Advanced Television

Intel user experience and design centre

July 6, 2011

By Colin Mann

Silicon and processor technology specialist Intel is to open a facility in the Shoreditch area of London to focus on the user experience and design capability necessary to support the media and communications industries’ response to the always-on, connected era of media consumption.

Eric Huggers, Corporate Vice President, and General Manager, Intel Digital Home Group, confirmed the news during a keynote speech on ‘The Battle for the Living Room’ at the Intellect Consumer Electronics Conference in London. Huggers, who was the BBC’s Director of Future Media and Technology prior to joining Intel, noted that in the past, Intel had sought to integrate its Pentium technology in consumer electronics devices. “That wasn’t going to work,” he admitted. “Systems-on-chip (SoC) were needed. That was alien to us.” The new facility will not develop hardware and services as such, but will work better to understand industry player needs.

He suggested that Intel was now better placed to support a range of players seeking to monetise content and services, be they device manufacturers, content owners or service providers. Noting the June 16 launch by cable giant Comcast of its Xfinity next-generation television platform, Huggers said it had one of the best User Interfaces he had ever seen. “You need a lot of horsepower to do that sort of thing,” he remarked, confirming that Intel’s SoC was integrated into the new set-top box powering the service.

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