Intel Announces Curie: Tiny Module for Wearables

Yesterday, Intel announced a new module for wearable technology: Intel Curie. The module started with Intel Edison and continues to drive Intel's development into the Internet of Things and wearable technology. Although we think Edison was small, he was only a little bigger than American stamps, and Curie went further. Intel has not revealed the exact size, but the overall packaging appears to be only the size of a US dime or small button. The circular PCB shape is also quite unique and novel. Curie is small and could theoretically be integrated into a ring. Despite its Curie size, the Curie Box contains a fair amount of functionality. Curie made headlines with the new SoC. Intel claims that this is their first product specifically for wearables: Quark SE. Curie has just announced, so we don't have full specifications yet, but I have compiled the available specifications. Intel Curie Intel Edison Development Platform CPUQuark SE @? MHz dual-core Silvermont Atom @ 500MHz + Quark @ 100MHzRAM80kB SRAM1GB LPDDR3 (2x32bit) WiFi / BT "BT Low Energy" 2.4 / 5GHz 802.11a / b / g / n, BT 4.0Storage384kB flash4GB eMMCI / OBattery PMICSD + UART + SPI + GPIO + USB 2.0 OTGOS open source real-time OSYocto Linux v1.6 (CPU) open source real-time OS (MCU) size US dime (approximately 18mm in diameter) 35.5 x 25 x 3.9 mm sensor integrated DSP sensor hub with 6-axis combination sensor matching the model ( Accelerometer and gyroscope)- Intel does not specify whether the Bluetooth antenna is built into the PCB or needs to be added. Because Curie directly integrates the sensor and the battery that charges the PMIC, and Edison provides an interface to these same functions, it is clear that Intel designed Curie to be independent. Therefore, considering the additional hardware that needs to be built around Edison, the size difference increases. Intel's Curie does not include an application processor, but is completely dependent on the MCU. This seems to have limitations compared to powerful Galaxy Gear or Android Wear devices, but there are many devices, such as Fitbit or even Microsoft Band, that also exclude application processors. This should make Curie excel at battery life, but Intel did not provide power figures. Curie will ship on February 2, 2015 and will be bundled with the Intel IQ software suite. Intel IQ is a set of algorithms, device software, smartphone applications, and cloud integration (management, analytics, user, and company portal), divided into two parts: physical IQ and social IQ, with corresponding biometrics and connectivity focus.