Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Inside Intel's geekfest

• Maggie Shiels
• 22 Aug 08, 09:52 GMT

All this week I have been attending the in San Francisco and of all the developers' conferences I have been to over the last few months this one was very different in atmosphere.

The company just turned 40 recently and the vibe here was certainly much more conservative than that of say, which is heading for its 10th birthday.

,as it was called, was a mix of hip and geek (and massage therapists) whereas Intel was pure geek.

In fact Intel exec Pat Gelsinger boasted on the first day that the forum was all about geeks and people who love technology and innovation. Admittedly, all developers' gigs are full of people coming from the same perspective to a greater and lesser degree.

,by the way, do it louder than anyone, ear-splittingly so!

But here you kind of felt you were hanging out with the grown ups. But that's not to say there wasn't some fun to be had.

Intel chairman Craig Barrett was clearly enjoying himself during his keynote when he play acted someone who had been in a motorcycle accident and lay on the ground for added authenticity.

And Eric Kim, who heads up Intel's digital home group clearly had his own wardrobe budget for his keynote entitled "I Love TV."

More play acting, as he took on the mantle of game show host to quiz some audience members about TV trivia. And to add some wardrobe pizzazz, he donned a snazzy red jacket for the occasion.

Even though Mr Kim admitted he would have loved a career as a game show Johnny, he reckoned he wasn't that good because all three contestants won flat screen TVs for taking part.

Cries of 'foul' and 'a fix' did I hear you shout? Not at Mr Kim's sesh, but certainly some inferred to me that was the case at the Brain Bowl quiz which took place on the first evening of IDF.

The result was a very controversial one among a couple of American journos I spoke to but that would be because they were gubbed by the Europeans in this head-to-head competition covering general knowledge, the industry and Intel products.

One American journalist complained the buzzer button on their side wasn't quite working as well as that on the Euro desk which was known as Team Moore or Less, in honour of Moore's law. And the US of A was called Team Turbo in recognition of a system that is part of Intel's new mega Nehalem chip.

The scores on the doors by the way. The US 150 and Europe 550.

Fancy a couple of sample questions?

Is there a voice-activated etch-a-sketch? The answer is yes, it's in the pipeline.

And is there a virtual female assistant who takes your calls, answers your e-mail and hands out your business cards. Again, another affirmative.

Alas, no prize to the journalist who shouted out that he would marry her.

On the exhibition floor lots of fun to be had cruising some of the toys. wiped out everyone who tried to challenge her at . She is a professional gamer and, at 23, is making a nice living out of it.

Over at the embedded section, a Beamer kitted out with a 3D navigation system that shows colourful graphics, TV's in the headrest that play movies or gives you information about the local area you are in and GPS.

Also on exhibit was who doesn't do a heck of a lot except move a few steps, utter a few words and kick ass when it comes to playing chess.

For the 'Easy Rider' geek, there was a flashy 250-horse-powered bike that had chips embedded everywhere. The 'one off' motorbike has GPS navigation, rugged mobile PC, wi-fi connectivity, thumbprint recognition so no need for keys, rear view cameras, kickstand control, and a digital dashboard.

I was told by one person that the bike would cost anywhere between $250,000 to $500,000 but someone else told me it had no price tag and was custom built and unique.

I don't know if the constant number of people coming to see the exhibit had anything to do with the bike or Natasha, who posed alongside anyone who wanted a rock out photo as a souvenir of their time at IDF.

Rocking out and IDF - strange bedfellows .