Fast processors that require low power will help drive a variety of cutting-edge apps in small devices, Kedia said, including augmented reality. For example, he said it's easy to imagine that a smartphone connected to the Internet could be used as an instant translator, so that a person could hold the phone up to a sign in a rare foreign language, shoot a photo and get a quick translation on the display in the shape of the sign.

Intel's view of small devices that are powerful will depend partly on creative minds that have not been constrained by legacy technology. "Who knows what's coming? It's the 15-year-olds that have the best ideas," he said. "The technology is the easy part, but the hard part is imagining what are the kinds of things I want to do?"

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld . Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen , send e-mail to mhamblen@computerworld.com or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed .