Harris Beach Developer Ultrabook unboxing and first impressions
Harris Beach is the name of the latest developer edition of the Intel Ultrabook. You can’t buy this in the shops because it has been designed by Intel for software developments and experimentation. It contains some of the newest technologies you’ll find in any laptop (or even PC) and is packed with as many features as possible. NGFF SSD, NFC, GNSS, HSPA+ 3G modem (21Mbps), Panel Self Refresh, HD 5000 graphics, Full HD IPS screen and of course a Haswell U-Series processor which is incredibly efficient.
Although we’ve had hints and tips that the ground-breaking Connected Standby feature is coming to the next generation of Ultrabooks it wasn’t until a recent interview that Intel really confirmed that it was coming. At Intel’s Developer Forum in Beijing in April Intel will offer a deep-dive into the feature.
This ground-breaking integration of Windows 8 and PC hardware will change the way you use a PC and it’s likely to be an Ultrabook-exclusive for much of 2013 and 2014. Connected Standby is ‘on’ for Windows 8 apps when the PC is ‘off.’ It means you can run Windows 8 applications like Skype to provide voice and video services when your PC is in your bag, and much more.
In just a few hours the press will be gathering in San Francisco for the warm-up to IDF 2012. The Intel Developer Forum is the most important of the years IDF events as it represents the start of a new wave of marketing for Intel and allows analysts to piece together a picture of what Intel will get up to in 2013. In terms of Ultrabooks we already know that we’ve got Windows 8, touch and Haswell coming but there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you can expect from us over the next week as we attend 4 days of Intel events.
As well as learning a lot about Ultrabook sensors and features this week I also learnt a new word. Spelunking might sound like a fetish but apparently it’s about exploring caves! Let’s do a bit of spelunking right now in the cave known as the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge. In week3 we’re getting down to serious detail.
Netbooknews has just published some information they’ve had from Intel during a chat with Navin Shenoy, the President of Intel Architecture Group and General Manager of the Mobile Client Platform. Most of the information wasn’t anything new but there’s a hint towards back-to school offers. As we were expecting, back-to-school offers will be starting in August and real sales numbers will start to show.
We’re thrilled to have been invited and sponsored by Intel to attend IDF 2012 this year. Intel Developers Forum is the place to get a feel for what’s going to happen in the next 12-18 months and to get all the questions answered by the experts responsible. Naturally we’ve been looking through the agenda. There are 17 technical sessions directly related to Ultrabooks and an additional 5 that will reveal information about Haswell, the next generation platform that you can expect to see in Ultrabooks in 2013.
One presentation jumped out at us though. Ultrabook™ Innovations – Intel Wireless Charging and Smart Watch Digital Companion.
Harris Beach Developer Ultrabook unboxing and first impressions
