetlag. But this is exciting stuff! And I for one am thrilled Intel and our partners are working hard to, as Mr. Chandrasekher so eloquently put it, "unleash the internet."

So stay tuned for more of my observations from IDF. As long as the coffee keeps coming, I'll keep writing (I LOVE the coffee here!).

1 Comments Permalink Tags: idf2008, mobile_internet_devices, mid, kelly_feller, intel_developer_forum

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Intel a services company? Sizzling announcement coming to you from IDF!

Posted by KellyFeller Apr 2, 2008

Do not attempt to adjust your screen. And since April Fool's Day is over, this is not a silly prank to see if you are paying attention. No, this is a real and true report coming to you straight from the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China, where today Intel announced it would begin offering software testing and validation services to members of the Intel Software Partner Program.

Did I say services? From a hardware company? What's up with that?

Well, Intel has entered into a key partnership with SpikeSource, a software validation solution provider. The deal is that software companies, many of whom are medium in size or who develop open source solutions, can now receive Intel certification that ensures their solutions meet "rigorous standards for security, interoperability and maintainability, and are optimized for Intel technologies." (I took that directly from the press release).

I sat down for a brief conversation with SpikeSource CEO Kim Polese to get her perspective on this new service and how it will benefit both the software community and the end customers who rely on software in their everyday jobs and lives. (You all remember Kim, right? Think Java.).

Wow, maybe it's the coffee here (I've made it no secret how I feel about it) but once again I'm a little giddy with the important implications of this announcement. Intel's partner program reaches over 8,000 independent software vendors (ISVs) and I can see this service being a major benefit to developers so they can focus what they do best: developing cool software.