Intel: Ultrabooks will combine notebook performance with tablet features

by Steven Mostyn - May 31 2011, 06:48

Great news for Apple fans this morning following the emergence of a brand new MacBook Air. Whoa, hold on a moment, that’s not Apple scrawled beneath the computer’s slender monitor… it’s ASUS. What’s going on here?

This is the ASUS UX21, which was rolled out during the opening day at Computex in Taipei to accompany a vision for consumer technology’s near future by none other than chip-making giant Intel Corp. Confused? Us too.

The long and the short of Intel’s announcement is the Ultrabook form factor (the UX21, for example), which will be powered by second-generation Core processors, will boast physical profiles of no more than 20mm, and will be priced at below $1,000 USD.

Although it remains to be seen exactly what fixtures and fittings Ultrabook makers will include, Intel has said “thin, light and elegant” Ultrabook designs will marry notebook performance with “tablet-like features”.

Intel is clearly confident regarding the form factor’s widespread appeal, to the point where the Santa Clara-based chipmaker has boldly projected that Ultrabook sales will account for around 40 percent of the entire notebook market by 2013.

This dominance will apparently be prompted by steadily declining Ultrabook prices (down to around the $599 USD mark), which Intel expects following the implementation of ‘Haswell’, its upcoming system-on-a-chip design. 

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to begin unleashing Ultrabook hardware platforms before the close of 2011.

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