Intel wants to sex up the PC to make it as desirable as it is functional. In an attempt to encourage the design of swish new systems, Intel's offering up to $1mil to designers and manufacturers who can come up with something alluring.
Size matters. One of the criteria of the challenge is that the sexy system should be small. Style, noise, functionality and feature set are key as well. Intel will be judging any contenders around all these criteria. Oh, and the systems need to be powered by Viiv technology, of course.
Intel wants the whole exercise to prove what can be done with the help of Core2Duo's performance and power efficiency. Eric Kim, VP and GM of Intel's Digital Home Group, said: "Our intent with the Intel Core Processor Challenge is to think outside of the box [Surely he means think about the box?] -- think sexy, small and sleek PCs optimised for multimedia entertainment – and we’re putting our money where our mouth is".
Submitted systems will be judged early next year, so designers and manufacturers have some time to come up with the best creations they can. However, submissions won't be allowed to hit the market until after the winner is announced, which is expected to be 2007's Spring IDF in San Fran.
With any luck the submissions won't just be Mac-Mini clones...
