Intel's Mooly Eden

At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show Press Day today, Intel Corporation described a new era of computing experience that is underway, as the first wave of Ultrabook devices come to market. Leading the event were Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager, PC Client Group, and Kevin Sellers, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group and director, Advertising and Digital Marketing.

Intel first unveiled the Ultrabook at Computex 2011 in Taiwan as a way for PC manufacturers to counter the rise of tablet-culture. Designed to have the portability of a tablet, and power of a PC, Intel claims that their “extensive research” has defined the Ultrabook by figuring out what people want most out of their computers.

In the few short months since the category was created, it is already seeing early momentum as the first wave of Ultrabook systems started to come to market last October.

• More than 75 Ultrabook designs are in the pipeline for 2012 and will come in a variety of screen sizes (including 14- and 15-inch), shapes and styles. The second phase of Ultrabook devices will be powered by the upcoming 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor family, initially available in systems starting in the spring and with increasing availability through the year.
• Security is increasingly becoming more important to consumers who want to protect their data and personal assets. Eden demonstrated a securer, “peace of mind” experience offered by the early results of a strategic collaboration between Intel and MasterCard. This collaboration was announced last year to provide more options for a safer and simpler check-out process for online merchants and MasterCard cardholders using Ultrabook devices.
• Continued innovation from the industry is required to deliver the sleek, beautiful Ultrabook designs that measure less than just 18 millimeters in thickness. Components from display panels, battery technology and storage solutions to motherboard and cooling technologies all have to be redesigned to fit into the slim designs. Last year, Intel announced a $300-million Ultrabook Fund to fuel development of these and other innovations, and help bring them to market in high volume and at mainstream price points.

The Continued Evolution of Interaction

In response to the success of Apple’s Siri, Intel plans to add capabilities that will let people engage naturally and intuitively with an Ultrabook. Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager, announced a strategic relationship between Intel and Nuance Communications, Inc., a leading provider of voice and language solutions, to develop an intuitive, multi-language, natural voice experience for these devices.

The experience will be based on Nuance’s Dragon voice recognition technology that will be optimized for Intel® architecture and is expected to be available this year.

• Using this technology, people will be able to control their Ultrabook just by using their voice, from quickly and easily launching applications, playing media, checking and updating social media sites or controlling their email and calendar.

•  A software development kit for Dragon and other Nuance technologies will be available on the Intel AppUp Center to help developers create new Ultrabook experiences.

As the Ultrabook will likely be one of the anchors of CES, more details are expected as the show progresses.