If you look at the current crop of Ultrabooks on the market they all feature the uncanny resemblance of a normal laptop only thinner and shinier. In fact, you would not be punished for mistaking an Ultrabook for a regular laptop from afar, and this is one of the contributing factors as to why their sales were not that impressive since they were first released in 2011 up until January 2012.
Since January however Ultrabook sales have increased six fold and news reports suggest that by this time next year Ultrabook sales will [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]overtake like for like notebook sales[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]overtake like for like notebook sales[/tp]. With that Ultrabooks have to get better however and move with the times. Manufacturers know this of course, and have launched a number of hybrid Ultrabooks as well a great regular Ultrabooks 3 of which I have covered before on Tech Patio, but next year there are a number of new technologies which are worth a mention as they will all start to creep their way in to Ultrabooks of the future, some of which you may not know about.
Ultrabooks are all set for a few significant changes during 2013 then, so let’s take a first look at the new notable technologies you should know about.
Intel Wireless Charging for Smartphones
Do you remember a very short while back when Palm (later owned by HP) brought of the Palm Pre smartphone with an inductive charging dock? Well building on that, Intel has developed a new type of contactless and wireless charging technology named ‘resonance’ charging. Current reports suggest that only Intel powered smartphones will support this charging however if Intel patents the tech, other smartphone providers could follow suit.
Voice recognition, search and control
At their developer conference this year Intel revealed that they have struck a partnership with voice software vendor Nuance in order to offer voice search, voice recognition and voice control in future Ultrabooks. This is a fantastic partnership for both companies, and the first of its kind on a desktop operating system based product. Ultrabook users will be able to enjoy talking to their machine, with the software prompted by the phrase ‘Hello Dragon’.
More power efficient displays
Intel revealed recently that they were in talks with technology company Sharp surrounding display technology. As more news came to light, Intel revealed that Sharp will be providing LCD display panels for future Ultrabooks which will feature IGZO technology. These displays will be more power efficient than current display offerings on the market, thus leading to better batter life for Ultrabooks.
NGFF SSD’s
Ultrabooks (as well as all Apple laptop offerings) can only be shipped with an SSD with a maximum capacity of 512GB. That’s because under current technology and the mSATA specification, SSD’s have an effective capacity barrier of 512GB due to the size and format of SSD storage. Intel is said to be developing a new form factor for the SSD so that 1TB options become available.
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Guest article written by: Jakk Ogden writes for Ultrabook-News.co.uk an Ultrabook blog based in the UK discussing Ultrabooks, their technology and future releases. If you love technology and Ultrabooks, please feel free to subscribe for unique exclusive updates.
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Guest article written by: Jakk Ogden writes for Ultrabook-News.co.uk an Ultrabook blog based in the UK discussing Ultrabooks, their technology and future releases. If you love technology and Ultrabooks, please feel free to subscribe for unique exclusive updates.
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Am sure Intel has taken a giant leap with its current partnership deals. Ultrabooks will take us to a different generation of computing. Efficiency and performance will matter a lot in the world of computing.
That is really cool, that the tech is advancing and not just in the mobile department