8. Set-top boxes
Another area we can expect to see Atom and its derivations appear in is set-top boxes(STBs). Our relationship with our tellies is set to change dramatically as low power processors inside STBs enable things like graphics-intensive user interfaces and screen-in-screen action, and Intel will hope to be in the middle of that.
But just as in the rest of the embedded processor world, Intel will face stiff competition from the ARM ecosystem. Also, as we increasingly access the Internet through our TVs, the commercial environment will become more complex and Intel will want to ensure it has as strong relationships as possible. Without, of course, doing anything regulators would disapprove of.
Another significant development in this area, at least for the UK, has been the approval of Project Canvas by the BBC Trust. This should allow a consortium of all the free-to-air broadcasters to collaborate on an open platform for transmitting TV over the Internet, and allow us to take advantage of all the the hardware yumminess we can expect to find in out STBs.
The existence of Project Canvas is of considerable annoyance to BSkyB and Virgin Media, of course, who've gone to a great deal of time and expense to develop closed IPTV services of their own and could frankly do without Joe Public being able to do a lot of this stuff without having to pay for it.
