Intel Quark Chips In The Works For Wearable And Ingestible Technologies

There's no doubt that wearable technologies are picking up speed, and aiming to be in the forefront of the emerging industry is Intel, which is now working on a line of microchips called Intel Quark. These small chips are designed for wearable devices like smartwatches and bracelets, with another variety being designed for ingestible applications, such as medical devices.

The Intel Quark chips were revealed by Intel's President Renee James, one of which you can see in the image above. The Quark microchips measure in at a size five times smaller than the company's Atom processors, but offering 10 times the power efficiency, making for long battery life in devices that don't have much room for energy storage.

Calling it the next big thing, James also spoke at the company's Intel Developer Forum about the wearable technology. Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich was also present, showing off a prototype of a smartwatch using an Intel Quark chip, as well as a "clunky" bracelet running the same tiny unit. Neither of those products are something slated for shelves, but rather serve to showcase what partners could develop.

The small line of processors are set to be launched some time next year, though when precisely wasn't specified (and perhaps isn't currently yet known). Other particulars aren't known yet, but Intel says these low-powered microchips will also help bring down the cost of devices, something it has been keen on doing in recent times. The ingestible version will be used in biomedical applications, said James.

SOURCE: Reuters