A wake-up call for the PC: Intel-powered computers to snap out of sleep when you phone them
Intel is unveiling new technology that will let computers wake up from their power-saving sleep state when they receive a phone call over the Internet.
Current computers have to be fully “on” to receive a call, making them impractical and energy-wasters as replacements for the telephone.
The new Intel component will let computers automatically return to a normal, full-powered state when a call comes in. The computer can activate its microphone and loudspeaker to alert the user, then connect the call.
Trevor Healy, chief executive of Jajah, which will be the first Internet telephone company to utilize the feature, said: “This certainly helps the PC become a much better center of communications in the home.”
Joe Van De Water, director of consumer product marketing for Intel , said the first Intel motherboards with the Remote Wake capability will be shipping in the next month.
These components, which are at the heart of every computer, will most likely be used by smaller computer manufacturers. Bigger names like Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. use their own motherboard solutions, but Intel is working to supply them with the technology as well.
The four initial Remote Wake motherboards will be for desktop computers and will need an Internet connection via Ethernet cable, as Wi-Fi doesn’t work in sleep mode.
Van De Water said the computer will know to wake up only for calls from services to which the user has subscribed, so computer-waking prank calls should be impossible.
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