Published in PC Hardware

Intel drones at Super Bowl were not live

by on07 February 2017


Alternative facts

Intel simply cannot get a break it seems. The company faked drones flying in the super bowl 51 and in reality, the whole Lady Gaga Intel and Pepsi logo parade was recorded a week earlier. The FAA would not allow 300 drones to fly over the heads of tens of thousands of people. 

Intel told the Verge that the Federal Aviation Administration forbids drones from flying within a 34.5 mile radius of the NRG Stadium.

During Super Bowl, it looked like 300 Intel powered drones made a USA flag, Pepsi logo, stars and finally an Intel logo. In reality, it was all pre-recorded and of course no one wants to admit that it would be very embarrassing to have these drones fail in front of the live audience.  

Late last year the company even had 500 drones flying synchronously which looks like a nice achievement. The company desperately wants you to like and want drones as it really needs to be successful in IoT products as it didn’t do a great job in building a successful smartphone SoC.  

Intel Shooting Start drones are equipped with four rotors, weigh 280 grams and can fly up to 20 minutes. They come equipped with LED lights that can shine in four billion colors.  There is no doubt that the flying drones look cool but it cost millions to make the Super Bowl parade work, an investment that is going to be really hard to monetize.  

https://twitter.com/intel/status/828414639130021888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Intel is losing executives left and right and many of the people who helped Intel’s PC business unit to get where it is today left the company. Intel is about to get the competition from its old rival AMD and the company wants to talk about flying LED machines that it calls drones. Kim Stevenson, Doug Davis, Former Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel's IoT (Internet of Things) Group and Kirk Skaugen, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group (CCG) are among a few top managers that left Intel in the last few quarters. 

Drones will certainly have its place in the market but the ones that Intel is showing around have very limited used case scenario. They should probably get back to its basics and try to fix whatever is wrong with 10nm manufacturing and have the Cannonlake 10nm products ready.



Last modified on 07 February 2017
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