Intel has launched the Compute Card, a small computer that can bring IoT connectivity to everyday devices.
Intel’s Compute Card is the company’s latest step toward creating an ecosystem of connected devices that can be upgraded, configured and maintained with ease. The Compute Card, announced at CES 2017, will contain all the elements of a full computer in a much smaller package.
Its contents include Intel SoC, memory, storage and wireless connectivity with flexible I/O options, allowing hardware manufacturers to optimize for their particular solutions.
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Intel anticipates use cases to include everything from refrigerators to security cameras and IoT gateways. Manufacturers will simply design a slot for the Intel’s tiny computer within their device – in a shift that Intel says will “reduce the time and resources needed to design and validate the computer block and helps speed up innovation to bring the power of intelligence into an ever wider range of devices.”
Intel Compute Card offers unlimited IoT potential
In a statement, Intel suggested that its new Compute Card will open up “virtually unlimited” potential for consumer, business, and industrial applications. This is because of the modularity and flexibility this tiny computer allows for.
In an industry famed for waste and a relentless, inevitable process of obsolescence, companies could use the Compute Card to extend capabilities for devices such as digital signage and kiosks, All-in-Ones, smart TV’s and appliances.
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Intel working with industry partners to roll out modular IoT
Although the card is small in size (95mm x 55mm x 5mm) it will be compatible with a range of Intel processors, allowing it to power everything from entry-level devices to host devices.
To get the Compute Card off the ground, Intel is working with a number of partners with a shared aim of transforming the way the technology industry designs and produces solutions. These partners, which include Dell, HP, Lenovo and Sharp, will develop products that will make the most of the simplified design, ease of serviceability and user upgradeability of the Intel Compute Card.
Early partners in regional markets include Seneca Data, InFocus, Contec DTx, TabletKiosk and Pasuntech.
Read more: Intel ‘open’ to working with ARM to provide IoT integration framework
The Intel Compute Card will be available in the middle of 2017 and will come with a range of processors options, including the latest 7th Gen Intel Core processors.