Wearables are a market where POET can dramatically outperform silicon.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/intel-to-make-smart-eyewear-with-luxottica-1417613001
Intel Corp. will collaborate with Luxottica Group SpA to produce smart eyewear, another expansion of the semiconductor giant’s push into wearable tech.
The first product from the companies’ multiyear research and development collaboration will launch in 2015.
Luxottica, a leader in premium and sports eyewear, is best known for brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley.
Chips produced by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel run most personal computers and servers used in data centers, but the company has set its sights on the red-hot wearable tech market and collaborations with fashion brands. Earlier this month, Intel revealed details of a computerized bracelet called MICA it developed with the fashion label Opening Ceremony.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Intel will supply the chip for Google Inc.’s Google Glass next year, replacing a processor from Texas Instruments Inc. that was used in the first version of the glass. In addition, Intel will promote Glass to companies such as hospital networks and manufacturers, while developing new workplace uses for the device, according to one of the people.
“The growth of wearable technology is creating a new playing field for innovation,” Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich said in Wednesday’s news release.
Intel was late to the mobile market, and Mr. Krzanich, who became Intel’s chief executive in May 2013, is determined to avoid the same fate in wearable technology. Since Mr. Krzanich’s appointment, Intel has targeted wearables with products that use an ultra-small processor called Quark, a tiny circuit board for wearable devices called Edison and a chip called SoFIA that combines a processor with cellular communications.
