Intel looks forward to Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks and beyond

CHIPMAKER Intel's latest Sandy Bridge Ultrabooks were overshadowed as the firm looked towards the release of Ivy Bridge versions next year.

The second day of the Intel Developer Forum saw Mooly Eden, VP of Intel's PC Client Group, talk far more about the Ultrabooks of next year and beyond than the ones that consumers will be able to buy soon with Sandy Bridge chips. The next generation notebooks will be upon us in the first half of next year with a noticeable difference if you touch them, according to Eden.

Eden said, "As we speak we're working on the next generation. What you see are the next generation Ultrobooks. All these Ultrabooks are featuring Ivy Bridge."

"It will be there (on the market) with the next generation as well, at the more affordable price point."

It seems that you needn't bother getting excited about the first wave of Ultrabooks because the next ones will be worth waiting for. The firm also showed off an Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook running Windows 8.

One reason to go for a Sandy Bridge Ultrabook, however, will be the price, which Intel plans to drive down to less than $1,000 and further, according to Eden. An advantage for PC builders is that Ivy Bridge will be pin to pin compatible with Sandy Bridge making it easier to upgrade.

Eden also held up a Haswell chip while on stage a working PC system was running on the future chip. Ultrabooks powered by Haswell processors are due in 2013. µ