The participants of the “Upgrade Your Life” 2011 event all seemed to have something in common, we were all bloggers and most of us were parents as well and many of us, like me, also write about technology. There were only 2 males/dads in the group, me and Jeff Sass (Jeff and I are 2/5ths of the Cast of Dads podcast), and we did a video recap of some of the things that impressed us about this event in this video “2/5ths of the Cast of Dads Get Their Brains Upgraded at Intel’s ‘Upgrade Your Life’ 2011 Event”. But I thought that I would dive into two other important topics that came from the Intel Labs group: Energy Conservation and Caring for the Elderly.

First off, I have always expressed how much I like the Labs division of companies and Intel’s is no exception. As part of the Intel Advisors program (another group I actively participate in with Intel), some of our best informational conference calls and presentations in my opinion were the ones where people from the Intel Labs group would present us with some new projects that they are working on. So, the two topics of this post and the videos below (from the “Upgrade Your Life” event) are from the Labs groups. There were other quite interesting demonstrations, but I found these two to be timely and critical to think about in this day and age.

I actually got a bit scared when listening to the presentations on these two topics: Energy Conservation and Caring for the Elderly. These are two topics that we need to be not only thinking about, but acting on NOW. And this is exactly what Intel is doing.

“Green is the new Black”

That was the title of one of the sessions at Upgrade Your Life. The session was presented by Suzanne Fallender, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy and Communications. Suzanne is responsible for working with business groups and senior management across Intel. This includes the environment health and safety, human resources and diversity, supply chain, legal, government affairs and community relations groups. As Suzanne put it, Intel is “a company of engineers – we like to measure everything.” Being able to quantify the direct impact energy awareness and conservation has within an organization as large as Intel is something incredibly daunting, in my opinion. But Suzanne and her colleagues seem to embrace it with vigor and motivation.

Some quick points from this session:

• There are 3 areas of focus: Energy, Water and Waste
• Energy cost savings campaigns are designed to create more demand in the market through renewable energy
• 40 billion gallons of water have been saved by Intel since 1998 as a result of conservation efforts
• Water conservation is both a local and global challenge
• Intel is using different types of water in appropriate ways (e.g., “grey water” is used for watering)
• Intel recycled 80% of solid waste in 2010
• Energy conservation needs to work at both a grid-level as well as at a consumer level
• Advances in technology can drive conservation

A really interesting shift in mentality within the Intel “culture” was to move from the concept of “faster, faster, faster” as related to chips. In the past, consumers wanted the fastest chips possible. Now with mobile computing, consumers are saying they want lower power requirements and longer battery life (but without compromising speed or performance). If you look at two time periods (1980-2007 & 2007-now), there is a dramatic change to exemplify this. The total combined power of the chips produced in the later period are 17 times more powerful, but use 50% less power!

At the previous year’s “Upgrade Your Life” event, we were introduced to some compelling Lab initiatives related to home energy management. I actually filmed a video in the Labs at that event, but unfortunately was unable to release it to the public back then as some of the information was confidential. At this year’s event, I got to see how this technology has evolved and how it is about to be released to consumers in the coming months. So, I thought that it would be important to show both videos (now with permission) and see how things moved from concept to market, all within just a year’s time. Obviously, this has been in development for much longer than a year, but still, it is great to see the speed of innovation.

The concepts shown in these two videos are simple. In order to better conserve energy, you need to be able to understand and monitor how it is being consumed within your home. Just monitoring your consumption can lead to a 15% savings. Actively conserving, based on what knowledge you have gained on your consumption and usage can lead to another 15% savings. In my opinion, anything that you purchase to help this education and conservation process will eventually pay for itself, not only from a cost perspective in your household, but also will reward generations to come as we reduce our energy footprint.

What is demonstrated in these videos is how a single device can essentially get energy fingerprints of all of the devices plugged into your electric grid at home. When you plug in a toaster or use a hair dryer, it will consume energy distinctly, and you will be able to isolate what that particular device is consuming. This may allow you to then choose to change the device to something more energy efficient (e.g., a newer clothes washer or refrigerator) or simply eliminate that device all together.

Below is the video from the 2010 Upgrade Your Life summit (also available here on YouTube):

And here is how that same product has evolved (this video is also available on YouTube):

There are two other pieces of technology discussed in this video that are of interest: LED lighting and switching from AC (Alternating Current) to DC (Direct Current), so I encourage you to watch the full video.

“Re-inventing Aging Through Gray Technologies”

This session presented by Dr. Eric Dishman, Intel Fellow and Digital Health Group Director, was rather sobering. You simply need to think about the following fact for a few seconds to understand what is coming…the “Gray Wave.” By 2020, the population of people over 50 years old will double. By 2050, the population over 50 will double AGAIN! Just think about that. We know that it is coming but is our healthcare infrastructure (not just the US but of the world) ready to handle this? There are currently not enough people in the workforce to pay for all of the retirees. In fact, Alzheimer’s alone could bankrupt Medicare in just 10 years. Countries are failing partially because of aging demographics – it’s a harbinger of what is to come (think bailouts, rising healthcare costs, etc.)

Scary, isn’t it? Given that this Gray Wave is already upon us, what is being done to accommodate it? One place that you can see efforts in action is at a combined initiative from Intel and GE called Care Innovations (http://careinnovations.com/). As described on the site: “Intel-GE Care Innovations™ is a new company aimed at being a catalyst for changing health care models. To do so, we create technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently. ”

So what does that mean exactly and how is Intel (specifically the Intel Labs) participating? Basically, it means bringing technology into the care of the elderly. While technology innovations may not eliminate the need for nursing homes, if applied appropriately and in the correct situations, it can enable seniors to be “independent” longer, provide real-time feedback to caregivers and family, and allow doctors and nurses to handle actual healthcare emergencies.

The Intel Labs groups has implemented monitored home environments around the world as a means to prove the use of this technology. By equipping homes with a variety of sensors and input devices, seniors who do not have critical healthcare needs can actually be given the freedom to take care of themselves or at least be a bit more autonomous than previously possible.

The video below talks though how this technology works and how it is being used. (The video is also available on YouTube.)

The “perceptive technology” as describe it truly great, in my opinion. Houses are dumb and currently provide no type of assistance to the aging. A house can quickly become an obstacle course and impede an independent lifestyle. But if outfitted with sensors that monitor how a person is walking, what rooms they are in, the activities that they are doing and how they are interacting with their environment, a home can quickly become a tool to make the aging process more manageable.

Getting the Word Out

One thing that struck me during the entire “Upgrade Your Life” summit was how important it is to educate. A few years ago, if you asked me what Intel does, I would have simply responded “they make chips.” The branding campaigns of “Intel Inside” did a great job of bringing this concept to the consumer marketplace. People were “trained” to look for computers that had that little “Intel Inside” sticker. It is a case study that has been the subject of many marketing courses.

But now, it seems to me that Intel is working to change that perception. Yes, computers still do have those stickers, now with Core i3, i5 or i7 or Atom branding, but the company as a whole is changing how they are perceived. The Intel Advisors program and the “Upgrade Your Life” summits are also good examples of how Intel is educating consumers and interacting with influencers to paint a larger picture of what Intel is really about. The two examples above on Energy and Aging are just a couple examples of a huge number of things that Intel is doing to better our lives and the lives of future generations.

It almost seems to me that Intel should create a new campaign called “Intel Outside” – out in the environment, out interacting with people around the world and out having direct conversations with people and changing their lives in the process.

Disclosure: In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that Intel Corporation has covered my travel and costs related to my visit to Intel’s California-based offices. Additionally, I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.

HTD says: How are YOU making an impact on the world for future generations as a business or individual?

Note: this article originally appeared on HighTechDad.com

At my work at GoGrid, we have done quite a bit leveraging Intel technology within our cloud infrastructure. A majority of our compute nodes are utilizing Intel chipsets (Nehalem and Westmere) to provide optimized performance, energy efficiency and improved productivity. And our relationship continues to grow, which is particularly nice for me because, personally, I’m also part of the Intel Advisors program. As part of the program and our monthly Advisors’ call, we are introduced to a variety of technology coming from different areas within Intel. In our June 2011 call, Manny Vara, Chief Evangelist for Intel’s R&D Labs, presented a variety of innovations coming from Intel Labs. Honestly, Intel Labs is such an exciting business unit in itself, I was completely captivated by the content of the call, especially around two topics: Cloud Computing within Automobiles and Mobile Devices.

Cloud-Enabled Automobiles

I have written some articles on “car tech” within a few Ford and Lincoln automobiles and am hoping to expand to include other manufacturers in the future. Apart from being at work and at home, we spend a huge amount of time in our cars, either via a commute or just moving to and from various locations. Our autos are extensions of ourselves, making our bubble of presence much larger and enabling us to physically travel, pretty much without restrictions, to many locations.

But for the most part, our cars are pretty dumb. They are 4 wheels and an engine that moves a steel pod that protects its occupants. At least that is how cars used to be. More and more manufacturers are currently striving to make automobiles smarter, much the same way cell phones have evolved to feature phones and now to smart phones and tablets. Cars now integrate with cell phones allowing you to send and receive calls, get traffic information, stream music and even interact with you much more closely. Some automobiles are Internet-enabled, either via a link to your smartphone or via a built-in mobile receiver. And I think we are just beginning to scrape the surface of Internet-enabled vehicles.

As Manny Vara told us within the Advisor call, some departments within Intel Labs are developing technology, some of which is purely experimental and may not see the light of day, to make our cars move far beyond simple utilitarian transportation devices. Autos are getting smarter, but only internally as there are computers now that monitor a variety of aspects of your car like the safety and navigation systems. But, for the most part, these systems are closed due to security and safety concerns among other things. However, automobile manufacturers are opening up certain aspects of your car’s “infrastructure” via APIs or other interfaces – the only way to really make the most out of this technology is via a cellular connection.

(image source: newsroom.intel.com)

Currently, to make your car “smarter”, it requires connecting it to your smartphone. In many cars, this is pretty easy to do and most of the time it works. But Intel believes that this process could be a lot easier. The hands-free connection is pretty straight forward by using simple Bluetooth pairing, but this is only for the telephony side of the equation. To connect to the Internet, cars either don’t have that capability, or it is very limited in to what you can or cannot do.

Manny described how some Intel Labs projects are working to streamline and simplify the connection process even more. One way is by using NFC (Near Field Communications) where you would tap your NFC-ready smartphone to the dashboard of a NFC-ready auto. The handshake would authenticate your smartphone as a communication device and would allow your auto to use your smartphone as a source for Internet connectivity. Another possibility would be to use a barcode scan of a code on the dashboard of the car by your smartphone to enable the easy pairing. This may be a more cost-effective method as the user would not need a NFC-equipped device and would simply use a bar-code reader and the smartphone’s camera. But essentially, making the full pairing of the smartphone to the auto does need to be simplified and Intel Labs has demonstrated a few ways to do this.

But once the connection is made and the automobile is Internet-aware and enabled, what sort of things can you do with this pairing? Assuming you are in the car, the possibilities are limitless: from watching over and monitoring key aspects of core systems in the car and being notified of pending issues to having your car even monitor your blood-sugar levels if you are a diabetic (something that Ford is already demonstrating).

However, the challenge, as I see it, is enabling connectivity to your auto when your smartphone is NOT connected to your car. There are still ways to do this via WiFi or having a cellular receiver. I think that as WiFi hotspots become more prevalent, this might be the most effective way to connect autos, but that requires your car to be in a stationary space (e.g., a parking garage). As WiMax and LTE become more mainstream (and perhaps costs of data services drop – oh that is a “pipe dream” I realize, in the terms of “data pipes”), cars that have cellular connections built in would probably be the best option.

What sort of things could you do with a cloud/internet-enabled car? Manny told us about an Infinity EX concept model that has security cameras built into the car. So, for example, if someone breaks into your car or even approaches it, you could enable the internal cameras to catch the “thief” in the act. You would be notified via an alert (e.g., SMS) that there is activity in or around your car and with your smartphone connected to the cloud, you could instantly begin streaming the video. But you see the problem here, it does require that your car’s Internet connection be always on. The video streaming would be a cloud-based service most likely.

(image source: http://nissannews.com/)

Other possible applications of this technology would be for remote diagnostics where data could be streamed ahead of time to you or your mechanic, allowing for troubleshooting to take place in real-time. Similarly (and this technology already exists in a shorter range) you could remote start your car in order to cool it down or warm it up based on the outside temperature.

So, how is this cloud? In my mind, it’s more about providing cloud services like video (on demand, streaming) or data transmission and storage. Unfortunately, many people seem to lump connectivity to the Internet as being “cloud”. This really depends on the service and how it is used. I do think that Internet-connected automobiles will soon be commonplace and we will see a large number of helpful applications growing from that. Cloud or not, the technology of Intel and others will move our vehicles in more ways than just down the road…we are getting them on the Internet Superhighway!

Cloud-Accelerated Mobile Devices

A bit more applicable to cloud computing is that of what Manny described as using the cloud to get better and higher performance technology on our smartphones, even without having the physical infrastructure within those phones to do so. What does that mean? Well, our current cell phones are limited by their CPU and GPU (compute and graphics). Sure, the technology and chipsets within these mobile devices is getting better, it is still throttled by the form factor.

But Intel Labs already has demonstrated a way to overcome these physical hurtles of the CPU and GPU by offloading the processing to the cloud. Through the use of virtualization, hypervisors, high-performance computers, networking protocols and high-end chipsets, cloud computing delivers performance that can run circles around physical devices from cell phones to physical servers. The cloud delivers processing (e.g., CPU) and memory (e.g., RAM) in a manner that is scalable, on-demand and at a fraction of the cost of using physical servers. So, to capitalize on these incredible performance gains, Intel has found a way to move that performance to mobile devices without having anything physically installed in these devices.

So how do the wizards at Intel increase the performance of hand-held devices without putting in better physical hardware? By offloading these processes to a high-end cloud. Using Ray Tracing technology, Intel Labs crafted a version of Wolfenstein that put all of the heavy lifting in the cloud and then transmitted back the rendering via a real-time ray tracing engine to increase the realism of the game. Ray tracing allows for a variety of special effects including reflection, refraction, scattering and chromatic aberration to create visual realism and effects of virtual objects.

(image source: newsroom.intel.com)

Ray tracing is used for many visual effects in current movies as well as in desktop computer video games, but when you move to a mobile device, much of the 3D realism is lost due to graphics and processing limitations. What Intel Labs did was to have all of the rendering done in the cloud and then the rendered frames are pushed to the mobile device, allowing these devices to display the 3D realism without having the battery drain and crippled performance in those devices.

The initial Intel Labs tests were positive, producing the desired 3D effects on a small screen. There are still some technology hurdles to overcome. For starters, I asked Manny what type of testing environment was used, simply because even to transmit a stream of data, you need to have a fast and reliable Internet connection. Also, to compensate for the smaller data pipes of cellular devices, I assumed that the rendered frames would have to be compressed. Whenever you compress a data/media stream, you lose some fidelity and quality in the process. Manny told us that the tests were used with a wired LAN and with a WiFi connection. This makes sense as the current 3G speeds would probably not be sufficient to handle this type of data. Also, they used an 8:1 compression ratio (which, over time, they can make better). Lastly, the amount of data that your device would receive would depend on the size and resolution of the screen. Smartphones would require less data than a tablet due to their smaller screen size and would consequently display better renderings than their larger screen brethren.

However, in a few years, we could see this technology start to hit mainstream applications and devices. Mobile device manufacturers would be less hard-pressed to develop faster and more powerful hardware if these CPU and GPU processes were offloaded into the cloud for rendering and processing. A few years ago, none of this was even doable. Now it is and the speed to market is definitely picking up as the technology driving it advances.

A Cloud for Everyone

Cloud computing is enabling innovations never before thought of and doing so with minimal capital expenditure. Having a “cloud in your pocket” is something that consumers will be enjoying for years to come. What is exciting, in my opinion, is how the cloud is acting as a catalyst to technologies that were previously only seen in science fiction books and movies. The technology that we saw in the late 1960′s with Star Trek (with the exception of the warp drive, perhaps) is now something that we carry around with us in our smartphones or that is powering our automobiles.

Below is a video from the floor of Research@Intel 2011 event (also available on YouTube) which goes through a few cloud computing initiatives that Intel Labs are working on:

Personally, I love the out-of-the-box (and into the cloud) thinking that Intel Labs is developing. Oh to be a fly on the wall within the Labs. But also, being directly involved with cloud computing and touting its benefits allows me to have a better understanding of the possibilities that are coming. Hopefully, this article has provided you with a glimpse into this exciting future!

Disclosure: I am part of the “Intel Advisor” program and am compensated and/or receive other value from Intel to attend events on their behalf. My opinions about Intel and my writing are entirely my own and not those of Intel, nor subject to their editorial approval. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.

HTD says: Cloud Computing is enabling current and new technologies to be even better than previously envisioned.

Note: this article originally appeared on HighTechDad.com

It was a candid discussion from the get-go. Intel’s mobility (netbook and tablet) group was recently formed in order to better define and shape the tablet and netbook marketplace. Miller admits that Intel is not yet where they want to be within the tablet marketplace, but he also clearly outlined their thoughts and directives to change this as well as provide insights as to how Intel will work to develop the next generation of mobility products.

Below are the usage categories of tablet-like devices that we currently enjoy, however Intel is looking to evolve this, as I outline further within this article:

Miller breaks down the “Mobility” category into 3 segments: Netbooks, Tablets and a new third category which they are simply calling a “Hybrid Device.”

Exploring the Categories

What’s below is obviously not an exhaustive discussion of these categories, as the specs, features, ideas and concepts are still being decided on and written. But the Advisor briefing definitely got the gears spinning.

Netbooks

There is a misperception that the netbook market is declining dramatically. In fact, Intel has found that the market is only off by 5% or so. 30 to 35 million units a year are being shipped and sold. However Miller does admit that tablets, specifically the Apple iPad, has taken away some of the appeal of the netbook. For Intel, they realize that the demand, if in different market segments, is still there and they realize that there will always be an appeal for a “low cost computing experience.” Miller pointed out that Intel hasn’t refreshed the silicon that is driving the netbook market and consequently may have contributed to its stagnant nature.

This is all about to change, however, as there still is demand, especially for an even lower price point…the magic number of $199 for a netbook targeted towards emerging markets, schools & education or even as a second PC. But users might not be waiting simply for a lower price, they want better performance from the CPU and more powerful graphics capabilities. To accomplish this, Intel will be introducing a new Atom processor, code named “Cedar Trail” which is expected to be released in the second half of 2011. Core to this updated netbook infrastructure will be the addition of more PC-like features like Wi-Di or PC sync. I saw Wi-Di (“Wireless Display”) in action at a couple of shows; it’s an impressive way to share multimedia content from a computer to a big screen TV. Simply start playing a movie, for example, on a Wi-Di enabled computer and then with an appropriately configured TV, your media starts streaming. It’s very similar to Apple’s AirPlay.

My take on this: I honestly thought that PC makers had squeezed what they could out of netbooks. I’m sure that the profit margin on these is extremely small. However, the thought of having to refactor or realign strategies or manufacturing to support a tablet could be cost prohibitive. So, if Intel will be producing a more powerful but similarly priced Atom processor to power a next generation of netbooks, the netbook market may still have some life left in it. I find that in my family, netbooks are pretty compelling for all of my kids who are students. With long battery life and the small form factor, they are ideal for elementary, middle and high school students. However, this also depends on what happens in the tablet as well as the 3rd category below (the “hybrid device”).

Tablets

Obviously, this category is where all of the focus and media attention is. It seems that the world views Apple as the clear leader in the space, already on their second generation tablet while others struggle to even release a first gen that is competitive from a features and pricing standpoint. In April of this year, Intel introduced a new Atom processor for tablets, code name “Oak Trail” which should start hitting tablets in May. Most of Intel’s efforts has been around Windows 7-based tablets but there are definitely efforts underway to handle other mobile OSes like Android.

As I mentioned previously, Miller acknowledges that Intel is a bit behind the game in the tablet race. However, they do seem to also have a differentiating vision, in my opinion. With Apple, it’s pretty much one size fits all, meaning the experience is focused more around the device and less around a particular user’s use case. I think that this is fine for Apple, as this is where they want to be, providing an elegant and easy to use, but controlled environment. Intel believes, however, that tablets should be as individual as you are, meaning that you should be able to customize and tailor a tablet to better fit a given user. With the iPad, IT is the center as opposed to the person using it being the center. This concept actually is even more appropriate for the 3rd category below.

Intel will be working to make the processor technology within tablets faster, while designing their chipsets to use less power and be smaller, thus allowing for thinner tablets. Some benchmarks outlined by Miller was getting below 8mm in thickness (e.g., “thinness”) and having 10 hours active battery life with 30 days of standby – pretty much a good standard. If they can pull this off running a mobility version of Windows 7, that would be impressive.

My take on this: I’m a bit worried about the focus on Windows 7 as the platform for these next generation tablets. Apple obviously has the user interface nailed down (however, I do think that even a refresh there is needed as I don’t feel that iOS on the iPad is a fully optimized experience). Android will be making good inroads and will have a series of first generation tablets that are tried and tested and will be improved upon. I’m not convinced that Windows 7 will be fully suitable for this uphill task. However, having Intel focus on creating better chips specifically design for this space is very important, part of the reason why Apple purchased a chip manufacturer to produce chips for their iPhone and iPads. If Intel can bake more performance for the CPU and video processing (just as they will for the next gen netbook), any tablets running this processor will be competitive.

“Hybrid Device”

This next category is really the intriguing one and represents a merging of the best features and technology available to netbooks and tablets. There are already devices like this in the market, in fact, Microsoft had supported this type of computer many years before the iPad even came out. We have seen swivel-display computer from Fujitsu, for example, that had a screen that pivots to cover a keyboard. This “hybrid” style is exactly something that Intel believes is worth investing in. Think about coupling a touch screen display (e.g., a tablet) with a keyboard (e.g., a clamshell or netbook) and you have this hybrid device. The Dell Inspiron Duo is a current example of this type of form-factor.

However, Miller believes that there is much more to be done with this form-factor and the underlying OS and software driving it. Without offering many details, he did say they will be ultra thin with low power consumption, which seems to be a common thread on all new consumer electronics devices coming out these days. But what was presented was the idea of this device really meeting multiple yet individual needs. For example, you could have it so that if when you are using the keyboard and are at work, you would use Windows 7 as the OS, but when you went home and move more to a tablet-appropriate environment, the OS might shift to Android. Also, as kids are growing up using these devices much the same way we used pen and paper, there could be appropriate “user environments” within this hybrid device to satisfy their needs.

My take on this: I do think that tablets still have some shortcomings for some situations. Yes, the iPad is penetrating the business place, but there is still a need to provide more power that is less consumer focused and more business-centric than the current devices. The Blackberry PlayBook actually tried to do this by forcing users to have a Blackberry device in order to get the full capabilities of the tablet (e.g., a mail client). I don’t think that Blackberry took the right approach on this personally, by forcing users to do it one way. I better like what Intel is proposing, giving the user the option to configure their environment the way that is most appropriate to how they will interact and engage with it. But time will tell if this multi-OS, multi-form-factor, multi-use case device can be perfectly pulled off.

So What’s Next?

12 to 18 months ago, tablets didn’t exist (although there are plenty of people who will disagree with this statement). So, to qualify that a bit more, I would say the modern, consumer-friendly tablet didn’t exist. In another 12-18 months, the tablets (like the iPad) that we know and love currently will be long gone and replaced with devices that are more powerful, thinner, multi-function with batteries that last 20 hours of active use, and capable of powering full entertainment systems and replace computers. Well, I could be dreaming a bit.

Oh, and one more thing…on Wednesday, Intel introduced a new design to their transistor chip. Called “Tri-Gate,” this revolutionary 3-D design clearly shows Intel’s innovation at work. While the concept of this design has been discussed for several years, Intel is the first manufacturer to move this design into production. It provides not only performance improvements, but also allows for power reduction within 22nm-based devices that include the categories mentioned above.

Above you can see an illustration of the 32nm transistor (on the left) compared to the new 22nm (on the right). The yellow dots represent how the current flows. The 32nm illustrates current flowing along a plane while the 22nm shows it flowing on 3 sides of a vertical fin.

But back to the tablet race, Apple seems to have the lead…for now. But as companies regroup and look to improve, I’m expecting some pretty innovative products coming out. I think with Intel working to drive the innovation from within, providing more powerful and smaller chipsets to power these emerging tablets, we are just beginning to see a really exciting market develop and emerge.

Disclosure: I am part of the “Intel Advisor” program and am compensated and/or receive other value from Intel to attend events on their behalf. My opinions about Intel and my writing are entirely my own and not those of Intel, nor subject to their editorial approval. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.

HTD says: For me, it was really exciting to not only get Intel’s take on these types of devices, but also to see how they are planning on taking on the market with some new innovations within this exploding space.

Note: this article originally appeared on HighTechDad.com

One way to become a better parent (or make a better product) is to talk to people and learn from that action. That is what CES is for, people coming together in one place to talk about technology and gadgets. Similarly, as a parent, you have your various support groups, friends and peers who you can discuss parenting with. What’s funny is that technology can bring these groups together. It could be through the use of products like a smartphone or a webcam for video conferencing,  or via something a bit more abstract like social networking or even physical networking.

Fellow Intel Advisor, Jeff Sass, and I and 3 other dads were brought together almost a year and a half ago with the subject being technology and gadgets. The 5 of us were virtually united by Sony (many of us never physically met each other and some of us still haven’t) in a program called the Digidads Project. When the program ended in December 2009, all of us dads (CC Chapman, Brad Powell, Max Kalehoff, Jeff Sass and me), decided to start a podcast together because we had enjoyed talking together on the regular conference calls during the Sony project. Thus, the podcast “Cast of Dads” was born.

Flash forward to about a year later, and while we haven’t ever all met face-to-face at once, we were able to assemble 3/5ths of the Cast of Dads and have our first ever guest dad, Dave Delaney of Griffin Technology. We held the following video podcast in the upstairs of the Intel booth at CES 2011. Our podcasts are typically about 30 minutes in length and frequently we don’t have a set agenda or topic, however in this particularly unique podcast, we definitely had a subject – TECHNOLOGY, and what we saw at CES.

3/5th Cast of Dads Live from CES from C.C. Chapman on Vimeo.

A quick note, in the video we took a look at a Dell Inspiron Duo. Intel has graciously donated one to us to give away over the next few weeks on the Cast of Dads podcast. The details will be discussed there so be sure to bookmark the Cast of Dads website.

Disclosure Text: I am part of the “Intel Advisor” program and am compensated and/or receive other value from Intel to attend events on their behalf, including the 2011 CES show. My opinions about Intel and my writing are entirely my own and not those of Intel, nor subject to their editorial approval. Also, I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product (specifically the Sony NEX-5) for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period.