Convertibles to Play Big Role in Ultrabooks, as Intel Seeks Hybrid Approach to Mobile PCs

Facing strong competition from tablets, Intel is pushing convertible Ultrabook PCs for the “pretty near future” that bring the functionality of PCs and the convenience of tablets into a single form factor, Bryan Deaner, brand manager, told us Tuesday at a press event in Manhattan. The company launched 35 Ultrabook designs this week with “about a hundred in the pipeline,” Deaner said. That’s an increase from the 70 Intel said at CES that it would deliver this year, and more than 50 are currently in the market, he said.

With convergence “what people are looking for,” Intel plans to move aggressively into that category, Deaner said. At the Tuesday event, the company showed a Lenovo IdeaPad model called Yoga, but didn’t provide availability or pricing information. Intel said it’s tracking 30 touch-enabled Ultrabooks for introduction this year, including 10 convertible models. Deaner declined to comment on Windows 8, which according to reports will go on sale in October, because he’s “not a Windows 8 spokesman,” but he said an ongoing strategy will be to have touch-enabled and non-touch Ultrabooks. Touch adds cost to a PC, he said, and not all consumers want it. “We want to be sure there continues to be a range of both price points, experiences and form factors,” he said.

Intel’s feedback from consumers is that they want choices in mobile computing. Deaner called tablets an “interesting” form factor for people to get accustomed to for touch capability but said “there are limitations as well.” He called tablets “inherently a consumption device” for entertainment “but not so much a productivity device.” Ultrabook offers the ability to be both, he said, and the company is putting “a lot of energy” around Ultrabook “because we think that’s where the overall convergence will happen.”

Intel showed an LG TV, model 47LM6700, with Intel Wireless Display technology (Wi-Di), which enables consumers to send video wirelessly from a Wi-Di-enabled laptop or Ultrabook to a compatible TV. The technology is also available in select TVs from Samsung and Toshiba, said Adam Moran, technical marketing engineer. When asked why Wi-Di hasn’t gained more traction in the market, Moran said he expects more companies to sign on to the technology as more Ultrabooks come to market. Moran said Wi-Di isn’t expected to add more to the cost of a Wi-Fi chip.

New functionality in the third generation of Ultrabooks coming to market over the next few months include two security features including identity protection and anti-theft technology, Deaner said. Following Intel’s purchase of McAfee in 2010, McAfee technology is being integrated more at the hardware level, which adds a layer of security, Deaner said. Third-gen Ultrabooks will see a boost in identity protection including more websites providing hardware-based authentication, he said. A password checked at the software level is often based on “ambient temperature,” which Deaner said is “pretty easy for a hacker to crack.” When security is in the hardware layer, “there’s a greater level of black box security,” he said. In the “mid-future,” he said, different parts of a PC subsystem will be protected in a way that’s like “putting up different shields."

The new anti-theft feature in Ultrabooks enables consumers to track their Ultrabook if it’s stolen and either disable it or erase the hard drive remotely, Deaner said. Software security programs from McAfee, Norton and Absolute Software typically include 2 or 3 months free of the “Lo-Jack for Laptops” tracking software from Computrace that sells separately for $39.99 to $99.99 per subscription depending on features and length, according to the Absolute Software website.

Graphics have been stepped up in the new generation of chips, Deaner said, to include HD Graphics 4000 that delivers twice the 3D graphics performance for videos and gaming. The upgrade delivers a smoother experience and boosted level of responsiveness on the PC without the hiccups in 3D content that occurred with previous-generation Ultrabooks, a spokeswoman demoing EA’s FIFA 2012 3D game told us.

Deaner touted the 22-nanometer process used in the third-generation of Intel Core processors, which enables processors to “scale up in performance in a smaller package size.” Deaner referred to richer experiences in a smaller form factor, adding that the process lends itself well to “perceptual computing,” including natural user interfaces including touch, facial recognition and gesture. “Your interaction with the PC is going to be very different over the next couple of years,” Deaner said, “and you're only able to do that if you have a really high-performance processor.” A 14-nanometer process, which will boost processor performance further, is next on the docket and will appear in Ultrabooks next year, he said.

On recent price drops of Ultrabooks in the market to as low as $649, Deaner cited economies of scale and new innovations in chassis designs, with some PC makers moving from expensive metal-based materials to durable plastics. “High-quality plastic designs take quite a bit of cost out of the system,” he said.