In connection with its ongoing workplace transformation initiative, Intel Corporation today announced availability of its new 6th Generation Intel Core vPro processor family, along with several associated solutions aimed at increasing workplace security, productivity, and efficiency.
The new vPro processors are the latest addition to the 6th Generation Intel Core processors that Santa Clara, California-based Intel officially launched last September, which are based on its Skylake CPU architecture. Intel says the new chips are 2.5 times faster than the five to six-year-old processors they will typically replace and four times quicker to wake from sleep mode, and that they provide three times better mobile battery life as well.
“It is undoubtedly the best business processor ever from Intel,” said Tom Garrison, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Business Client division, during a launch event and webinar.
Key among the workplace-related vPro enhancements unveiled today was Intel Authenticate, a new hardware-level multifactor authentication feature that lets IT professionals set and enforce login policies mixing up to three authentication factors in customized combinations and sequences that can be configured to vary dynamically based on the trustworthiness of a user’s network connection. Supported authentication methods include biometrics (which will initially be limited to fingerprints, but may expand to encompass facial recognition later), PIN codes, and proximity to a user’s Bluetooth-enabled iOS or Android mobile device.
Available immediately in preview form, Intel Authenticate will ultimately ship on all 6th Generation Intel Core vPro processors, and support PCs running Windows 7, 8, and 10.
Intel’s workplace transformation initiative, which debuted in 2014, initially focused on helping businesses save money and increase productivity by eliminating wired connections in their offices. The addition of security to the picture reflects the increasing prevalence and impact of identity-related security threats, which according to research cited by Intel can cost businesses up to $20 million per attack.
“We needed to expand the definition of workplace transformation and now extend it to include security,” Garrison said.
Enabling the no-wire workplace remains an Intel priority, however, and the company also announced several new features for its Unite conference room collaboration tool today, including integration with both Microsoft’s Skype for Business unified communications platform and conference room cameras from Newark, California-based Logitech.
Introduced last June and built around a vPro-equipped Intel NUC mini-PC, Intel Unite is designed to help meeting attendees share content and connect with projectors and other conference room resources quickly, wirelessly, and securely. Using the system in hundreds of its own conference rooms, Garrison said, has helped Intel reduce the average time required to get meetings underway by roughly five minutes.
“That’s a significant productivity increase, and at the same time employees love it,” Garrison said.
Intel has shipped over 175 million vPro processors since the platform’s debut nearly a decade ago. Garrison used today’s launch event to showcase several of the more than 100 laptops and desktops that will run on 6th Generation Intel Core vPro chips.
“We have a vision, a strategy, that says we want the right device for the job,” he said.
