The second half of Intel’s keynote shifted from a large emphasis on Moore’s Law and the trending movement of 3D content in 2010 to the emergence of electically-efficient smart homes, the introduction of Moorestown-based devices and the announcement of a central application store made specifically for netbooks.

As various regions around the world become more industrialized and dependent on electricity for operation, it is also becoming increasingly important to implement smart power utility meters that can be controlled by home owners and large enterprises. Intel CEO Paul Otellini explained that in the United States alone, “the demand for electricity will grow 19-percent in the next decade, while capacity will only grow 6-percent. The only way to solve this is to put efficiency into the equation. You can reduce running costs by up to 31-percent.”

An employee from Intel named Craig appeared on stage to give a live, working demonstration of a smart power meter that can measure and control utility power usage on the fly, all from a wall-mounted touchscreen device.

“I can manage the energy consumption of all the devices in my house, including the energy usage, and it’s a two-way feedback connection. It’s a general PC powered by the Intel Atom processor. You can even leave videos for the kids, it has a great touch-navigation user interface.

The wall panel display showed real-time power usage from a refrigerator, a computer, an HDTV and several other home appliances. Craig was able to determine the cost per day of running each device, and even received recommendations on how to reduce power consumption via an internet-connected service. For some reason, the HDTV consumed the most power and the device laughably advised him to watch less television and set it as a personal goal.

The keynote then shifted to the introduction of the first long-awaited mobile smartphones based on Moorestown architecture. As we wrote back in February last year, Moorestown reduces idle power consumption by a factor of greater than 10 compared to previous Intel-based MID platforms. Otellini showed off the highly anticipated LG GW990, a smartphone with a 5-inch screen that can play back 720p high-definition video. The screen supports multi-touch input and includes a camera in the front and back. In addition, the phone runs the Linux-based Moblin OS. “[This smartphone] is a great multitasking example of being able to do many things at the same time. [It] will be releasing in 2H 2010.”

One of the more interesting announcements during the keynote was perhaps one that surprised consumers more than it did developers. Intel is on its way to embracing the Atom-based netbook market more fully than ever before, this time with an application store developed entirely for the highly portable devices themselves.

“Netbooks have clearly created a new usage model in mobile computing,” said Otellini. Three months ago at IDF, we launched the Atom Developers Program, an exciting way for software developers to create new applications for the netbook explosion – creating a new channel for software developers. Now, we want to give consumers access to these applications. Today, we’re launching the AppUp Center, a one-stop location where users can find applications that are tailor-made for netbooks they use. Best of all, it is centralized for both Linux and Windows users.”

Intel’s new AppUp center, located at www.intelappup.com, is currently in beta and features a variety of apps that are currently available for netbooks. Best of all, the company has promised that it will be updated on an hourly basis.

“Acer, ASUS, Dell and Samung are all committed to developing their own AppUp stores with their own store fronts for them. The vision is to extend AppUp to any Intel architecture device – the desktop PC space, netbooks, and increasingly down into handheld and smart-TV spaces over time.  This gives the developer community a very broad variety of devices to work with over time. Look for more announcements in the next few months.”