Ultrabooks To Bring Mainstream Closer To Mobility

Posted on 31 May 2011, Last updated on 31 May 2011 by

As you might have read in the press release from earlier, Intel announced a range of activities and products at Computex today but whichever way you look at it, their pivot-point just moved closer to mobility. Not only did Intel showcase a Medfield tablet running an official X86 build of Android (which will have marketplace support) but they launched a new initiative called ‘Ultrabooks.’ Backed by a trademark, they will aim to move 40% of consumer / mainstream laptop sales under this ‘brand’ before the end of 2012. That’s a huge number of devices. In the region of 20-80 million by my estimate.

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An article over at Anandtech does a great job of defining what an Ultrabook but basically it’s about bringing power consumption down, battery life up to ‘all day’ standards along with lightweight design, mainstream processing power, security and responsiveness. For mobility fans, that means devices around the netbook weight with notebook processing power, just what I need for my ultra mobile video editing project!

I’ve kicked off a new database of products and news over at Ultrabooknews.com. Lets track this thing!

Two other features of the Ultrabook need to be taken into consideration and I’m really pleased to see this. Intel are realising that always-on, or at least, always-updated, is something that people are starting to expect. It’s a feature that ARM-based devices have always had and Intel need to step up to the challenge. While Windows will always present some challenges (until Windows 8 I suspect) they have a couple of workarounds in the mix here. Rapid Start will speed up the return-from-standby process just as some devices have done in the past. The more interesting technology though is SmartConnect. I suspect this is a timed start-up and shutdown phase with a ‘boot and poll sequencer’ as I’ve mentioned before for Cedar Trail but there could be more to it than that as platforms develop. An always-on component is possible.

As Ultrabook platforms move towards the 10W TDP mark (It is expected that they will centre around 15W TDP) there are some interesting possibilities for ultra mobile devices with a good level of processing power for grab-and-go or modular PCs. Don’t expect ultra-low-cost though! What it means is that Atom is going to move down a notch. Lower power envelopes are where Atom was meant to be but it also means that Atom is likely to widen its range to serve low-cost laptops and desktops.

The Intel press releases for todays keynote are here.

Tomorrow we will hear from AMD and we expect them to push Fusion down into lower TDP ranges. Stay with us as we track that one tomorrow. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Ultrabooks and the platforms associated with it?

13 Comments For This Post

  1. tesaguy/freakyfred_ says:

    Ultrabooks must have a 3G built in. Otherwise I can’t see any mobility in this new product category.

  2. chippy says:

    It’s interesting because 3G is now out of my requirements for a netbook or laptop based on 3G sharing capability on my tablet or smartphone. Of course, that argument varies depending on location.

  3. zeo says:

    Depends on the needs of the individual and resources of the area being used. Not everyone needs constant access, others need better than 3G bandwidth, while some areas may still not have good coverage, and there are alternatives.

  4. tesaguy/freakyfred_ says:

    I agree.
    I don’t want to use my phone as mobile hot spot all the time. Sometimes I even leave it at home.

    I need 3G.

    Talking about 3G, I mean of course 7-14MBit/s.
    That is rather called HSDPA but 3G is a more common term I guess.

  5. DavidC1 says:

    I don’t think its a rehash of CULV Notebooks, like some other sites are suggesting. They are saying Ultrabooks will have near(or full) full laptop performance, compared to CULV which is a substantial scale down of ULV chips and are only more powerful than Netbooks.

    Now, this is coming to a dream system for me. I was disappointed that manufacturers abandoned ultra-thin, high performance laptops, even with the premium. This will bring it back full force… and more.

  6. Rulou says:

    what do I think? I think it’s the samething Intel’s been saying for years. nothing has changed recently that would allow for substantially more powerful CPU’s or batteries too last extra long.

    typical Intel double talk, by the time these release the reality will be alot different than the promise.

  7. zeo says:

    Nothing but Moore’s Law!

    The Panasonic J10Q with Sandy Bridge for example is a 1.2kg 10″ system that advertises up to 12 hours of run time. Just to show how far they got so far, though that example is pricey but gives an idea of where they are headed…

    Within 3-4 years Intel is promising to go down to 14nm, compared to the 32nm now and the 45nm from just last year. While also introducing improvements like 3D Transistor technology. While competition from both AMD and ARM is pushing Intel to accelerate their time table. So they really are going to make systems more powerful and use less power than before.

    How big a improvement remains to be seen. Though the catch phrase is mostly marketing hype…

  8. Yu says:

    It sounds basically like what I currently have, …

    o 13″ Subnotbook
    o 2.0 kg
    o originally good 4.5h run time
    o Middle Class graphics performance (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512 MB VRAM)
    o Core 2 Duo T6400 at 2 GHz

    … except being an evolution, maybe evening out the shortcomings
    o Battery run time reduced to < 3 hours even with replacement battery, more likely 2h.
    o Heat issues, making games run jerky at underclocked to 1.2 GHz.

    I fear though that there will be issues with a lack of graphics performance in the new Intel platforms. This was what kept me from buying more mobile alternatives, which usually came with integrated Intel graphics.

  9. fab says:

    ..another category? i have that ultra/note/net/lap/book/top..whatever..

    hp pavilion dm1 with amd cpu, 11″ screen, ssd..so, fast, small and 8h battery life…

  10. chippy says:

    The ultrabooks are aiming for a much higher processing power bracket and some very useful value-add features (security, fast start.) This isn’t the CULV category at all in my opinion although pricing will be significantly higher than what you paid for the DM1!

    I see it as another ‘label’ that’s worth tracking which is why I’m adding them to the database at ultrabooknews.com (not here!)

  11. fab says:

    Steve, just because the DM1 has an AMD cpu and the Ultrabook “invented” by Intel does not allow AMD in their description, it does not mean it’s weaker…

    unfortunately as intel knows perfectly, the majority of people are just plain stupid and think that spending more money, means having a better device.

    i bet you won’t find any better – meaning faster, lighter, with more battery life – device than the DM1 for that price tag.

    so just because an intel ultrabook costs 1999 usd, has an ulv cpu of the i7 family with 16nm bla bla bla..does not make it faster, smarter, better or whatever…but the fact that intel needs to invent something new to make money…have fun :-)

  12. aftermath says:

    Yes, this is just another marketing term for a clamshell device: laptop, notebook, subnotebook, plamtop, netbook, thin-and-light, ultraportable, ultrabook, blah, blah, blah…

    Intel has looked out on the sea of idiots buying devices and acknowledged that these consumers are far better at responding to marketing than they are at understanding technology. So, instead of informing consumers about what features these devices have, and allowing flexibility within the configurations to allow the needs of individual consumers to be met (which is bad for the OEM/ODM but good for you), let’s just bundle it into the term Idiotbook/Idiotpad and sell it to the idiots. Let’s not stop the momentum of stupidity, but let’s not simply given in either. Let’s join the push and enrich the stupidity. The nice thing about this is that soon we can just change the definition of Ultrabook so that we give consumers less and make up the difference with marketing. This is a great time to buy Intel stock as they are clearly joined the anti-consumer business practices that Apple has shown can be so easily and successfully implemented the world of technology. This is the way that most of the world already works, and consumer technology is just the most recent market to fall prey. It’s a pretty terrible time to be a person who needs to use a computer.

  13. Clio says:

    I think the CPU advancement is relatively insignificant here. It’s just what Intel need to do anyway to stay at the top of the industry.

    What’s more significant for me is the emphasis on using SSDs. Intel is effectively pulling its weight and playing “Simon Says”:

    Intel Says: “All Laptops must use SSDs from now on”.

    This may well spell the end to HDDs, SATA2, even 2.5″ Hard disk form factors.

    On a more sinister perspective, it inhibits Laptops manufacturers to bundle SSDs, deal with heat problems with under 0.8″ thickness, and sell the Intel Laptop at sub-$1000 price point, with the Intel “Ultrabook” platform getting the praise for being thin and having good responsiveness (We all know how much SSDs speeds up system response, but not the average consumers!)… those manufacturers who don’t follow, don’t get the “Ultrabook” Moniker and therefore, lose.

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