Intel Cloud Services Platform - "cloud" for the developer

Moving data, applications, and runtimes to the cloud is now a common trend in the digital world. Almost any company providing IT services in any form has “cloud” offers in its portfolio. Intel, of course, could not ignore this trend. Considering one of its main tasks to build a holistic ecosystem of products for software development, Intel has created the Cloud Services Platform - a set of ready-to-use "cloud" elements that make life easier for the programmer and make applications more functional and attractive.

Intel Cloud Servicesare a logical development of the general approach of Intel to meet the needs of the community of software creators: to offer not only programming tools, but also ready-made "bricks" that implement standard common functions. They allow the developer not to be distracted by trifles and devote more time and attention to precisely those ideas for which the application was conceived.



The approach to the implementation of these "bricks" may be different. For example, Intel Integrated Performance Primitives are a set of carefully optimized primitives for handling multimedia content. As for Intel Cloud Services, this is a series of off-the-shelf high-level functional modules that are easily integrated into an application or website. I will list these modules.

Navigation and mapping services. You can enrich the functionality of your application or site with the help of a ready-made navigation module. Maps, driving directions, points of interest and more - all at your disposal.
Identification services - a set of cross-platform schemes and user identification technologies to ensure the proper level of security when working with the application. User registration, login and authorization - all in one API call.
The services of lists, directories and recommendations take care of the personification of the application for each specific user, including flexible schemes for building directories and ratings, as well as recommendations and tips.
Commercial Servicesinclude a full range of functions used in cash transactions, such as: creating and editing an order, making a payment and ensuring its safety, storing purchase history and something else.
Contextual services allow you to create applications that respond to a specific situation and user action, at the same time without violating its privacy. User profile analysis is useful for customizing the application and various kinds of forecasting.

To demonstrate the capabilities of "cloud" services, Intel has developed a test application called Digital Mementosrunning on Android, Windows 8 and as a website (client for Facebook). It is intended for travelers; with it, you can plan a trip, find points of interest (POIs) in a particular area, and also keep a travel log with text messages, photos and navigation information. An interesting “feature” of the application is geo messages that can only be received by users who are located at a certain point in the world.



As you make your trip, Digital Mementos incorporates all the information about it: impressions, coordinates, photos and videos. You can share the finished report with your friends or make it public, and naturally, it will remain with you. Digital Mementos uses Intel’s navigation, identification and contextual services for its work. The application is free and has the status of a test - for example, at the moment, the ability to download is disabled while waiting for a new version.

In a special section on the Intel websiteYou can find detailed documentation for all Intel Cloud Services components: developer guides, Release Notes, training materials, demo videos, and so on. It also has everything you need to work with the Cloud Services SDK - a small JavaScript library for easily embedding Intel Cloud Services functionality in mobile applications.



In conclusion, we note that Intel’s navigation, identification and contextual cloud services are free to use, however, during beta testing, there are restrictions on the number of API calls per developer. Learn more about licensing Intel Cloud Services components .