From Netbooks to Ultrabooks
Intel today introduced a new breed of laptops called Ultrabook. To the untrained eye, the new range of Ultrabook would look just like a regular laptop, but with a thinner and lighter design. But Intel's vision for Ultrabook does not just stop there, because Ultrabook is meant to be high performance mainstream notebooks with tablet-like features.
As with all notebooks of the thin and light nature, Intel plans to position its latest range of Ultrabook with an affordable mainstream price tag at just under US$1,000. The Ultrabook will also be super-thin with thicknesses at less than 20mm (0.8-inch) and weighing probably about 1kg. Specifications-wise, you can expect these new laptops to feature the latest Intel 2nd Generation Intel Core processors (Sandy Bridge). Think of these as MacBook Air on adrenaline but at a terribly attractive price. With all of that going for the Ultrabook, Intel aims to shift as much as 40 percent of consumer laptop purchases to the Ultrabook category by the end of 2012.
The Ultrabook idea is an ambitious plan but Intel has got to be in this thin and light game because that's what they are good at doing. With the upcoming Ivy Bridge processor based on the 22nm process technology using low leakage 3D transistors, we can expect these new chips to have even greater performance at lower levels of power consumption. Intel describes Ivy Bridge as the next step in the evolution of Ultrabook, with plans going further down their roadmap into 2013 with the next "Haswell" product. It remains to be seen just how quickly their only competitor, AMD, can keep up with Intel's attempt to shape the mobile computing trend by creating this new Ultrabook category.
The first set of Ultrabook systems based on the 2nd Generation Intel Core processors will be available in late 2011 (winter). We have already seen yesterday and you can expect to see other brands launch similar models in the near future. We managed to catch a glimpse of other upcoming Ultrabook models as seen below. Exact specifications for these new Ultrabook laptops are still sketchy, but they are probably going to be based on some low voltage variants of the Core i5 and i7 processors.
Compal's upcoming Ultrabook.
Lenovo IdeaPad U300s.
Samsung's new Series 9 laptop with sexy slim curvy lines.
You can also expect LG to ship its own version of the Ultrabook.
Improving Laptop Response
In the second half of 2011, Intel will launch two new technologies that aim to deliver greater responsiveness to laptops. Available with the 2nd generation Intel Core processor-based laptops, the new technologies known as Intel Rapid Start Technology and Intel Smart Connect Technology promises to bring users what they need, when they need it.
Intel Rapid Start Technology is based on the system hibernation mode but at much greater accelerated sleep and wake up times. Even when the laptop is put into hibernation within seconds, the laptop will consume no power, thus extending its battery life. And waking it from its deep hibernation would take only a couple of seconds - restoring the last session almost immediately.
On the other hand, Intel Smart Connect Technology will keep your laptop connected to the network even when the laptop is kept suspended. It regularly wakes the laptop to pull updates for your e-mail and social networks, so that when you resume computing, everything is updated and synched.
To best explain how these two significant technologies will change the way you use your next laptop, watch the following video below.

Responsiveness at the I/O level will get a further boost as well with the integration of USB 3.0 into Intel's upcoming 2012 chipset. Intel will also further push the Thunderbolt technology into more devices and systems, so you can expect to see both of these complementary interconnect technologies to appear in many more systems next year. Intel demonstrated how Thunderbolt's bandwidth can help mobile users perform high-end tasks out in the field by connecting a studio grade HD camera and a high-speed RAID storage device through a single Thunderbolt connection. Catch the action in the video below.

Ivy Bridge Demo
At Mooly Eden's PC Client event at Computex, Intel demonstrated a fully operational system based on the next processor codenamed Ivy Bridge. This next iteration of the Sandy Bridge core will be based on their latest 22nm process technology which is also the first product to incorporate their recently announced 3D transistors. We expect Ivy Bridge to run at much cooler temperatures and possibly at lower power. Although this is going to be a die shrink step for the Sandy Bridge, Intel made significant enhancements to the core in order to meet future computing demands. In particular, we can expect to see Ivy Bridge with much improved media and graphics processing, promising even faster 3D graphics and significant speed enhancements to media encoding, decoding and much more.
Intel's technical demo of an Ivy Bridge laptop running Starcraft 2. It does not seem like much, but it shows that the processor is more or less ready for launch later this year.
Here's another demonstration of Ivy Bridge processing media like HD movies. Although it doesn't look impressive on the surface, the laptop is actually processing 12 full HD streams at the same time. The task manager window on the lower right corner of the screen shows a total of 8 processing threads, indicating that the Ivy Bridge could either be a 4 core processor with Hyper Threading or a pure 8 core processor.
Thin Mini-ITX Form Factor
Intel is expecting All-in-One (AIO) systems to increase in popularity as more of such innovative AIO designs make its way into the market. The highly integrated nature of these desktop systems make it extremely simple and approachable for users. In order to accelerate the adoption of such systems, Intel showcased the new Thin Mini-ITX form factor motherboard, which is a standardized building block for AIO PCs. The aim is to make off-the-shelf components more accessible to channel system integrators and local resellers worldwide. We wonder if it's possible to have DIY versions of AIOs in the future.
The new Thin Mini-ITX board form factor for AIO desktop systems.
Examples of All-in-One desktop systems integrated using the new Thin Mini-ITX board.
Intel expects more innovative AIO systems to dominate the desktop market as such highly integrated systems gain user acceptance. Performance of AIOs today is equivalent to most desktop systems thanks to the powerful Sandy Bridge processor .
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