Bangalore: The first Intel developer forum (IDF) was held in Mumbai on October 29. During the forum Intel's executives called on local developers to recognise the opportunities in the growing convergence of computing and communications, as India becomes a "total IT nation", according to an official press release.

IDF, a semi-annual event held throughout the world, is being held in India for the third consecutive time. The previous IDF conferences were held in Bangalore in October 2001 and April 2002.

"To accelerate our development as an IT nation, we should take advantage of the opportunities that the convergence of computing and communication offers. Indian developers should develop new computing devices that communicate and communication devices that compute," said director Avtar Saini, Intel Asia Electronics, the release said.

Intel's statement was made on the heels of chief executive officer Craig Barrett announcing that a design team will be established to engage in high-end, 32-bit Intel architecture micro-processor design and development at the Intel India development centre in Bangalore.

Driving convergence through silicon integration in his keynote, Patrick Gelsinger, vice-president and chief technology officer explained how silicon integration would lead to accelerating convergence of the computing and communications industries, the release added.