As we followed IDF yesterday we heard about a $99 tablet price target. We assumed it was for Android tablets but no, Intel are targeting their low-end Baytrail solution for Windows tablets at that price point. Intel are also increasing marketing and promising some new and improved features that could include Realsense 3D sensors for high-end Windows tablets.

Hermann Eul, corporate VP and GM of the Mobile and Communications Group at Intel explained in his keynote yesterday that by lining up low-cost SKUs (processor models) up with the removal of Windows licensing costs (announced at BUILD yesterday) they could enable Windows tablets “even down to $99 or $129. “As we speak we have more than 90 tablet designs coming to the market” spanning from below $100 to $500.

Full keynote video below.

The announcement was made during a segment in which Hermann highlighted the ‘4X’ campaign which aims to increase tablet sales to 40 million this year across the Android and Windows range.

Clearly Intel don’t expect the $100 segment to include too many $99 Windows tablets in 2014 but if the Windows Store takes-off as it may do after  Universal Apps become possible, why not more? It’s likely to be down to differentiation. Low-performance ARM-based platforms will be cheaper so there’s an opportunity to drop $20-$50 for higher performance and perhaps the extra USB functionality.

We can’t read too much into the perceived split in the mainstream and premium segment but 50:50 seems about right. 20 million Windows tablet sales in total for 2014? Yes, we can see that happening as the products are already selling very well.

The low-cost products are likely to come from partners in China. Intel were happy to show who they’re working with as local country partners.

In the slide are listed: Livefan, Telcast, iWork, ramos, Aigo, Vido, onsa (sp?), Neso and two brands we can’t translate. In 2014 Intel are going to set a target of getting 20 ODM partners to produce 60 global designs via the Intel Turnkey Program which includes references designs, tailored software and other support packages.

Intel also announced they will provide marketing campaigns for this segment and will market to both consumers and IT decision makers. Intel will also help by using their existing distribution channels.

Realsense for Tablets?

Update: Video below

Finally, for the mainstream Windows tablet segment that closely matches the coverage we have here at UMPCPortal, we see that not only is Baytrail-T being updated for CR (cost reduced) versions now but there are also performance improvements coming later in the year too. An estimated 15% performance improvement along with ‘new experiences’ in the area of security and immersive gaming. We can’t help thinking that is related to Realsense when we look at the icon.

A depth-enabled camera features in the early part of the presentation. This feature would require Realsense on board so again, it looks like Realsense is coming to tablets this year. Watch the video below It’s amazing.

It looks like we’ll be busy here at UMPCPortal in 2014. We’ll continue to focus on the mainstream and high-end of the Tablet PC and mobile PC market and bring you more details about the technologies and capabilities as soon as we can.

It was a long opening keynote at BUILD today but totally worth watching all the way from start to finish. There were exciting announcements across-the-board and when I say across-the-board I mean announcements that affect cross-Windows compatibility. The unified Store took a huge step forward today. Windows 8.1 Update is detailed as is Windows Phone 8.1 which is coming in new devices from may and then rolling out after that to other devices. You’ll also hear the superb news that the Windows 8 license free will be dropped for all Windows Phones and PCs up to 9-inch screen. This will really help the Windows tablet market develop. Finally you’ll see the demo of a RT version of Office built for touch.

You can find more detail in our posts here but we do recommend you watch the video, if only to see Satya Nadella putting in a great performance as new CEO of Microsoft.

Just live on YouTube is a 3.5 minute overview of the Windows 8.1 Update. The free update is coming to all Windows 8.1 users on April 8th and includes many changes for keyboard and mouse users, changes to taskbars and the ability to run the new Universal Apps in the desktop window. There’s a new Start menu too.

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It’s going to be one crazy day for me on Wednesday. Two important events will take place that will give us a deeper understanding as to what’s going to happen with Windows tablets this year. Intels IDF event takes place in China and later in the day Microsoft kick-off their BUILD developer event. I’ll be covering them both.

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The Acer Iconia W4 is a recent addition to the 8-inch Windows tablet scene and it brings with it a full line-up of specifications that include HDMI, GPS, large-capacity battery as well as an interesting set of keyboard accessories. There’s a 21Mbps 3G version available too and that’s the one we’ve got here. Thanks to Acer Europe for sending it over for review.

At an event in China today Ramos introduced three Windows 8.1 tablets. Two of these we’ve seen before but one is new. There’s also some information about the dual OS ability of the i10 Pro.

We’re expecting variants of these device specifications to appear over time but for today Ramos have pitched three devices are three different segments. The 8-inch i8 Pro runs the Z7340D CPU and comes with the basic Windows 8.1 tablet specifications. There’s a GPS on board but we’re expecting this to be a low-cost Windows 8 tablet. No availability or price has been given but when we spoke to Ramos last week they were indicating that it would come ‘next’ after the i10 Pro.

The Ramo i10 Pro is shown with 3G specifications and is the model with the Dual OS feature. Android 4.2.2 is on board with Windows 8.1. The FullHD screen sits above the same basic Windows tablet specifications of Z3740D, 2GB RAM and 32GB SSD. Some talk of 64-bit Windows in some sources leads us to believe that the CPU might get upgraded to the Baytrail-CR variants when they’re fully available. The i10 Pro will be available in 5 colours.

The 3G function is enabled with the Ultrastick 3G SD card from Huawei which we understand is bundled with the i10 Pro. Clearly that might not be the case in other regions.

Indications are that this is a dual-boot solution as we saw demonstrated at CeBIT although final confirmation has been given. A dual-boot solution might not cut across the Google Play non-fragmentation agreement but we wait to see just how much more than basic Android this build is.

The i10 Pro will be available in China from the 25th of March for 2699 Yuan which is $433. Our hands-on video is below.

The new model we haven’t seen before is the i10 Note which offers Windows 8.1 on a 1280×800 screen but with a pen. It’s not clear if this is a capacitive-only pen. Indications are that the product is still in development.

We’ll update you as soon as we have new information. We’ve already contacted Ramos for a review device.

A live blog in Chinese from the launch event is available here.

Additional info via pbhz.com

Thx Mike Cane.

Schenker is a EU-wide brand selling mostly OED PCs. The Schenker Elements 10-inch tablet is their entry into the new Windows tablet market and we had some time to take a look at it in Hannover this week.

Computer and digital security has changed a lot since I left my job as a security architect for a major ISP many years ago. At that time we were adding very expensive intrusion prevention technology into server farms and now the same technology is being used in consumer security software built into low-cost operating systems. The knowledge, tools and methods available to the consumer are vastly improved and a lot easier but, as always, the hacking techniques are more complex, the potential for vulnerabilities is greater and the rewards for the attacker increase as consumers move more information and financial transactions online.

As users we need to become more aware of the risks but even more accepting of the new ways to increase our personal data and identity security. Some of the tools are easy to use, others require more effort, and all of them require the end user to trust a third party.

In this report I take a look at security on consumer-focused Windows mobile PC products and I compare the features available to common security requirements for individuals.

For author background and audience notes, see footnote. A consumer-focused summary is provided.