During a speech today at the Web 2.0 Summit, Intel Corporation President and CEO Paul Otellini described how the Internet will continue evolving, making businesses more collaborative and competitive globally. He also highlighted how the shift to mobile Internet technology will also change the way people around the world will learn, work, live and play.
"Generational shifts are changing how technology is used as a learning and collaboration tool," Otellini said. "Advances in device and Web technologies open up new possibilities for how people interact. What people want today is to be 'always connected' and receive the information they want, no matter what they're doing, where they're located, or which device they're using."
A summary of what Otellini demonstrated follows:
Reducing Information Overload for Employees with Web 2.0 Applications
Otellini demonstrated how large and small businesses could extend the use of existing technology tools and the Web to solve complex business problems and to train and manage information overload for employees. He explained how a company could create integrated Web platforms to increase collaboration and have proactive search capabilities.
Otellini showed a visionary system that could use basic information about a new company employee -- such as job description, education background and professional affiliations -- that could proactively add relevant content to help the employee be more effective on the job. He demonstrated how the system could help an employee manage cross-team projects, co-worker networks and professional development. He noted that the types of solutions large enterprises need are not readily available; and he also challenged the industry to focus more attention on developing these solutions.
Making International Travel Easier with the Mobile Internet
Otellini highlighted a future where an American visiting China could use a pocket-sized mobile Internet device (MID) to audibly and visually translate building signs, restaurant menus and conversations in real-time. He also demonstrated how a traveler could use social networking applications to get instant recommendations on a particular restaurant.
Transforming Shopping and Product Marketing with the Mobile Internet
Otellini also demonstrated a futuristic scenario where a shopper could take a toy off a store's shelf and use a camera on a mobile device to "recognize" the package and proactively search for information to help the shopper decide whether to purchase the toy. For example, a shopper could use the MID to create a 3-D model of what is inside the package, research product reviews, or download and play a marketing video about the toy.
He said that it would be 3 to 5 years until doing things such as language translation and making real-time use of huge visual databases would be possible on mobile devices. It will require exponentially more powerful processors that also use exponentially less power so they can be put into smaller mobile devices.