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Intel aims to reboot PC market with Haswell, ultrabooks and two-in-one devices

Intel's new processor family is focused on ultrabooks and two-in-one devices, and Intel's doubtless hoping it will help breathe fresh life into the ailing PC market.
Written by Steve Ranger, Global News Director

Intel has officially unveiled its new fourth-generation Core processors, previously codenamed Haswell, which it wants to serve as the foundation for a wave of new ultrabooks and two-in-one devices.

Intel is likely hoping the new family of processors will help to revitalise the PC market, which has seen a serious sales downturn as a result of businesses and consumers turning to smartphones and tablets for their computing needs.

Speaking at Computex Taipei 2013 on Monday, Intel's executive vice president Tom Kilroy said Intel has more than 50 different two-in-one designs in the pipeline across a range of prices, including premium ultrabooks using Haswell, and other designs using the company's Silvermont microarchitecture.

The company described the two-in-ones as devices that "deliver a PC when you need it and a tablet when you want it". Consumer and business systems based on quad-core versions of the new processors are now available.

The two-in-one ultrabooks, traditional laptops and desktops are slated to arrive this summer, while Intel said new mobile business products with the fourth generation Intel Core vPro will be available "later this year".

Intel said its new chips, based on the 22nm Haswell microarchitecture, can deliver a 50 percent increase in battery life "in active workloads" over the previous generation, which it claims is the equivalent of over nine hours of battery life in active workloads for some ultrabooks based on the new processors.

Intel is also aiming at the smartphone market, and said phones with "Intel silicon inside" have now shipped in more than 30 countries. Kilroy showed off a smartphone reference design platform based on Merrifield, Intel's next-generation 22nm Atom sytem on a chip for smartphones that will deliver increased performance and battery life. The platform includes an integrated sensor hub for personalized services, as well as capabilities for data, device and privacy protection.

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