Intel's 'One-Stop Shop' for developers

SANTA CLARA: Intel Corporation's Software and Solutions Group announced the creation of the Intel Software Network, a collection of software development products, tools, training and expert advice designed to help software developers bring more innovative products to market even faster on Intel platforms.

The announcement was made during the introduction of the company's high-end Intel Xeon processor MP line.

The formation of the Intel Software Network purposely coincides with a number of key Intel platform innovations coming to market, ranging from multi-core processors to silicon technologies for virtualization, security, manageability, 64-bit memory addressability and multi-threading, reveals the press release.

"Whether developing software for mobile, home, office or enterprise computing, the Intel Software Network is a portfolio of resources for the developer to gain access to information about Intel platforms and technologies," said Renee James, vice president and general manager of Intel's Software and Solutions Group. "With new technologies emerging, such as multi-core processors, the network provides developers with an insider's view of how to structure their products to gain the most performance and value out of Intel platforms."

The initial rollout of the Intel Software Network delivers tools, tips and training for software developers grappling with multi-core architectures, 64-bit extensions, occasionally-connected mobile applications, advanced manageability and other leading technologies. Ultimately, Intel expects to work with hundreds of thousands of developers worldwide through various aspects of the Intel Software Network.

"Today businesses are realizing the benefits of unwiring their enterprise and enabling workers to conduct business from virtually anywhere, at anytime," said Dave Neudoerffer, vice president of Engineering at iAnywhere, a Sybase company. "Sybase has worked with Intel on many significant initiatives and is excited about the promise of the new Mobile Platform SDK as part of the Intel Software Network. Intel's platforms and software programs are key to complementing our products' mobile capabilities and delivering value for our customers."

Some of the programs, services and products included in the network include, The Intel Mobile Platform Software Developer Kit (SDK) to aid developers in building applications for an increasingly mobile computing lifestyle.

A Multi-core Readiness Program to help developers prepare their applications for multi-core computing by providing them with Intel Threading Tools and thousands of multi-core development platforms for Intel architecture-based clients and servers.

Developers have already begun to receive systems based on Intel's forthcoming Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition and Intel Pentium D processor.

The Intel Software Developer Dispatch with CDs and DVDs containing software tools and in-depth technical content to help developers design and architect applications that extract the maximum benefit from Intel technologies and platforms. The Enterprise Developer Program that provides software resources tailored to the enterprise developer's needs, including lab-access to the latest Intel Itanium 2 and Intel Xeon processor-based platforms in clusters, grid and SMP configurations.

Development teams can work directly with Intel application engineers to assist them in migrating to 64-bit or to optimize their applications and use the myriad Intel tools, from threading tools to compilers. Intel Software College courses, including the Threading Training Program curriculum with expert instructors teaching basic and advanced threading techniques.