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While the rest of 2012 will see a plethora of 3rd-gen Core processor powered devices on the market, Ultrabooks with 3rd-gen Core processors are now on the market, with a total of 35 new models due in the next 30 days, and some now on store shelves.
While the new Core processors are also coming to regular desktops, notebooks and all-in-one computers, Ultrabooks were naturally the focus of Intel’s launch, given their slim, trim and stylish nature.
Intel ANZ’s new General Manager, Kate Burleigh, gave a solid presentation explaining all of the benefits that the new processors deliver, and the following is my notes from what she said, or words to the effect of, so please read on!
“In May 2011, Intel launched the “industry’s first 22nm tri-gate transistor”… advancing Moore’s law “right on schedule”… lower power consumption and more performance… which what consumers want and demand.
“Ultrabooks bring a laptop with the mobility and responsiveness of smartphones together… and one of the questions has been how long will it take before products get on the shelf…
“Today the paths have crossed… Ultrabooks and 22nm processors are launching together, with Intel able to bring, in just under a year, 3rd-gen processor tech to the market.
“We see today as being a huge day for the industry, not just worldwide, but here in Australia, where Aussies continue to demand increased microprocessor performance and compute responsiveness from Intel.
“The first Ultrabooks were announced at Computex in June 2011. In Aug 2011, a $300m fund was created by Intel to get the industry behind the Ultrabook. By September, the first wave of Ultrabooks hit the retail shelves, then at CES 2012, over 60 Ultrabook designs were announced for this year, with 2012 dubbed as “The year of the Ultrabook.”
“Ultrabook truly is a new era in computing from intel, now the 2nd gen of Ultrabooks"
“When Intel first launched Centrino in 2003, I remember explaining to journalists and customers that people really would want to use wireless tech in and around the home and cafes etc. Back then I had to say people will really value having wireless, but today it is second nature.
“Ultrabooks will seem second nature to consumers in a matter of months. Intel has also invested a large amount of money into an advertising campaign in Australia and New Zealand to communicate the benefits of Ultrabooks to end-users. We’ve worked hard to brand the features and benefits of that product so we can help the industry’s success with Ultrabooks”.
At this point, Kate showed the Chinese Kung-Fu commercial showing two users of ultra-thick, old-style laptops with short battery life fighting for a single power point, while an old Chinese master stating that “great shame” was brought to the café with the old tech, obviously as a way to get people thinking about updating to the latest and greatest.
Kate Burleigh then continued, stating: “We’ll also be investing in ads online, print, social media, metro, outdoor advertising. It’s not all about advertising and marketing, however, but it’s more than just that – it’ about working with the industry to work out how to shave those all important millimetres off the design spec”.
Kate explained that screen tech used to be 5mm thin, now it is 3mm in the Ultrabook world. Batteries were 18mm, now they are 6.5mm thin, having been flattened out rather than being round cells. HDDs were 9.5mm, now they are 7mm. Other things making Ultrabooks thinner include no optical drives or expansion sockets getting in the way, taking us from a world of centimetres to millimetres, without “giving up anything on overall performance and responsiveness”.
Kate continued, explaining that “Intel has been working with different component manufacturers to bring that to life.
“It’s not about feeds and speeds either. It’s no point doing this if consumers don’t want the product. Of course consumers do want the product – customers say they want four key things: responsiveness – whether enterprise, business or everyday customers – they don’t want to wait for videos to encode, to turn on, crunching Excel files… they don’t want to wait.
“Mobility – what does it mean? Consumers say it means moving around the home – one room to another and open the lid and continue working wherever I am in the home. Mobility in and around the home was the most important driver for consumers.
Continued on page two, please read on!
