In following the goal of making up for the declining PC market, Intel is looking for new ground to plant its Atom embedded processors. A while ago, the company even asked college students to give their suggestions about using the Atom processor. One of the students suggested bugging showers to achieve computerized water temperature regulation.

To pay the students their due, they were pretty close to the truth. Chips are already implemented in gas supply systems, home appliances, etc. They are relatively cheap, so powering devices with them is less costly. They do not require powerful batteries; therefore, they can be of great help in remote areas and settlements for banking services that use handheld battery-powered terminals.

Intel is facing competition from ARM Holdings (ARMH) designing similar processors. ARM's chips are licensed by some major companies who have been quicker to get a grip on the cell phone market than Intel. However, there is vast and ample ground for both ARM and Intel to exercise their technologies. Intel continues to receive invitations from customers willing to incorporate the Atom processor in their products. Over the second quarter of the year, received nearly 4,000 proposals, about one third of which are currently heading toward implementation. For easier incorporation of the chip and therefore quicker promotion, Intel has designed a semiconductor functioning as a combination of chips.

Recently, Intel acquired Wind River System that designs operating systems for vehicles, telecommunication systems and industrial machinery and adjust the most common PC-based operating systems (Linux, Google's Android) to function as directed by the chip.

Along with the evident pluses, Atom-powered devices are going to share the same problems as PCs. Connected to the Internet, they are just as exposed to virus attacks as are PCs. In August, Intel purchased McAfee (MFE) – a security software company – to have virus protection software built into their chips.