CRM News: Green Tech: Intel Shows Way to Nudge a Napping PC

Intel Shows Way to Nudge a Napping PC

By Erika Morphy
TechNewsWorld
Part of the ECT News Network
08/14/08 2:05 PM PT

Intel will soon begin rolling out technology to its partners that allows users to remotely activate their computers from sleep mode by way of a VoIP call. Remote Wake, as it's called, will enable a user to download a movie before arriving home, for example.

Considering CRM solutions?
You first need to understand CRM best practices. Before committing to a CRM purchase and implementation, it's good to know the experience of those who have already "been there, done that." It can save time and prevent costly missteps. Download Free Research.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) will begin rolling out motherboards next month that support Remote Wake technology -- the ability for a computer to be turned on from sleep mode remotely. Applications that have already been designed around this technology include PC-based phone service and content delivery.

Users of computers with Remote Wake will not have to keep their computers on 24-7 to use a particular service or product. In short, it gives Intel and its partners a powerful sales pitch: You can save money by leaving your computer in sleep mode until needed.

Wake Up Call

Remote Wake underscores another facet of computing: the evolution of the PC into a media center. "Intel is smart enough to know which direction the industry is headed," Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, a content delivery company that is partnering with Intel, told TechNewsWorld. "This technology enables the PC to stay in sleep mode until needed, and then it can receive media."

Still, it is difficult to quantify the benefit that Remote Wake will deliver to the application partner and computer manufacturing companies that integrate the technology into their products. None of the partners contacted for this article could provide tangible figures. "But we do think it will be of value and lead to more sales for Pando," Levitan said.

With the basic premise established, there are any number of applications that can incorporate this technology into their core infrastructure to offer this enhanced feature.

Pando Networks, for example, demos on its Web site a person accessing her computer via Pando Networks P2P content delivery service to start downloading a movie to be ready in time when she comes home.

Another Intel partner, Orb Networks, also offers similar functionality -- in this case, accessing media on the PC for viewing or listening elsewhere. Using Orb, "you can listen to your music from the office or show photos to grandma from her house," Ron Perrotta, vice president of marketing for Orb Networks, told TechNewsWorld. "But before this, you had to leave the computer on."

IP-telephony provider Jajah integrated Remote Wake into its telephony infrastructure, allowing third party developers to leverage both Jajah platform and its support for Remote Wake. Jajah infrastructure can work with any softphone.

This is still a niche market, Paul Naphtaoi, Jajah's VP of global marketing, told TechNewsWorld. "One of the problems has been people don't want to keep their computers on all the time."

Next Article in Green Tech

Green-Tech Movement Spawns Eco-Friendly Hard Drive
July 31, 2008

A new external hard drive from Fabrik is just one of many technology products released of late with the environment in mind. For its SimpleTech [re]drive enclosure, Fabrik uses recycled aluminum and eco-friendly bamboo grown near the manufacturing facility. Companies like Google, IBM and others are propelling the technology sector trend toward green products and processes.

More by Erika Morphy

Ballmer Gives Shareholders - and Dell - Cause for Optimism
November 20, 2009

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was all smiles at the company's shareholders meeting, as he touted the early success of Windows 7. Ballmer's cheer may have been contagious; after posting a massive earnings decline for the third quarter, Dell needed some good news to latch onto, and the prospect of broad enterprise adoption of Windows 7 could spur PC sales.

AA.com Sucks the Fun Out of Trip-Planning
November 20, 2009

Using AA.com to book a flight was a painful experience. Densely packed, disorganized information was displayed in an unattractive format. On the plus side, it did seem as though the deals American Airlines advertised were real and not mere bait-and-switch lures. For anyone who wants a travel-planning Web site to inject a little pleasure into the experience, though, I say look elsewhere.

Salesforce.com Pumps Up Volume of Workplace Chatter
November 19, 2009

Salesforce.com has developed a collaboration platform that puts social networking to work. Salesforce Chatter facilitates employee collaboration on projects through Facebook-like profiles, status updates, feeds and groups. The question remains whether employees will be as open to social networking in the workplace as they are in their personal lives.

[Search More...]