Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have both revealed initiatives that officials say will meet a growing demand from business users and consumers alike.
The need is to be able to run both Microsoft’s Windows and Google’s Android operating systems on the same devices, without having to reboot.
Systems already can run multiple OSes, but switching means having to shut one down and booting up the other, which can be time-consuming and place significant demands on processor power and storage capacity. At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the chip makers unveiled efforts that will enable users to avoid those issues when moving from one operating system to another.
Officials with both companies said their initiatives are aimed at addressing demands coming from OEMs and end users.
“There are times you want Windows, there are times you want Android,” Krzanich said, demonstrating the technology on a new dual-OS Asus system, the Transformer Book Duet. “[Users] wanted more choice – Windows for some usage, Android for others. … Intel SoCs are the only ones that can offer that capability to seamlessly switch between OSes. You don’t have to make a choice moving forward.”
Intel officials have been enhancing the support in its processors – particularly the low-power Atom chips – of the Android operating system, which is the most popular OS on such mobile devices as tablets and smartphones. That support has been a key part of Intel’s larger strategy to gain traction in the highly competitive mobile market, where most devices now are powered by chips designed by ARM and built by the likes of Qualcomm, Samsung and Texas Instruments.
Krzanich noted that these Android devices, which started off as primarily consumer offerings, increasingly are finding their way into the enterprise, thanks to such trends as bring-your-own-device (BYOD). The increasing numbers of employees using their Android devices at work have raised concerns in IT departments about security and compliance with enterprise policies, the CEO said.
To address those issues, Intel’s security unit this year will roll out Intel Device Protection technology, which will enable Android devices powered by Intel chips to meet most security standards both in the home and at work. With the technology, employees will be able to “use Android in detachables and tablets anywhere you are, and it will be available this year,” Krzanich said. “It’s full 64-bit and allows you to move seamlessly in and out of the office.”
AMD will leverage its partnership with BlueStacks to bring the Android operating environment to Windows-based tablets, two-in-one devices, notebooks and desktops. The technology will leverage optimizations in AMD’s fourth-generation accelerated processing units (APUs), including the upcoming “Kaveri” chip, which officials said will launch Jan. 14.
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I am surprised you did not mention the most startling comment INTEL made during CEO keynote address In 2014 all INTEL products will be free of conflict minerals. Here are my comments about this part of the speech you left out.
It is amazing that a company of the stature of INTEL and a CEO of the caliber of Krzanich; who must personally sign the Conflict Minerals Free report to the SEC; would be willing accept the exceptional high degree of risk to the reputation of the INTEL brand by claiming their complete supply chain is free of conflict minerals.
Due to the flawed nature of the upstream 3T&G mineral certification program throughout the Great Lakes region of Africa, it is currently impossible for any manufacturer who utilizes the ITRI "bag and tag" mineral certification and the EICC/GeSI Smelter certification programs (which exclusively relies on the ITRI "bag and tag" certification) to certify that their mineral supply chain is free from "conflict minerals" as required by the SEC, unless they are willing to ignore numerous "red flags".
The nature of the resource extraction sector in the Great Lakes Region of Africa where I have worked and been associated with since 2005, is one where the level of corruption and instability will not allow ANY company of the size of INTEL to “certify” with any reasonable level of confidence that their supply chain is free from “conflict minerals” unless they are simply attempting to take a mis-informed marketing approach that ignores the “realities on the ground” to a continuing problem that the international community has not yet even begun to address with independent, verifiable procedures that will withstand the rigors of the required audit based on GAO standards.
Mr. Krzanich is advised to carefully consider personally certifying any Conflict Minerals Report to the SEC that INTEL products are free of 3T and especially the Gold component when in fact it is currently impossible for any U.S. manufacturer to do so with any acceptable level of certainty.