At IDF, PCs Take a Back Seat to Drones, VR, AI, Driverless Cars

Intel, long the most dominant chip vendor for PCs, is making a high-profile transition away from them and toward such growth markets as the internet of things (IoT), drones, the cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, network connectivity and the data center. Essentially, the company wants the billions of connected devices that will make up the IoT to run on Intel technology, and for its products to drive the systems that connect them to the cloud. "We are transforming into the company that is powering the cloud, connecting smart devices and making new experiences possible based on all that today," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told the more than 6,000 people who traveled to San Francisco last week for the annual Intel Developer Forum (IDF). In the past, the show had been packed with new PCs and servers powered by the company's latest and greater processors. However, this year's IDF had a decidedly different vibe to it, with fewer PCs on display and more drones, cars and other connected devices on the floor.