Intel has a lot on its mind these days with a
number of things happening around them. First, there are the Ultrabooks
and then, the Ivy Bridge processor and platform launches expected by the
end of this month. There’s also a whole lot of excitement around the
launch of Windows 8 and the hope of being propelled into the tablet
space. Intel missed out on the smartphone and tablet space in the past
but they have high hopes for the future. CNET
covered a conference held in Beijing, where Intel spoke a bit about the
hardware specifications for upcoming Windows 8 tablets. They were
emphasising specifically on the Intel Atom dual-core processor,
codenamed Clover Trail.
Intel wants two formats as far as Windows 8 tablets are concerned -
one a smaller 10-inch touchscreen-only tablet and then the slightly
larger 11-inch hybrid ones which include physical keyboards. The
presentation talks about these tablets having a minimum of 9 hours of
battery life and a standby time that lasts roughly a month. There’s of
course 3G and 4G support that’s important for these tablets as you’re
going be using them on-the-go. Intel also would like the tablets to
weigh less than 700 grams and be no more than 9mm in thickness. These
are both dimensions and specs that rival Apple’s iPad tablets. Intel
doesn’t want anyone to forget NFC either or Wi-Fi Direct, which
basically lets devices communicate among themselves without the need of a
dedicated router or hub in between.
Intel has a lot on its mind when it comes to these tablets - they
want their technology to run everything - everything from business,
educational, entertainment to gaming apps. Of course, these targets set
by Intel are left for vendors to implement and it’s only a matter of
time before we know how well these pointers were implemented. Windows 8
is expected to launch in October
this year, for desktops as well as tablets. More than 10 vendors are
expected to be working closely with Intel to get products ready, ahead
of Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch in October.