'Ultrabook' to combine best features of desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablets

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first personal computer powered by an Intel microprocessor. It was August, 1981, when the first IBM PC was launched with an Intel 8088 microprocessor.

There have been many highlights, innovations and breakthroughs in computing technology in the past three decades. Yet the evolution of the personal computer is still far from ended; technologies are still being developed as PCs increasingly assume an essential role in daily life.

Stepping into what has been called "the extended PC era" and making much of the 30th anniversary, Intel Microelectronics has unveiled a new computing device called the Ultrabook, based on features that appeal to a growing mass of consumers.

In the early 1980s, corporate users were the major market for the PC industry. Then, in 1990, the first Internet browser was launched, beginning the real exploration of the power of the PC, and the consumer market for PCs exploded.

This year, the world PC market is expected to demand about 400 million units, second only to mobile phones in terms of annual demand for computing devices.

Intel Microelectronics (Thailand)'s country manager Accharas Ouysinprasert quotes an International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast that Thailand's PC market this year will amount to about 3.9 million units. About 60 per cent of this demand will come from the consumer - rather than corporate - market, and another 10 per cent will come from small businesses buying PCs from retail outlets. This means the largest portion of the market in Thailand will be served by retailers.

Accharas said Thailand's PC market was expected to grow by 25 per cent in 2011 - excluding smart devices. This will make it the fastest-growing PC market in Southeast Asia. The key driving factor behind this year's growth is expected to be the availability of a 3G broadband network before the end of the year. The size of the growth will also reflect the country's low penetration rate of PCs - currently around 15 to 20 per cent.

On the occasion of the PC's 30th anniversary, Intel Microelectronics has announced a new flagship product segment called "Ultrabook". The aim is yet another revolution in the characteristics of personal computing - adding more excitement to an already burgeoning Thailand market.

The Ultrabook is an attempt by Intel to create a new market segment that captures the best characteristics of existing desktop, laptop and netbook computers. It is also a result of Intel's efforts to cope with the rapidly changing behaviour of consumers, and the clear preference for light-weight computing devices that are very slim but are still powerful, and which offer to boot up or shut down in just a few seconds.

Accharas said the Ultrabook had been designed and developed to address these main consumer needs. Intel's design of the Ultrabook device has gone to both original-design manufacturers (ODMs) - companies that design and manufacture products that are specified and eventually branded by another firm for sale, including brands like Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Asus - and original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) - those that make products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under the purchasing company's brand.

It is expected that the Ultrabook will be available to the mass market in the final quarter of this year, and Intel expects that even though it will be sold in only one quarter, sales will still represent about 10 per cent of the world laptop market. The Ultrabook is expected to generate huge demand, rapidly increasing in popularity to swallow up to 40 per cent of the world laptop market in 2012, or around 50 to 55 per cent of the total PC market. The total PC market grows by 10 to 12 per cent each year.

"In Thailand, we expect the same level of adoption," Accharas said.

The Ultrabook's main features will be thinness, rapid response and high security. It will be very light to carry, only 18 to 24 millimetres thick, and will have the same high performance as laptop devices, with a mainstream price that is less than US$1,000 (Bt29,764).

It will offer a very quick boot time of about five seconds from sleep mode, or a restart time of about 10 seconds, because it will be powered by a second-generation Intel Core processor. Another basic feature will be battery life of more than eight hours while operating.

It will also feature Intel's new security software that monitors and adjusts to the way an individual uses the Internet, providing a new and dynamic approach to detecting attacks and malicious activity, and helping to reduce false positives or missed security breaches.

Intel says the second wave of Ultrabooks, expected around June next year, will be based on its first 22-nanometre processors, known as Ivy Bridge, that will give the Ultrabook even longer battery life, better performance, tighter security and higher speed in data transmissions with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.

Accharas said the Ultrabook would bring the beauty of a laptop's performance and a tablet's convenience in one device.

"We do not think that tablets will replace PCs - including desktop, laptop, netbook and Ultrabook PCs. Tablets will be second devices for people who already own PCs," he said. "The tablet market is an exciting growth market, but it is so small when compared to the total PC market. IDC forecasts that this year's tablet market in Thailand will reach only 260,000 units, while the total PC market is expected to be 3.9 million units. We think tablets, and even smart phones, will be the companion devices of PC clients."

However, Intel is not ignoring the emerging, high-growth markets for tablet devices and smart phones.

Accharas said Intel's Atom family of processors would serve these markets. In second half of this year, Intel Atom processors for tablet devices will be available in the market, and in second half of next year, there will be Intel Atom processors for smart phones.

"Even thought we do not yet deliver chips for tablets and smart phones, we are benefiting from growth in these markets. For every 122 tablet devices sold, we sell one server, and for every 600 smart phones sold, we sell one server," he said.

Accharas said the Ultrabook would represent the latest revolution in PC industry; Intel would change the paradigm of laptop computing run by Intel microprocessors and bring a new experience to laptop users. After three decades of PC history, he refers to the present time as the "extended PC era".

Intel's role in PC history

1981: Launch of first IBM PC powered by an Intel 8088 processor.

1993: Launch of first Intel Pentium CPU, representing the start of the multimedia computing era.

1995: Launch of Microsoft's Windows 95 and Internet Explorer, boosting rapid increase of PC market.

2000: Launch of first Intel Pentium 4 processor facilitates video streaming over the Internet.

2003: Launch of first Intel Centrino Processor [CPU + chipset + WiFi], enabling portable devices with standard wireless Internet connections.

2005: Intel Duo Core Processor launched. This is a CPU with two separate cores on the same die, each with its own cache, doubling PC computing performance in one chip.

2006: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor launched. This consists of two processor cores working in parallel.

2008: The first Atom processor is launched, creating a new category of computing devices called netbooks.

2010: Intel Core i family of processors is launched.

2011: The Intel Ultrabook is launched.