Computer chip giant Intel on Monday ramped up its 300-million-dollar campaign to develop a powerful slimline category of laptops, which it said would usher in “the age of the ultrabook.” The announcement by the Silicon Valley bellwether came on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where some 60 new Ultrabook computers are due to be unveiled by computer manufacturers large and small.
The category was pioneered by the lithe Apple Macbook, which launched last year and has since spawned an army of imitators keen to show that the legendary company founded by Steve Jobs was not the only computer maker capable of creating computers that customers lust after.
Intel PC manager Mooly Eden said that to meet Intel’s Ultrabook definitions, a laptop must be less than 18mm thick and boast extended battery life and short boot times.
Intel announced the 300 million Ultrabook Fund in the summer to help kick start the development of the fast-booting, super-thin laptop category. Eden said that a total of 75 Ultrabook designs are in the pipeline for 2012, and that by 2015, some 40 per cent of all notebook PCs will be Ultrabooks.
Intel is working with voice recognition developer Nuance to integrate Nuance Dragon technology in future Ultrabook platforms to allow voice controls that could match Apple’s voice-enabled Siri digital assistant for the iPhone 4S.
Intel is also exploring “intuitive and immersive” short-range gesture recognition for Ultrabooks, Mr. Eden said, adding that he expected that the devices would fall well below 1000 dollars as they became more popular.
