Project Athena
So here we are in Taipei, Taiwan, to join Intel at their Project Athena Symposium and Workshop. A lot of you likely will not have heard of Project Athena before, but we suspect you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months. It’s Intel’s latest innovation program to push the laptop ecosystem to the next level. Not unlike the set of standards and ideals we saw laid down years ago for the Ultrabook generation. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that.
The Event
With over 500 members in attendance, we were happy for Intel to invite us to Taiwan to attend. Here we’ve been learning just what Athena is all about. We heard little bits of pieces at CES 2019, and judging by the timing of this event, we’ll be hearing a lot more towards the end of this month at Computex 2019. We can expect the first batch of Athena devices to hit the market in the second half of this year but expect a lot more focus on releases for 2020.
Mobile Innovation
It looks like Intel is trying to create the ecosystem for next-gen laptops for a world that doesn’t quite exist yet. 5G is on the cusp of being the next big thing, and brands are going to have to step up to meet the demands and capabilities of the next generation. Things like a full day of “worry-free” battery life, while still keeping the device on. Mostly, this seemed to centre around ultra-low-power states and components. When you’re not using the devices, they need to conserve power like no other system today. However, still be pick and play ready in an instant, not unlike your mobile phone. Rather than having a responsive system, or long battery life, or instant resume, you should have all three.
Always Connected
The systems are obviously intended to be powerful enough for your daily workflow needs. However, with next-gen connectivity, there can be less reliance on the local processor and more can be shifted to the cloud. Especially given the speed that 5G could offer. Integrating AI technology, ultra-low power usage, we’re certainly looking forward to the next generation.
