The strategy will rely on the vendor’s existing 32 bit computing technology, rather than the 64 bit extensions it yesterday confirmed it will add to its 32 bit processor line.

Louis Burns, general manager of Intel’s desktop platforms group, detailed a series of partnerships with content and systems vendors in his keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco yesterday.

These include sound specialists Dolby, which will build on the high definition audio capabilities of Pentium 4 and the upcoming Grantsdale chipset, to deliver Dolby 7.1 surround sound. Burns also unveiled a partnership with Movielink, the video on demand service provider. Intel is working with Movielink to tweak its interface.

He also demonstrated a platform, dubbed Kessler, that will feature the Pentium 4 and Grantsdale running Microsoft Windows XP Media Edition, and which will include a TV tuner, PVR and DVD player. The device will be operated with a remote control, rather than mouse and keyboard. Such devices will be available this year, he said. A second reference platform, Sandow, slated for 2005, will also feature instant on/off and high definition TV capability. Grantsdale will also feature integrated graphics, that Burns said would outclass existing dedicated games boxes.

Speaking after his presentation, Burns said all the devices and offerings he demonstrated were predicated on 32 bit computing, and did not require the 64 bit extensions to the architecture the vendor finally confirmed yesterday. Using a well-worn phrase at Intel he said that when there was a demand, and an infrastructure for 64 bit in the consumer market, We’ll be there.

Burns offered reassurances that the tech industry and the content industry were working in sync on bringing high quality digital content, such as first run movies, to consumers. DRM (digital rights management) is well under way. There’ll be a number of implementations of DRM. The beauty of the PC is you can use all of them, he said.

In parallel with its platform efforts, Intel is also looking to carve out part of the display market with its Liquid Crystal on Silicon display technology, which Burns said will result in large screen, high definition TVs under $2,000.

Burns said that Intel only sought to sell components for such TVs, and did not intend to produce an Intel branded device.

This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire