Sep. 21--Intel brings all the trappings of a major consumer tech show to its annual developer forum in San Francisco, with sweeping spotlights, high-octane videos -- and this year, even a rock band. (Maroon 5 plays the first night.)

What Intel doesn't bring are those nifty gadgets and the outsize personalities that make other technology shows so popular.

Buttoned up in a logoed denim shirt and slacks, Chief Executive Paul Otellini is no Steve Jobs, and Intel doesn't make any hot contraptions like Apple's iPhone -- or anything at all, for that matter, sold directly to consumers.

What Intel lacks in sex appeal and style, it hopes to make up for with brains and vision. This week's Intel Developer Forum highlights the technology underpinning the next generation of corporate and consumer computing, and Intel expects its ubergeeky audience will be all ears.

"I don't think Intel is a real flash-and-dash type company," acknowledged spokesman Bill Kircos. "It'll be a lot more meat and potatoes than gravy."

Intel anticipates about 5,000 will attend this week's conference, with hardware manufacturers and information technology professionals paying up to $1,600 apiece to sit in. Intel hosts similar forums around the world -- it held one in Beijing last spring -- but the annual September event in San Francisco is Intel's biggest showcase.

Expect Otellini to use his opening keynote Tuesday to highlight the tech industry's nascent rebound. Intel raised its third-quarter revenue forecast last month, and though sales remain far below '08 levels, the company will argue that system developers need to adopt Intel's latest technology now to capitalize when the recovery comes.

Intel executives typically spend two months preparing for their keynote addresses -- seven are planned at the forum, with timing choreographed to the second. But when Hillsboro executive Pat Gelsinger, vice president of Intel's largest division, quit last week amid a broader executive reshuffle, Intel had to regroup. Sean Maloney, a top exec and vice president of one of Intel's newly created business units, is stepping in at the last minute to pitch Intel's latest chip designs.

Intel has more than 15,000 Oregon employees, more than any other business. Although based in the Silicon Valley, Intel's Washington County campuses are the company's largest, and the company develops much of its most sophisticated technologies at research labs in Hillsboro.