Intel: the future is ultrathin

Jake Widman
Thursday, 16 April 2009 02:09

Business IT - Technology

In Intel's 1Q earnings conference call, CEO Paul Otellini predicted that the next trend in portable computers will be "thin-and-light notebooks" built on the company's upcoming CULV processors.

The CULV (for "consumer ultra-low-voltage") chips, rumored since January and apparently due out imminently, will enable manufacturers to build cheap, thin, light notebooks, said Otellini.

"The big trend in notebooks this year, starting mid-year, is likely to be very well designed thin and light notebooks using the CULV or ultra-low-voltage products," he said.

There's already been a trend toward thin, light notebooks, as seen in the Macbook Air and Dell Adamo , but they haven't been cheap: the Air starts at US$1,799, while the Adamo starts at US$1,999.

Other notebooks have used Intel's existing ULV processors, such as the Toshiba Portege R600 and the Sony Vaio TT. They also cost in the same range as the Air and the Adamo.

"Up to this point in time, those machines have been sort of executive jewelry," continued Otellini, "and I think they'll hit mainstream consumer price points."

He also said he expected to see a clear distinction between Netbooks and these new notebooks.

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