Netbooks dead, long live Intel's new 'Ultrabook'?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 15:13

Your IT - Mobility

With netbooks turning into notbooks thanks to the popularity of tablets, Intel has unleashed its 'Ultrabook' concept as a 'new class of mobile computer'.

With Intel seeing so many processor sales evaporating from the netbook market as consumers take their tablets, Intel has come out swinging at Computex with a brand new category of 'mainstream thin and light mobile computers', which Intel has dubbed the 'Ultrabook', even adding a 'TM' trademark symbol to the word.

With Intel doing all it can to lower the Atom's power consumption even further, while increasing its power, Intel says that it 'aims to shift 40% of consumer laptops to the Ultrabook by the end of 2012' - or, in about 18 months or so.

Of course, by then, many will be wondering what Apple has cooked up for its iPad 4, let alone the iPad 3 which will already be available by then, while plenty of people including me eagerly await a magical and revolutionary blending of the MacBook Air and the iPad, which would be an ultrabook all its own. 

Intel says Ultrabooks will be a 'no-compromise' device that will 'increasingly combine best-in-class performance, improved responsiveness and security in thin, elegant form factors.'

The thing is, Intel has been beating the 'thin and light' notebook drum for years now, and while there certainly have been plenty of thin and light designs from PC makers over the past few years, none have impressed as much as Apple's MacBook Air range, while the iPad has taken all the thin and light kudos and made it Apple's - with nary an Intel CPU in sight.

Clearly, though, Intel will do anything to become a major player in the tablet/ultrabook game, with Intel working hard to ''accelerate the pace of innovation for Intel Atom processor-based system-on-chips (SoCs) for netbooks, smartphones, tablets and other companion devices.'

Intel's Executive VP, Sean Maloney, talks no baloney when he says that: 'Computing is taking many forms. Technology innovation is a catalyst, and we believe the changes Intel is making to its roadmaps, together with strong industry collaboration, will bring about an exciting change in personal computing over the next few years.'

So, what else forms part of Intel's vision for its new Ultrabook category?

Intel says its vision is 'to enable a new user experience by accelerating a new class of mobile computers'.

The chip-making goliath adds that: 'These computers will marry the performance and capabilities of today's laptops with tablet-like features and deliver a highly responsive and secure experience, in a thin, light and elegant design. The Ultrabook will be shaped by Moore's Law and silicon technology in the same way they have shaped the traditional PC for the past 40 years.'

But just how will Intel accelerate this vision and turn it into reality? Please read on to page two.