<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Microsoft</span></p><p class="caption">The Microsoft Continuum dock adapter for the Lumia 950.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Microsoft's phone business is struggling: Sales of its flagship Lumia brands are down 72% over the same time last year. </p><p>But Microsoft has been urging calm, dropping lots of hints that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-surface-phone-specs-leaked-2015-8">long-rumored Surface Phone</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-surface-phone-delayed-2017-2016-4">said to be due in 2017</a>, will change everything. Microsoft has even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-phone-breaktrough-cmo-chris-capossela-2015-12">said that it could put Apple and the iPhone on the defensive</a>.</p><p>It's a nice idea.</p><p>But Intel, one of Microsoft's oldest and best partners, is having its own difficulties breaking into mobile. As a result of those troubles, Intel might have made a decision that could sink the Surface Phone and its rumored best feature - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-brings-win32-desktop-apps-to-windows-phones-continuum-2015-11">the ability to run standard Windows desktop software</a> - before it's even officially announced.</p><h2>Mobile headaches</h2><p>This week, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-kills-its-next-smartphone-and-tablet-chips-2016-5">Intel revealed</a> that it won't release its next-generation Atom chip for mobile devices, which was code-named "Braxton." Competitors like Qualcomm and ARM have all put pushed Intel out of the growing mobile market, and the chip titan just can't compete. </p><p>Meanwhile, Microsoft has been pitching a feature called "Continuum" as a killer app for the Windows 10 Mobile phone operating system. Basically, if you're using a Lumia 950 or 950XL flagship phone from Microsoft, Continuum lets you plug a phone into a monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard and use it kind of like a desktop PC. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Microsoft</span></p><p class="caption">Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile Continuum in action.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>That feature is very cool, and potentially game-changing for places where smartphones are more affordable than PCs, like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-discusses-continuum-on-windows-phone-2015-10">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's childhood home of India</a>. It's something that neither Google nor Apple can currently match.</p><p>But in its current form, and with the Lumia 950 running on a Qualcomm processor, Continuum is extremely limited. </p><p>First off, the Lumia is clearly limited to only the apps on the Windows Store market, which is not as well stocked as Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store. Second, an app has to speficially support Continuum, and so far, it's mostly Microsoft's own products, like the Edge browser and the Office suite, that have taken the plunge. </p><h2>Intel could help</h2><p>Intel could help Microsoft address all of those problems with Continuum. With an Intel chip, rather than a Qualcomm one, the would-be Surface Phone could more easily be rigged up to run legacy Windows software in Continuum mode. It would make that phone a much more viable and interesting PC-replacement option, with a much wider base of software.</p><p>Indeed, <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/03/intel_mobile_microsoft_analysis/">as the Register points out</a>, Microsoft is said to have been planning on placing an Intel Atom chip into the Surface Phone.</p><p>The low-powered Atom would be ideal for cutting down on power consumption while still allowing for Windows software to run. It would take the novelty that is Continuum today and turn it into a real competitive advantage for the Surface Phone and Windows 10 Mobile.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom</span></p><p class="caption">Despite partnerships with companies like Acer, Intel struggled to break into mobile.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>With Intel jettisoning the next version of Atom, Microsoft could be in a pickle. </p><p>Maybe they'll figure out some way to cram a desktop PC's Intel chip in there, or maybe they have some kind of deep sorcery that will let them run Windows software on a smartphone processor.</p><p>But without that killer Continuum feature, it's going to make it much harder for Microsoft to make that promised dent in the smartphone market.</p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saule-technologies-made-thin-solar-cells-that-can-charge-phones-2016-4">A tech company made a new type of solar panel that's about to turn the energy industry upside down</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="A2ZWF1MjE60xIOP0vEZIo27Ht5GnYpgQ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Intel may have totally sunk Microsoft's latest plan to conquer smartphones

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Having <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-mobile-withdrawal-may-sink-microsoft-windows-10-continuum-2016-5">missed the boat on smartphones</a>, and with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pc-market-shrinking-five-years-straight-good-news-for-dell-hp-2017-1">PC industry in decline</a>, Intel needs to find a new place to sell the chips that are the bread and butter of its business.</p><p>On Monday, the company revealed its answer: cars.</p><p>Intel is spending a whopping $15.3 billion, the second largest acquisition ever in its 50-year history, to buy <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-mobileye-acquisition-report-2017-3">self-driving car tech company Mobileye</a>.</p><p><span>If self-driving vehicles are going to be the future, as </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-10-million-self-driving-cars-will-be-on-the-road-by-2020-2015-5-6">Uber, Alphabet, and others believe they will be</a><span>, Intel wants to sell the bits that make it happen.</span></p><p><span>Just as PCs were once all adorned with the reassuring "Intel Inside" stickers, the chipmaker is betting that it can gain a similar foothold inside another product that sells tens of millions of units ever year.</span></p><p>"It's important now, because if you take a look at what you're doing, talking about car models in 2020, 2021, and so we need to get in there, we need to get this platform developers, brought to them, and have that confidence so that we can really influence the real start of autonomous driving in that time frame," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said on CNBC following the announcement of the deal.</p><p>Intel has a history of buying up companies to plug holes in its business: From 1997 to 2002, Intel went on a rampage, buying up around 40 companies both during and after the dot-com bubble. Even later on, Intel signed mega-deals like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-finishes-77-billion-mcafee-buy-2011-2">2010's purchase of security company McAfee for $7.68 billion</a>.</p><p>The problem is that while Intel should be applauded for trying to move its business into new areas, the company has a lousy track record when it comes to acquisitions. That could be part of the reason why Intel stock is down almost 2% at the time of writing, below the market.</p><h2>A series of unfortunate events</h2><p>Intel's dotcom shopping spree was kind of a fiasco, with the company spending billions on companies like Wind River and Dialogic trying to break into the smartphone market. But Intel struggled to gain a foothold in the early market, and ended up taking a $600 million writeoff in its wireless business - and <a href="http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/2006/20060627corp.htm">ended up selling much of its mobile business to Marvell</a> for the same amount in 2006.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In 2010, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-infineon-intel-idUSTRE67Q3J820100830">Intel bought the wireless business unit from Infineon</a>, which manufactured processors in the first several iPhone models, for $1.4 billion, in a move that was supposed to finally give the company a major play in smartphones. Not long after, Apple switched to chips from competitor Qualcomm, raining on Intel's parade. It was only last year that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-could-power-over-50-of-apple-iphone-7s-and-add-15-billion-in-revenue-2016-7">reports held that Apple was turning to Intel for wireless modem hardware for new iPhones</a>.</p><p>And some of its acquisitions were just plain weird, like that McAfee acquisition, which never really seemed to fit into the company's core processor business. I<span>t basically cut the value of the company by nearly half over the course of six years, culminating that Intel<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-spins-off-mcafee-2016-9"> announced it was spinning off a majority stake of McAfee in a $4.2 billion deal</a>.</span></p><h2><span>The bull case</span></h2><p><span>On CNBC this morning, Krzanich made the argument that Mobileye will be different, saying that he needs to convince investors that Intel's play here is around the "visual data" that self-driving cars can collect. </span></p><p><span>"The next data revolution will be visual data. Those cars see the world. And so as we're looking for things, as visual data becomes important, that is a new whole business and new whole regime of data management that is going to become available," Krzanich said.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>And tactically, Krzanich claims that he has a solid track record of rehabilitating Intel's troubled acquisitions, and led McAfee Intel Security to profitability ahead of the spinoff. He says that he's going to repeat the playbook there of having leadership that reports directly to him, with CEO Ziv Aviram staying in command of Mobileye.</span></p><p><span>While Mobileye is certainly Intel's biggest investment in diversifying its business past the PC, it's not alone. Over the last few years, Intel has invested heavily in stuff like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-new-drone-to-replace-fireworks-2016-11">drones</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-announces-project-alloy-a-wireless-virtual-reality-headset-2016-8">virtual reality</a>, and the so-called "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-transition-to-internet-of-things-2016-7">Internet of Things</a>." </span></p><p><span>But given Intel's lousy M&amp;A track record and its challenges expanding beyond PC and server processors, the burden is on Krzanich to prove the naysayers wrong.</span></p><p class="tagline">Visit  <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/">Markets Insider</a> for constantly updated market quotes for individual stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies traded around the world. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/">Go Now!</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/race-car-drives-itself-roborace-robocar-formula-e-2017-3">This race car drives itself</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Q4NzI5YTE6GOflptkJi5oWdFTQYDfAF4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This is why Intel plunked down $15 billion for a car tech company - and why it should make investors nervous

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ethan Miller/ Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Intel CEO Brian Krzanich</p></div><p></p></div></div>Intel largely missed the mobile boom and lost billions of dollars as a result. </p><p>But it could be getting major help from Apple as the world's largest chipmaker may have won a deal to be in more than half of all upcoming iPhone 7 devices, according to market research firm Cowen &amp; Co.</p><p>Cowen wrote in a note Monday that recent field checks suggest Intel modem chips making it to more than half of the new iPhones, slated for release later this year. That's substantially higher than the 25% share Cowen estimated when it was <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-10/intel-said-to-get-chip-order-from-apple-first-major-mobile-win">first reported</a> that Intel would be powering the new iPhones last month.</p><p><span>All in all, the research firm estimates the Apple deal to bring in an additional $1.5 billion in revenue for Intel. S</span>ince Intel already has the mobile chip development technology in place, it won't cost a whole lot to supply the modem chips to Apple, Cowen pointed out, which means nearly half of the revenue, or $850 million, could go straight to operating profits.</p><p>For Intel, a company that generated over $55 billion last year, $1.5 billion in additional sales doesn't really move the needle. But the iPhone deal is a huge deal for Intel given the chipmaker never really had any substantial wins in the mobile space.</p><p>Particularly, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-outlines-vision-after-big-layoffs-2016-4">mentioned 5G and connectivity</a> as one of the main pillars of Intel's future business, meaning it could be looking for additional deals to follow after the iPhone partnership.</p><p>Cowen noted in the report that this is a huge "psychological win" for Intel, as it could potentially expand to other deals, like Intel providing foundry support, which means it could start producing the actual chips for Apple as well.</p><p>"While this is certainly a meaningful number, the psychological effect for INTC is even greater as it opens up an entirely new non-CCG narrative," Cowen wrote, referring to Intel's Client Computing Group (CCG), which includes the PC and mobile chip businesses.</p><p>"This move is to us, very strategic as Intel could, over time, allow Apple to integrate Intel's modem technology together with Apple's Application Processor and eventually use Intel foundry to make the chip and cut Qualcomm out entirely."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dog-breeds-100-years-of-breeding-2016-6">Here's what popular dog breeds looked like before and after 100 years of breeding</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="N1amwyMjE6DqwfhdZTMSZ3UJPIqdnF2O" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Intel could add $1.5 billion in revenue thanks to Apple

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><p class="source">Steve Kovach, Business Insider</p></div></div>We knew that once <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> started down the path of becoming a PC maker, it wouldn't just toss two devices into the world and call it quits.</p>
<p>Now the company has hinted that it has plans to release updated version of both the <keyword id="1469171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Surface-Pro">Surface Pro</keyword> tablet/PC combo device, and the <keyword id="96960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Surface">Surface</keyword> RT tablet in 2014.</p>
<p>The hint came duping a speech by Microsoft COO Kevin Turner at  the company's Worldwide Partner Conference happening this week in Houston. Turner showed off a slide that outlined Microsoft's roadmap for the products in all of its consumer businesses. Among the list of products scheduled for a refresh is the Surface Pro and the Surface RT, as spotted by <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/10/4511482/microsoft-updated-surface-rt-pro-new-accessory-colors">the Verge's Tom Warren</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond showing these devices on the refresh roadmap, Microsoft hasn't offered any other details.</p>
<p><div class="image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Microsoft" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/51ddaf76eab8ea8e2e000006-960/product-roadmap2.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><a href="http://www.digitalwpc.com/Videos/Pages/Videos.aspx?g=5764c1c0-7676-4be9-9314-7bac82d66c34#fbid=l0t_sM3H02O">Microsoft</a></p></div></div></p>
<p>However, as Warren points out, Microsoft has talked about Intel's new Haswell chip and promised that <keyword id="656949" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Windows-8">Windows 8</keyword> devices, which promise longer batter life, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-windows-8-devices-with-intels-new-haswell-chip-will-be-here-soon-2013-5">will be here in the fall.</a>  So it's not unreasonable to speculate that Microsoft could be working on new Haswell devices itself.</p>
<p>Likewise, Microsoft insists that it's committed to its <keyword id="1016196" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Windows-RT">Windows RT</keyword> operating system. RT runs on low-powered ARM processors like the one in the iPad and many Android tablets. So an updated Surface RT with the latest ARM processor seems like a reasonable expectation, too. The Verge report says Microsoft is testing a RT device with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor right now. That's cool because the chip includes the ability to connect to 3G/4G LTE networks.</p>
<p>The Surface RT with mobile network support could breath some life into the Surface RT line. Most reports say RT has not been a huge success for Microsoft.</p>
<p>The only other hints Microsoft has given is that this refresh will include new colors and new accessories.</p>

Microsoft Hints That It Will Release Two New Surface Tablets Next Year

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Google" title_caption="Google's Nexus 7 tablet" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51fe69366bb3f78147000023-960/google-nexus-7-tablet.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Google</span></p><p class="caption">Google's Nexus 7 tablet</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/22/6819129/google-nexus-9-is-made-by-htc-and-coming-very-soon">The Verge</a> is reporting that Google will release its Nexus 9 tablet alongside the next version of Android, currently being called Android L.</p>
<p>Android L was unveiled in June. Among its many changes is a completely redesigned visual interface built to be more responsive, called "<a href="https://developer.android.com/preview/material/index.html">material design</a>."</p>
<p>If The Verge's report is true, the Nexus 9 might be the first Android device to launch with Android L.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">We've been hearing for months that Google and HTC have been working together on a new Nexus tablet, and a new report from </span><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/22/htc-returns-to-tablets-with-google-nexus-partnership/?mod=WSJBlog">The Wall Street Journal</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> seems to make those previous claims appear more credible.</span></p>
<p>Over the past few months, executives from HTC have reportedly been flying to Google's office in Mountain View, Calif., to work on the project.</p>
<p>The most convincing evidence we've seen of the tablet's existence came when chip maker Nvidia <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-nexus-9-tablet-release-rumors-2014-9">mentioned the device in one of its legal filings against its rival Qualcomm</a>. The document revealed the Nexus 9 will be released in the third quarter of 2014 and will run on Nvidia's new K1 processor. </p>
<p>Nvidia <a href="http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/News/nvidia-unveils-tegra-k1-a-192-core-super-chip-that-brings-dna-of-world-s-fastest-gpu-to-mobile-a8a.aspx">claims its K1 chip</a> can bring PC-like performance to tablets, so if these claims turn out to be true, we can expect the Nexus 9 to be pretty powerful.</p>
<p>Google typically unveils its new version of Android and Nexus devices in October, so there's a chance we'll see the Nexus 9 unveiled next month. Last week Portuguese news source 4GNews <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-nexus-9-tablet-release-date-2014-9">reported the Nexus 9 will debut on Oct. 8</a>, but we'll have to wait until Google weighs in to know for sure. </p>

Google's New Tablet Will Probably Launch Very Soon Along With The Next Version Of Android

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Screenshot/YouTube" title_caption="Google's Nexus 7 tablet" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5412f87e6bb3f73a5d9d1186-960/nexus-7-tablet-9.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Screenshot/YouTube</span></p><p class="caption">Google's Nexus 7 tablet</p></div><p></p></div>Google is long overdue for a new Nexus tablet, but it looks like we may not have to wait too long to see what the company has in its pipeline.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/imagelibrary/downloadmedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=2996&amp;SizeId=-1&amp;SizeID=-1">a legal filing from chipmaker Nvidia</a>, a Nexus 9 tablet made by HTC is scheduled to debut in the third quarter of 2014.</p>
<p>A sentence in the document, which is part of the company's legal battle with rival chipmaker Qualcomm, also indicates that the tablet will be powered by Nvidia's recently announced K1 processor.</p>
<p>The mention of an HTC Nexus 9 tablet has since been removed from the paperwork, but a few tech media outlets such as <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/10/nvidia-hints-at-htc-nexus-9/">Engadget</a> and <a href="http://www.droid-life.com/2014/09/10/nvidia-confirms-existence-of-htc-nexus-9-in-own-legal-documents-launch-expected-in-q3/">Droid-Life</a> captured a screenshot of the original text. The sentence was initially spotted by website <a href="http://www.brightsideofnews.com/2014/09/10/nvidia-confirms-htc-nexus-9/">The Bright Side Of News</a>, and here's what it said:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>For the past few months, rumors have suggested that HTC is collaborating with Google to build its new Nexus tablet. The device is expected to feature a 9-inch screen with a sharp 2560 x 1600 resolution and may come with an all-aluminum design just like HTC's line of One smartphones.</p>
<p>It's safe to assume it will ship with Google's newest version of Android, codenamed "L," when it launches. Based on the document, it also seems likely that HTC and Google's tablet will run on Nvidia's K1 chip, which is said to bring PC quality performance to portable gadgets like tablets and Chromebooks. </p>
<p>We didn't hear anything about new Nexus hardware at Google's I/O developers conference in June, but it's possible that the company is reserving those announcements for the fall. Last year, Google quietly unveiled its Nexus 5 smartphone and Android 4.4 KitKat on Halloween, so it's possible that we'll see a similar launch this year. </p>

The Most Convincing Evidence Yet That Google's New Nexus Tablet Is Coming, And Soon

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Julie Bort</span></p><p class="caption">A display of the insides of the Chromebook Pixel</p></div><p></p></div></div>A <a href="https://www.google.com/about/careers/search#!t=jo&amp;jid=137935001&amp;">new job listing</a> shows Google is seeking a "multimedia chip architect" who can "lead a chip development effort" and "work with other engineers to take chip to product shipment."</p><p>The phrasing of the job posting suggests Google is about to get a lot more serious about designing and perhaps building its own processors, following in Apple's footsteps.</p><p>The job posting comes from the company's Pixel team, which <a href="https://pixel.google.com/">recently announced its high-end productivity tablet, the Pixel C</a>, a person close to the matter tells Business Insider.</p><p>The chip effort suggests a significant expansion of Google's ambitions in the hardware business, giving it a deeper-level of control over its products as it competes more directly with Apple, which develops everything from the silicon to the software found in iPhones and iPads.</p><p>"Normally, I wouldn't read too much into a job posting because often system designers need people with chip-level expertise," chip analyst Jim McGregor tells Business Insider. </p><p>"However, with the trend towards vertical integration, especially at Microsoft and Apple, it wouldn't surprise me if Google developed their own chips, especially for Android productivity tablets to compete with the Surface Pro and iPad Pro."</p><p>Google declined to comment on this job posting or its chip plans. </p><h2>A better chip for handheld devices?</h2><p><span>McGregor explains that it's common for companies like Google to have chip experts on staff to come up with and evaluate potential performance-improving features that they want chip-making partners to include. Google also spearheads various efforts, including the WebM video standard, that requires a constant stream of new intellectual property that must be included in chips made by other companies.  </span></p><p>Still, the wording in the new job posting, recent comments by Google executives, and Google's expanding ranks of engineers with chip design skills <span class="s1">hint that the internet company may be planning a more serious foray into the chip business.</span></p><p><span>The chip architect job listing specifically refers to </span>"image processing, video processing, stabilization."</p><p>Those suggest that the chip in intended for camera-related tasks, and specifically for video capture rather than just video playback, said several chip experts that Business Insider spoke to.</p><p>The reference to "stabilization" points to a handheld device in particular. </p><p class="p1">"If you look at where Apple and Qualcomm and all the other guys who are designing next generation chips, or touting their current chips, they all talk about how they are trying to improve the camera technology. And a big part of camera technology is being able to stabilize the image," said Nathan Brookwood, a semiconductor expert with research and consulting firm Insight 64. </p><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Google CEO Sundar Pichai</p></div><p></p></div></div>If Google were to go forward and make its own chip in house, it could create <span>a full-fledged processor similar to Apple's A9 chip found inside the latest iPhones, or focus on a chip with a more limited set of capabilities that could be integrated or perhaps function alongside another company's processor. </span></p><h2>Why would Google want to make its own chips?</h2><p class="p1">Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, has boasted that the Pixel C is the first tablet that Google built "end to end."</p><p class="p1">By that, he means that Google created the gadget on its own, rather than partnering with PC makers like Samsung or LG as it does with the Nexus line of devices.</p><p class="p1">But Google still relies on partners for the innards of the devices.</p><p class="p1">The current Pixel C tablet device, which is slated to ship later this year, features an NVIDA Tegra X1 processor. The 256-core X1 is an advanced graphics processor, well-suited for video and data-crunching. Google's existing Pixel laptop devices feature Intel chips with integrated graphics capabilities. </p><p class="p1">While those chips are considered top of the line, Google is certainly playing close attention to Apple's success in going it alone on chips.</p><p class="p1">In a recent blog post, technologist and startup founder Steve Charney wrote that when Apple created an in-house chip design team after the first iPhone shipped it helped <a href="http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advantage/"><span>"create a massive moat between itself and an entire industry.</span></a>" </p><p>Since beginning to design its own chips, Apple has:</p><ul><li>Consolidated its supply chain and stopped paying third-party license fees for chips</li><li>Hyper-optimized its A9 chips  </li><li>Gained negotiating power with suppliers </li><li>Created products that competitors can't simply copy, because they can't replicate the chip capabilities</li><li><a href="http://stevecheney.com/on-apples-incredible-platform-advantage/">Attracted star talent</a> to work on its designs </li></ul><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And as AppleInsider </span><a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/19/how-intel-lost-the-mobile-chip-business-to-apples-ax-arm-application-processors">put it earlier this year</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, "Google and Microsoft have already reached a point where they have few options for assembling Android or Windows tablets that can compete with Apple's latest iPad at similar price points, and the chip supply for advanced phones is also down to a trickle."</span></p><h2>Google would have to sell a lot of Pixels </h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Google's Pixel C tablet</p></div><p></p></div></div>The biggest argument against Google creating its own chip is that unlike Apple, Google does not currently produce enough machines to cover the expense of creating the chip. </p><p>Given the costs and complexity associated with the semiconductor business, the fact that Google deems it worthwhile to do in-house chip development could signal that it has plans to aggressively ramp the amount of Pixel devices it produces.</p><p>Brookwood estimates that Apple poured between<span> $50 to 100 million into research and development to make the A9 chip. But Apple amortizes those costs over hundreds of millions of devices. It ends up being an easy equation. </span></p><p><span>"If you're Google, unless you sell tens of millions of units per device, then the math gets painful," he says. </span></p><p>No one expects Google's forthcoming Pixel tablet to ship in anything close to those kinds of unit volumes. But Google has already expanded the Pixel line from laptops to tablets, and the company may have ambitious plans to become a more prominent player in the consumer electronics and hardware businesses - just look at Google's Chromecast TV dongle, which has sold 20 million devices.</p><p>If Google thinks it can become that big with tablets, handhelds, and laptops, then perhaps making its own chips isn't such a tough equation after all.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/random-guy-bought-googlecom-12-dollars-domain-2015-10">A random guy bought Google.com for $12</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c2a3N2dzr2pve_MMdnEQQvIEEOmYJVZC" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Google is leading a 'chip development effort' that could turn the heat up on Apple

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Samsung announced its next big smartphones, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s8-release-date-specs-features-2017-3" target="_blank">the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+</a>, on Wednesday. As expected, both devices come with big displays, super thin bezels, and top-of-the-line specs. They <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s8-plus-photos-hands-on-2017-3" target="_blank">look good</a>.</p><p>Perhaps the most curious bit of news, though, isn't about the phones so much as an accessory that supports them: the DeX. Short for "desktop extension," this is a little dock that effectively turns the Galaxy S8 or S8+ into a desktop computer.</p><p>So if you wanted to finish a Word doc you started typing on the bus, for instance, you could pop the Galaxy S8 into the DeX, hook up a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and continue on the bigger screen.</p><p>When everything is connected and the DeX is plugged into a monitor, the phone stretches out its Android skin to look like a Windows-esque PC platform. It seems pretty clean. The DeX itself has ports for USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, and the older USB 2.0, and comes with its own cooling fan to keep your phone from overheating. You can still connect the web over LTE.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Samsung's own browser, email, calendar and other apps have been reworked to fit the more spacious screen, but the company says it's also getting Microsoft and Adobe to adapt their Office and Lightroom apps, respectively, to the non-mobile environment.</p><p>Samsung isn't saying how much the DeX will cost or when it'll be available, but <a href="http://winfuture.de/news,96748.html" target="_blank">past leaks</a> have said it'll cost <span>€</span>150 in Europe. So it could be pricey. Given that the Galaxy S8 itself isn't cheap, Samsung is pitching the DeX as a neat, productivity-boosting extra for Galaxy diehards more than a core aspect of the phone itself. </p><h2>A dream that will not die</h2><p>That's probably for the best. Samsung is just the latest in a string of tech companies who have tried to sell phones that can also be PCs. Thus far, none of them have taken off.</p><p>Tech people call this "convergence" - the idea that a single gadget, in this case the smartphone, can swallow all other device types and become the One True Computer for whatever you need.</p><p>The thinking behind it makes sense: The smartphone is already the most popular way people access the internet, and the technology behind it is only getting more powerful. Apple's A-series of mobile chips are at the point where you can at least put them in the <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/14/geekbench-android-a10" target="_blank">same conversation</a> as an Intel desktop processor, and last year <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-finds-solution-to-mobile-conundrum-windows-10-2016-12?_ga=1.168548066.215906070.1490368168" target="_blank">Microsoft showed how</a> it can run its full Windows 10 operating system - albeit partially through emulation - on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. The Galaxy S8 itself runs on the latest and fastest <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-835-quick-charge-2016-11" target="_blank">Snapdragon 835</a> chip.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Meanwhile, more and more people are comfortable turning to less-robust devices like tablets and Chromebooks to fill their computing needs. If the phone is good and strong enough, why buy two or three computers when you could just have one?</p><p>It's an attractive pitch - which helps explain why Samsung is far from the first company to make something like it. Here's a quick history lesson:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  Back in 2011, Motorola released the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/motorola-atrix-4g-review-2011-2" target="_blank">Atrix 4G</a>, an Android phone you could plug into a "Lapdock," a $500 laptop shell you could use to run the phone in a desktop environment. The phone itself was powerful at the time, but the Lapdock's price and limited functionality kept it as more of a gimmick than a game-changer.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  Also in 2011, Asus introduced its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/asus-padfone-2011-5?op=1/#e-phone-docks-in-this-hatch-on-the-back-of-the-tablet-1" target="_blank">PadFone</a> line. This was a series of Android phones that could dock in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/asus-padfone-x-review-2014-6" target="_blank">back of a tablet</a> shell and power that sort of form factor. Asus released a few iterations of this, but hasn't launched a new model since 2014.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  UK software maker Canonical has repeatedly tried to position its Ubuntu OS as a platform that works across devices, to little consumer success. In 2013, it raised millions on Indiegogo for an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ubuntu-edge-indiegogo-campaign-2013-8" target="_blank">Ubuntu Edge</a> phone that'd run Ubuntu when plugged into a desktop, but the company couldn't get the astronomical $32 million it asked for, and it subsequently scrapped the project. It <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/4/10914004/canonical-m10-ubuntu-tablet-convergence" target="_blank">later launched</a> a tablet that tried something similar, but it never really caught on. The company is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/canonical-founder-mark-shuttleworth-interview-2016-4" target="_blank">now looking more</a> at the Internet of Things.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  Microsoft has taken the biggest stab at this idea, with its "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-continuum-on-lumia-phones-2015-10" target="_blank">Continuum</a>" feature for Windows 10 designed to scale the OS down for phone sizes. If you plug a phone like <a href="http://store.hp.com/us/en/mdp/tablets-243002--1/hp-elite-x3" target="_blank">HP's Elite x3</a> into a dock, it's meant to become a full Windows PC. There are still some features missing, though, and Windows phones have long lacked app developer support. That's made Continuum a niche feature, at best, for Windows loyalists.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  <a href="http://www.jide.com/remixos" target="_blank">Jide's Remix OS</a> has transformed Android into a desktop-friendly design, but is still at the mercy of Google's own software updates, and is again more known by enthusiasts than anything else.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">  Various crowdfunded projects have pitched the idea of a dock into which you could plug an Android phone and translate its software to a big screen. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/andromium-superbook-turns-smartphone-into-laptop-2016-7" target="_blank">Superbook</a>, for instance, is a $119 laptop "shell" that raised nearly $3 million on Kickstarter last year. Sentio, the company behind it, has <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/30/delays-hit-crowdfunded-laptop-dock-for-android-phones/" target="_blank">missed</a> its original shipping date, though.</p><h2>Familiar concerns</h2><p>While all of these projects have had their individual issues, the underlying problem in each case is that the software just wasn't cooked enough to be a full PC.</p><p>The DeX will work with the most popular devices to take on this idea, but right now, it's likely to have the same hangup: Android isn't quite there yet for bigger screens. You can run multiple apps at once, but if an app isn't designed for the DeX, it'll be displayed in a phone- or tablet-sized window. Those apps then won't be resizable. We've <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-play-store-android-apps-chromebook-hands-on-2016-6/#each-app-is-presented-in-its-own-window-which-for-now-isnt-adjustable-14" target="_blank">seen this issue</a> before with Android apps running on Google's Chromebooks.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Even then, a <em>lot</em> of Android apps that are ostensibly built for big screens - even Android's Settings menu - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-chromebook-pro-future-of-chromebooks-google-2017-2/#when-it-comes-to-incorporating-android-though-google-still-has-some-cleaning-up-to-do-the-play-store-on-samsungs-review-unit-is-technically-still-in-beta-and-it-shows-there-are-way-too-many-bugs-compatibility-issues-and-outright-crashes-to-be-acceptable-8" target="_blank">resemble blown-up phone apps</a>, with white space aplenty. It's a similar problem to what Samsung just ran into with its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-s3-review-ipad-pro-android-2017-3" target="_blank">Galaxy Tab S3 </a>tablet: Google and Android developers just haven't cared about this use case, so the experience has been sloppy, and Google itself seems to be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-chromebook-android-apps-chrome-os-support-list-2017-1" target="_blank">favoring Chrome OS</a> as its big-screen platform over Android.</p><p>Still, there are reasons to think things will get better. The latest Android update, Nougat, made a number of concessions to larger screens, allowing two apps to run side-by-side, and the upcoming Android O <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/21/14988982/google-android-o-chrome-os-chromebook-keyboard-navgiation" target="_blank">looks like</a> it'll take that further, with things like improved keyboard support. Google <em>is</em> making Android on large screens a focus.</p><p>But here you'll have to wait on Samsung to update its software to take advantage of whatever comes next. And while Samsung says it's working to have "many more" apps support the DeX, the fact that the dock is made for a small subset of Galaxy phones gives reason to doubt how many other developers will jump onboard. </p><p>The DeX does have<em> </em>one trick that could get around Android's shortcomings: Samsung says it's working with software companies like Citrix and VMWare to let you run a virtualized (i.e., streamed) version of Windows 10 off the phone. That would give you a more desktop-ready OS, but it's a solution that hasn't run smoothly on past Windows phones.</p><p>We'll have to test the DeX further to see how well this all works - and how much the Galaxy S8 can handle - but it's best to think of this as an add-on more than <em>the next step</em> for how smartphones collide with the PC. It's something the iPhone cannot do. Still, it looks like Android will need to keep pressing forward before Samsung can accomplish what Microsoft and Motorola have failed to do.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-taking-samsung-galaxy-8-features-2017-3">Apple is turning the next iPhone into a Samsung Galaxy phone</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="UxOG40YTE69ZuVeV3bo9jk6EWDRa_3gd" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Samsung's Galaxy S8 resurrects a fantasy tech companies have had for years

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Acorn-ARM-Evaluation-System.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>ARM designs are almost certainly used in the main processor in your smartphone. And your tablet, your fitness tracker, your smart watch, and even parts of your PC.</p><p>The company whose designs are used by everybody from Apple to Qualcomm is not exhibiting at CES this year, but when you walk the floor, you'll see their handiwork everywhere. The British company specializes in chip designs that are incredibly tiny and don't use much power, which makes them perfect for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and so-called "embedded" devices, like parts of the smart home.</p><p>I sat down with James Bruce, ARM's director of mobile solutions, and Dominic Pajac, its director of Internet of Things marketing, to hear what the company thinks is going to happen next. Here's what they told me.</p><ul><li><strong>The smartphone replacement cycle will stay short. </strong>ARM does not worry about the reported <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/more-analysts-say-iphone-sales-will-decline-this-year-2015-12">reduction in iPhone shipments</a> or consumer surveys <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/accenture-consumers-not-interested-in-internet-of-things-devices-2016-1">like Accenture's </a>that show a reduction in intent to buy a new smartphone this year. Why? Because, as Bruce puts it, "they're our most loved electronic device - and also our most abused." Because people carry and use their phones  everywhere, they're more likely to drop them, break them, or wear them out. That will keep the two-year replacement cycle in tact, and mean continuing good business for ARM.</li><li><strong>The smart home market is (slowly) growing up. </strong>There have been a lot of problems delaying smart home adoption. People don't want to replace all the gear in their home that's working well. They don't want to run new wires through the wall. They want the stuff to be easy to set up and use. And it has to work with their phone - iPhone or Android. There are a lot of complicated technical barriers on the back end that are starting to be worked out, like common wireless standards for the devices to communicate with one another, and hubs that integrate them all. "It's a gradual process as we bring more products together with greater wireless integration and core services. It's going to happen over a few years.</li><li><strong>Tablets aren't dead - they're evolving alongside larger phones. </strong>ARM has a much stronger presence in tablets than PCs, so this may have been a little self-serving, but Bruce believes the current decline in tablet sales is not necessarily death for the market overall. The main reason tablets are declining is because consumers, particularly younger ones, are doing way more on their larger-screened smartphones. He pointed to a survey from mobile analytics company Flurry that showed a 76% increase in mobile app usage just from last year. So the idea of a tablet as a phone with a slightly larger screen for easier reading may be dead, but ARM is bullish on large-screen tablets like the iPad Pro.</li><li><strong>What's holding back augmented and virtual reality. </strong>Bruce gave a crisp breakdown of the market for head-mounted displays: There's augmented reality (which superimposes computer images on the real world), virtual reality video (which is immersive but not interactive), and virtual reality gaming (which is interactive also). VR video is quite a bit easier to do than VR gaming, so will probably be the first way most consumers discover VR. But before it takes off, ARM believes that device makers will have to overcome the discomfort factor - both the discomfort of using the devices (such as nausea) and the discomfort of looking like a dork wearing them. Augmented reality may take off first because companies like Microsoft and Google are focusing it on businesses, where productivity trumps cool.</li></ul><p>Whatever is driving the business, ARM is growing faster than ever. It's shipped 75 billion "systems on a chip" since its founding 25 years ago. 25 billion of those were shipped in the last two years.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/volkswagens-electric-minibus-features-2016-1">Volkswagen just updated its iconic minibus - and here's what it looks like</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Y4cXkwMDE6X3INt50rDay0AXnBMkikFu" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

4 predictions about the future of tech, from a company that powers nearly every device you use

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source">AP</p><p class="caption">Former Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs delivering the CES 2013 opening keynote.</p></div></div>The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the event that's supposed to set the tone in technology for the oncoming year. </p>
<p>Things have changed in recent years though. Technology has become less about whiz-bang gadgets and more about the Internet-powered apps and services we use. Twitter. Instagram. Snapchat. Dropbox. And so on. You don't really need 2 million square feet in the Las Vegas Convention Center to show off a bunch of apps.</p>
<p>Last year, Microsoft famously pulled out of CES, and it was the first time in recent memory that its CEO (either Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer) didn't deliver the opening keynote. Instead, we got a very <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3850056/qualcomms-insane-ces-2013-keynote-pictures-tweets">bizarre presentation</a> from then-Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs that included a cameo by Big Bird and a lip syncing Adam Levine.</p>
<p>Also missing last year? We didn't get a single blockbuster product announcement from one of the major tech companies. Instead, companies like Samsung, HTC, and Nokia waited to hold <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-announcement-event-2013-3">their own events</a> to announce new flagship products later in the year.</p>
<p>So what did happen at CES last year if there weren't any big breakthrough products? There was still a lot going on. But one of the problems with CES in recent years is it hasn't been a good indicator of what the next year in tech would look like. In fact, most of the big themes of CES 2013 were either barely mentioned again following the show or turned out to be major duds.</p>
<p>Let's take a look back at some of the biggest themes of CES 2013 and see where we are now.</p>
<h2>4K TVs</h2>
<p>4K TVs, also known as Ultra HD TVs, were the biggest storyline of CES 2013. These sets represent the next evolution in picture quality because they have nearly double the amount of pixels as normal HD sets today. The downside? They're very expensive. 4K TVs can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Samsung just announced a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-110-inch-tv-2013-12">110-inch set that'll go for about $150,000</a>. Plus, you can't take advantage of a 4K TV set unless the video was shot at that resolution. Today, most content is still shot in normal HD.</p>
<p>Even though 4K TVs are a few years away from being affordable, every tech company from Samsung to Panasonic made a big push in the space at last year's CES. Sharp even one-upped its competitors with a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sharp-8k-tv-ces-2013-1">prototype 8K TV set</a>.</p>
<p>We'll probably see more of the same at this year's CES, but don't expect to have one of these sets in your home for another few years.</p>
<h2>Smart TVs</h2>
<p>As a piggyback to the whole 4K thing, many of the new sets introduced at CES last year were Internet-connected Smart TVs. That doesn't just mean they came with a bunch of built-in streaming apps like Netflix, Pandora, and HBO GO. They also had new interfaces and recommendation engines to help you find new stuff to watch.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-smart-tv-technology-2013-1">Samsung probably had the most advanced Smart TVs</a> with built in cameras and motion/voice controls. Still, you could tell it was the early days of such technology. It's clunky and not entirely accurate. TV may be ripe for disruption, but no one has nailed it yet.</p>
<p>That's not going to stop tech companies from trying again though. Samsung has already said it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-smart-tv-2013-12">plans to update its Smart TV line with new software improvements</a>. LG is reportedly going to show off a <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57616454-93/lgs-webos-tv-purportedly-pops-up-in-leaked-image/">TV powered by WebOS</a>, the mobile operating system Palm developed before HP bought the company. WebOS is now an open source operating system just like Google's Android, so it can run on just about any device.</p>
<h2>Smart Appliances</h2>
<p>From washing machines that send you a notification when your laundry is finished to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smart-stuff-2013-1">refrigerators with built-in Evernote integration</a>, tech companies tried really hard to make "smart" everything happen last year.</p>
<p>While you probably didn't buy a smartfridge last year, these appliances did touch on a growing trend in tech called "The Internet of Things." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">That refers to connecting everyday objects like lights and thermostats to the Internet so they can operate more efficiently and let you have a deeper level of control. There are already a bunch of companies developing stuff in the space like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartthings-raises-12-million-2013-11">SmartThings</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-the-nest-thermostat-2013-11">Nest</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ciscos-john-chambers-has-found-a-new-14-trillion-market-2013-5">even Cisco</a>. Expect to see even more "smart" stuff at CES this year.</span></p>
<h2>BlackBerry 10</h2>
<p>While BlackBerry didn't have an official presence at CES 2013, it did show off its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackberry-10-demo-photos-2013-1">new mobile operating system BlackBerry 10</a> to a bunch of journalists behind closed doors. At the time, BlackBerry 10 was just a few weeks from launch. It was the product that was supposed to save the company.</p>
<p>But the BlackBerry 10 hype was short-lived. BlackBerry had a tough time selling its new BB10-powered phones like the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10. Last fall, the company failed to go private in a $4.7 billion offer from private equity firm Fairfax Financial. Instead, its CEO Thorsten Heins resigned. Several other top executives have also left the company. BlackBerry is now run by an interim CEO named John S. Chen who plans to make a bigger push in enterprise and emerging markets like Indonesia. The BlackBerry we knew a year ago is all but dead.</p>
<h2>Intel Mobile</h2>
<p>Intel is a giant in traditional desktop computing, but has struggled in recent years to adapt to the smartphone/tablet revolution. At last year's CES, Intel spent a lot of time talking about the mobile processors it planned to put in cheaper smartphones in emerging markets. </p>
<p>The problem? Intel's mobile chips weren't going to start shipping until the end of 2013, nearly a full year after they were announced. It's still unclear how many manufacturers chose those Intel chips over the more traditional ARM processors used in most mobile devices. And that's not a good sign. Traditional <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gartner-pc-sales-2013-7">PC sales are tanking</a>. While Intel makes really good processors for laptops and desktops, its mobile plans remain fuzzy. (However, there has been a bigger push lately in those two-in-one laptop/tablet hybrids running Windows 8.)</p>
<p>Intel's new CEO Brian Krzanich will give the opening <keyword id="1997485" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="CES-2014">CES 2014</keyword> keynote on Monday night, so we're expecting to learn more about how Intel plans to tackle mobile.</p>
<h2>Wearable Gadgets</h2>
<p>If CES is supposed to be an indicator of what the next hot thing in tech is, then 2013's show almost completely missed the trend of wearable gadgets like Google's face-computer Google Glass, fitness trackers like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fitbit-force-review-2013-10">the FitBit Force</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/galaxy-gear-review-2013-10">smart watches like the Samsung Galaxy Gear</a>. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One notable exception: the Pebble smart watch. Pebble began as Kickstarter project in 2012 and formally launched at CES in 2013. It's probably the best device in the category you can buy today, although the competition is pretty dim right now. </span></p>
<p>Early CES 2014 rumors suggest that we'll see a ton of new wearables from companies like LG, Archos, and a bunch of hardware startups trying to make their name in the space. Expect wearables to be the big theme of this year's show. Still, don't be surprised if these gadgets are half-baked like Samsung's Galaxy Gear was. The space is still too young and we have yet to see a product that truly breaks through.</p>

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Intel could add $1.5 billion in revenue thanks to Apple

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Microsoft Hints That It Will Release Two New Surface Tablets Next Year

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Google's New Tablet Will Probably Launch Very Soon Along With The Next Version Of Android

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The Most Convincing Evidence Yet That Google's New Nexus Tablet Is Coming, And Soon

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Google is leading a 'chip development effort' that could turn the heat up on Apple

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Samsung's Galaxy S8 resurrects a fantasy tech companies have had for years

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4 predictions about the future of tech, from a company that powers nearly every device you use

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The Biggest Electronics Show In The World Is A Pretty Bad Indicator Of The Year Ahead In Tech

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