Intel

CES postscript: The touch laptop, like it or not

The laptop was reinvented at CES.

Or maybe I should say there was a vigorous attempt to reinvent the laptop. Because we won't know how successful touch has been until next year this time.

Intel's CES booth -- still a large presence in the CES Central Hall -- had one basic unmistakable message: touch has arrived.

Windows 8 convertibles, detachables, touch-screen laptops, and just plain tablets from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, and others blanketed Intel's booth.

And just to make sure the touch message was crystal clear, Intel issued an edict to PC … Read more

Wrapping up computers, tablets, and hardware at CES 2013

LAS VEGAS--Computers and related hardware are rarely the top category at the annual CES, with last year being a possible exception, thanks to ultrabook hype. In 2013, we found laptops, desktops, and tablets in shorter supply than usual, with the main culprit being the October 2012 release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system and the flood of new systems that went along with it.

The following are some of the big-picture trends and ideas we took away from the show, while a breakdown of our Best of CES nominees in this category is here.

Ultrabook DNA is everywhere Even … Read more

Intel describes its 'Y' chips ambitions for tablets

LAS VEGAS--Intel is trying to move its chips from below the keyboard to behind the glass.

In other words, more emphasis on the tablet half of the equation.

Behind the glass: "We believe...detachables are fundamentally different," Adam King, Intel's director of notebook marketing, said in an interview with CNET, referring to laptop designs with displays that can be removed from the base to become standalone tablets.

"The point of differentiation is that the processor is...behind the glass," he said.

"Detachables we think of as a tablet first. Because when you take it … Read more

Intel responds to cooked power efficiency claims

LAS VEGAS--Intel came clean today about the power efficiency for the new Ivy Bridge chips announced at CES on Monday.

At its CES event, Intel claimed that new power-frugal Y series Ivy Bridge processors were rated at 7 watts -- a remarkable feat on its face, as that's 10 watts less than standard low-power Ivy Bridge chips rated at 17 watts.

It turns out, Intel did some fancy marketing footwork in order to claim the 7-watt rating, as Ars Technica pointed out.

Below is Intel's statement provided to CNET. The operative phrase is: "The TDP of the … Read more

Metrics for Intel's power-frugal Ivy Bridge chips questioned

The yardstick used for Intel's new power-frugal chips is being questioned in article posted by Ars Technica.

The article, titled "Power saving through marketing: Intel's '7 watt' Ivy Bridge CPUs," asserts that Intel may have been over-aggressive with its power-efficiency claims.

More specifically, the 7-watt Ivy Bridge processors Intel announced on Monday at CES are actually specified by Intel on its site as 13 watts, the article says.

"The 7-watt number advertised during Intel's keynote yesterday is actually from a new metric, 'scenario design power' (SDP), which purports to measure how much power the … Read more

Lenovo K900 taps Intel's first dual-core phone chip

LAS VEGAS--Lenovo's big-screen K900 smartphone is one of the first to integrate Intel's first dual-core Atom chip for phones. And includes an impressive camera too.

By smartphone standards, the K900 has a massive 5.5-inch screen 1080p IPS display. So, no better time to tap Intel's new chip to manhandle all the pixels in that giant display.

The Atom Z2580 roughly doubles the central processing unit (CPU) performance of Intel's single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo's K800 phone. The new Atom silicon also boasts an improved graphics chip.

A few more deets on Intel's … Read more

Voice recognition will make touch obsolete, Intel exec says

LAS VEGAS -- Watch out, touch screens. You may be hot now, but one Intel executive predicts voice recognition will eventually make you obsolete.

Mooly Eden, the Intel senior vice president who oversees the company's "perceptual computing" operations, told CNET today that voice recognition will do to touch what touch has done to physical keyboards -- making many things unnecessary.

"Voice is the best means of communication between humans," Eden said. "We finally have enough compute power to do what we want from science fiction."

Intel is working with partners on complete systems … Read more

At CES, tablets go full-bore Core, get 'real' Intel processors

LAS VEGAS--With Intel now pushing its mainstream processors into tablets and convertibles, some PC vendors are opting for high-performance designs that offer no-holds-barred performance.

Lenovo is delivering probably the best example. The PC maker announced the ThinkPad Helix at CES (see video below) which is built around Intel's low-power "Ivy Bridge" Core i5 and Core i7 chips.

Surprisingly, Lenovo's Helix doesn't skimp on battery life, offering a total of 10 hours when used in conjunction with its keyboard base.

So, why would Lenovo stick an ultrabook chip in a tablet? Intel's most power efficient … Read more

Ultrabook's quiet triumph

LAS VEGAS--Intel's CES 2013 press conference lacked the hard sell of last year's version, which was almost entirely devoted to all things ultrabook. But even as the grand ultrabook experiment -- a massive branding campaign to create a new laptop category from thin air -- shared the stage with smartphones, Atom chips, and tablets, the ultrabook idea continues to be one of the most influential ones I've seen in many years of laptop-watching.

The catch is, it's the ultrabook's ideas that have spread to nearly every corner of the laptop ecosystem, not the name itself. … Read more