CES Notebook: Intel's Inside Move

Editor's Note: Senior writer Troy Wolverton attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. The following are some of his closing thoughts and impressions from the conference.

If at first you don't succeed...

Intel CEO Paul Otellini seemed to be following that familiar maxim last week, using about half of his keynote speech on Thursday to describe the company's new Viiv multimedia platform. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Otellini got to share the stage with Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel during the latter's own keynote on Friday, again to talk about Viiv.

Maybe I'm just dumb, but even after all that, it still wasn't clear to me what Viiv was all about.

Sure, sure. The basics of Viiv are easy enough. Intel is envisioning a PC-like device that will be at the heart of consumers' living rooms. The device would be able to download movies from the Internet and display them on TVs, pump digital music through consumers' hi-fi speakers and be navigable with a simple remote control.

Of course, that sounds a lot like Microsoft's Media Center PC platform -- and dozens of other non-Viiv entertainment devices that have been introduced over the last couple of years. But what makes Viiv different, of course, is that it is based on Intel's chips.

In this case, Viiv is based on the company's new dual-core technology, which places two or more processors on one integrated chip. Viiv devices will use the same chips that Intel will be shipping for notebook computers, which will allow the new entertainment devices to be smaller, quieter, cooler -- and much faster -- than earlier products, according to Otellini.

But this is a new Intel. The company is no longer a mere chipmaker but a platform producer. Thus, it wasn't the new chips behind Viiv that were at the center of Otellini's presentation, but the content that consumers will be able to get on their Viiv devices. Users will be able to download and watch Bollywood movies outside of India, watch classic TV shows, download millions of songs instantly, choose their own Olympics highlights to watch, even watch Hollywood movies at home while they are still showing in theaters.