There’s much more to Ultrabooks than “Thin, Responsive and Secure.” In terms of laptop design the Ultrabook is one of the biggest overhauls ever. At IDF last week I learnt just how complex the Ultrabook design is and why Intel is calling-out to the ecosystem to help create the best Ultrabook components and designs.

As someone that is looking for a comfortable and mobile 720p video editing solution, the Intel Quick-Sync Video component is one of the most exciting for me. It contains both decode and encoding hardware that can really help when converting or rendering a video. Although the demo you see below was done on a Samsung Series 9, it’s using the same 2nd-Generation Core platfom as Ultrabooks will.

I remember physically sighing when Intel announced a dual-core Atom as the answer to video playback issues on the netbook. It’s not that way to do it at all which is why I’m very please to have confirmation that Cedar Trail, the latest netbook platform, will have hardware decoding support. The GMA3600 graphics core is based on PowerVR technology from Imagination and while I didn’t get full specs,  (it’s said to be SGX 545 at 400Mhz) I did get visual confirmation. In the video below you see up to 23Mbps […]

In a report from Digitimes we’ve learnt that the Acer Aspire S3 is rolling off production lines and has started to ship to distributors. It’s an additional data point in the S3 timeline which looks like its leading right now. There are more interesting points in the article too. Take the jump to read about HP in November, Acer later this month and Toshiba on the Quanta and  Company production lines. It looks like the gates have opened now that Intel’s Developer Forum is over. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110915PD214.html

You’ve probably seen plenty of previews of Windows 8 over the last 12 hours or so given that its just gone publicly available as a preview. The operating system offers multiple usage scenarios for touch, mobile and productivity. Devices like the Fujitsu TH40 will benefit highly from Windows 8 as they too offer multiple usage scenarios. I was really quite impressed with the device after my hands on at the Intel Atom Showcase here at IDF. Of all the Oaktrail devices I’ve tried, this has been the best experience yet. […]

Today at IDF 2011, Intel held a session that was all about Android Honeycomb on Atom. We came away with a good bit of info about how Android on Intel will compare to Android on ARM, and how Intel plans on differentiating its products. The beginning of Android on Intel happens on the Medfield platform, which utilizes a 32nm manufacturing process. In 2013, Intel plans to move to 22nm, and in 2014 14nm. The smaller the manufacturing process, the more transistors can be printed on a single CPU wafer which makes […]

The exciting Medfield Intel/Honeycomb tablet (codenamed Red Ridge) has been mostly hidden behind glass at IDF, but Intel was willing to let us get our hands on an earlier reference design called Green Ridge. The device you are about to see is running on Intel’s Oaktrail platform, though you likely won’t see such devices become consumer-available, rather Intel will be pushing Medfield as the platform for initial Intel/Honeycomb availability. https://youtu.be/714MMv9ZuzQ

Mooley Eden was on stage at IDF this morning to deliver 1hr of Ultrabook presentation. Add the coverage that Ultrabooks got in the first keynote and you’re looking at about 40% of the total keynote stage time being dedicated to Ultrabooks. It’s clear where Intels marketing dollars will be going next year. Mooley set the scene by talking about PC market growth saying that China had overtaken the US market as #1. “Emerging markets are on fire” he adds. In a market full of tablet and smartphone competition, he needed to […]