At the annual Computex event in Tapei, Intel Corporation announced a new product form - the Ultrabook.

Between tablets, laptops and ultraportables, it's hard to see where they'd be room for one more. However, Intel is confident the new form factor will have a strong presence in the industry. In fact, it is predicting 40 percent adoption in the entire PC market for ultrabooks by the end of 2012. Ultraportables will be thin in size, support Intel core processors and be priced under US$1,000.

The thinnest ultrabook will be 0.8 inches, which is only slightly bigger than most tablets. However, Intel promises ultrabooks will be more than just a tablet.

Computing is taking many forms, said Intel's Executive Vice President Sean Maloney. Technology innovation is a catalyst, and we believe the changes Intel is making to its roadmaps, together with strong industry collaboration, will bring about an exciting change in personal computing over the next few years.

The first Ultrabook to hit the market will belong to long time ultra portable manufacturer ASUS. The ASUS UX21, will be available by this year's holiday shopping season.

At ASUS, we are very much aligned with Intel's vision of Ultrabook, said ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih. Our customers are demanding an uncompromised computing experience in a lightweight, highly portable design that responds to their needs quickly. Transforming the PC into an ultra thin, ultra responsive device will change the way people interact with their PC.

At the event, Intel also announced a few processor roadmaps. Maloney outlined the next generation processor family, codenamed Ivy Bridge, which will be available in systems in 2012. It will feature increased power efficiency, smarter visual performance and enhanced security. Following Ivy Bridge, will be the processor family codenamed Haswell.

The company also highlighted milestones and achievements for upcoming generations of Intel's Atom processor, which is used in tablets, netbooks and smartphones. The processor is set to accerelate from 32nm processing technology through 22nm to 14nm within three successive years. This allows for less transistor leakage, lower active power and an increase of transistor density, all which makes for a more powerful device.

Intel also revealed its next generation netbook platform, codenamed Cedar Trail. This will be the first netbook platform based on the 32nm technology. This will allow for designs capabilities such as Intel Rapid Start technology and Intel Smart Connect Technology which enables an always updated experience even during standby.

The work Intel is doing with the Intel Atom processor roadmap, coupled with the significant changes we are making to our Intel Core processor roadmaps, will continue to enhance Intel's ability to deliver complete hardware solutions with a choice of software platforms across a full spectrum of computing -- from back-end servers that power the cloud to the billions of devices that access the cloud, Maloney said.

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