Intel powers a processor using a glass of wine at IDF 2013

(Geek) - Intel has made its name building fast x86 processors that have increased processing power many times over in the last few decades. As the world turns more toward mobile computing, Intel’s brand of high-power chips is becoming less relevant.

The company has been creeping into the mobile market with chips like Merrifield and Bay Trail. At the recent Intel Developer Forum (IDF), the chip maker showed its commitment to power efficiency by powering a CPU with a glass of wine. Why wine? Intel is just classy like that.

The wine glass on stage had two electrodes reaching down into the wine. The acetic acid in the (red) wine acted as an electrolyte to produce a tiny trickle of current. It’s the same basic premise as the potato battery from elementary schools science fairs, but with a more adult spin. The point is that the custom chip was able to run a graphics program on a computer with an E Ink display just from the wine power.

Intel’s IDF is about future projects, and not the immediate future. This was only a demo — the wine powered ship is not coming to a phone near you. It’s more a statement about Intel’s new direction. The keynote also included accelerometer-based technologies to identify users based on their gait, and an interesting voice recognition password system.