Ask the Experts: Intel's Aicha Evans Talks Wireless and Answers Your Questions
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 15, 2013 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Intel
- Mobile
- Tablets
- wireless
We've followed Intel's CPU team's march towards mobile for years now, but we've seen very little from the wireless group. That's all beginning to change. Earlier this year at MWC, Brian and I had one of our first meetings with the wireless group at Intel. In that meeting we met Aicha Evans, Vice President of Intel's Mobile & Communications Group. Every now and then I get to meet someone who is a pretty awesome combination of smart and passionate, and Aicha definitely fit the bill.
Unlike most of the folks I talk to on a regular basis at Intel, Aicha didn't come from the CPU side of the business. She got her start at Skyworks, an RF/comms company, before eventually being recruited by Intel to help develop their wireless strategy beginning with WiMAX. While most folks tend to have a very center-of-the-universe approach to talking about the part of mobile SoCs they contribute to, Aicha struck me as unique in that she ultimately views her role at Intel as one of enablement. In her own words: everything that computes, connects. She's taken it upon herself to make sure that Intel's computing story isn't held back by the lack of a connecting one. Her role is a challenging one. Anyone looking to do big things at Intel in the computing side of the business has decades of success in CPUs to rest on. Trying to do the same with wireless at Intel comes with no such safety net, and definitely no head start.
That initial meeting, which unfortunately remains off the record (it was a pretty awesome one), got me wondering if it would be possible to get Aicha talking directly to the AnandTech audience. A couple of months ago, while visiting Intel, Aicha agreed to sit down with me at Intel Studios and talk a bit about their wireless strategy on camera. She also agreed to personally answer any questions AT readers might have about Intel wireless or the industry in general.
In order to make the interview a bit easier to digest, Intel split it up into 5 - 7 minute segments. I've embedded them all below, along with a brief synopsis of each video. After watching the segments, be sure to leave any questions you have for Aicha in the comments to this article. Once we get enough, Aicha will look through them and answer them in an upcoming post.
Everything that Computes, Connects
Aicha's story is actually a great one and I'm sad that we didn't get the entire thing on film, but in this first video you get a bit of her story as well as insight into exactly when Intel got the wake up call that it needed to focus on wireless as well as computing in mobile.
Commitment to Mobility
Intel's march towards mobility hasn't been a swift one. The first video talked about when Intel brought Aicha on, now this video takes us through the time when the company started taking wireless seriously.
Future of Mobility
With the background established, here I got Aicha talking about the integration of Infineon Wireless and how things are going with the LTE roadmap.
Addressing the Global Market for LTE
We dive a bit deeper into the LTE discussion, bringing up the challenges that Intel will face and where Aicha believes the company's strengths are.
Wireless Innovation
Here we talk about room for improvement in wireless technologies, and what sort of innovation we can expect in the coming years. The coolest part of the final segment is where Aicha shares a bit about what drives her. Here we also end with a call for reader questions, which Aicha will be answering herself in the coming weeks!
Call for Questions
As I mentioned at the start of the post, Aicha will be reading your comments. If you have anything you'd like to hear her answer about mobile or wireless, leave your questions in the comments below!
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elabdump - Sunday, August 18, 2013 - link
Don't look at intel if want to see what is possible today. And "serious computing" doesn't help a chip making company like intel if the the market share for "serious computing" isn't big enough to refinance the fabs.amalinov - Sunday, August 18, 2013 - link
Whether/When will Intel release a SoC (or wireless controller) with DVB-T/T2 (and maybe also H/SH, but those are much less prevalent)?Whether/When will Intel release WiDi receiver software for Win8, Win8-RT, WinPhone, Android phone/tablet, iOs phone/tablet? So that contents of one laptop screen/speakers/USB are shown on another PC?
Whether/When will Intel release WiDi over Ethernet/WAN/IP (for VMs and as KVM replacement)?
Whether/When will Intel release BroadcastTV-over-LTE (and subsequently LTE at 450MHz and at UHF/VHF/etc. TV ranges)?
Desensitized Lemons - Sunday, August 18, 2013 - link
Has a Charlie Rose feel to the interview I enjoyed it keep up the good work !Calista - Monday, August 19, 2013 - link
Sometimes it's hard to know the focus of Anandtech. The technical level is second to none within the mainstream review sites. Today sitting down with some honcho from Intel discussing the future, tomorrow reviewing a gaming case, i.e. a hunk of steel.chrone - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
Great interview! Dear Aicha Evans, will Intel aims to win Google Nexus phone and tablet this year? I would really like to have Intel Atom Silvermont on my next Google Nexus phone. Hope it will be widely available in Indonesia, and all Asia Pacific countries too. :)/chrone
Simon42 - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
First, great interview. Captivating and insightful. Great to see a fellow French speaker doing a good job in English :-)Of all the interesting potential developments, the one that interests me the most is inter-device connectity and the many possibilities that might come with it. As a technology enthusiast, one of the (admitably first world) problems I find the most frustrating is the number of devices I own to fulfill different missions - phones, tablets, notebooks, desktops, consoles, home theater/entertainment devices - and how I can at best use 1 or 2 of them at the same time while the other ones - and their potential power - are "wasted". A standard for sharing the processing power of increasingly powerful small devices to make the different "terminals" I use come alive, with centralized data coming from using a central device as an added bonus, would be fantastic.
How far are we from wireless technology enabling users to rely on their now (or soon to be) powerful enough smartphones to provide processing power to an array of bigger devices, from tablets to TVs? How is Intel working on a way to make such a dream a reality? How far away are we from a wireless Thunderbolt equivalent, for instance? Since such a development could mean customers wouldn't need to buy multiple gadgets anymore, is there a chance companies like Intel might want to hold back or limit features that might otherwise be feasible so as not to cannibalise their market with products that would be too good at doing everything?