When Intel ( INTC ) announced four months ago it's laying off 12,000 workers, 11% of its workforce, the company declared the move is meant to "accelerate its evolution from a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices." The flurry of announcements made at this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF), covering fields as far-flung as chip manufacturing, virtual reality, Internet of Things, drones and cloud solid-state drives, underscore how serious it is about pursuing this "evolution." Arguably the most eye-catching announcement: Intel has obtained a license from long-time rival ARM Holdings ( ARMH ), whose CPU cores and other intellectual property have been designed into many, many chips competing with Intel's offerings, that lets it manufacture ARM-powered chips designed by third parties. LG, which has relied heavily on Qualcomm ( QCOM ) for its mobile processor needs, will tap Intel to manufacture an internally-designed, ARM-based processor in 2017.