Intel corp. said on Tuesday that its newly-announced ultra-low voltage Core i-series "Ivy Bridge" central processing units have quickly gained popularity among PC makers. 35 ultrabook models based on Ivy Bridge are either already available or will be in the next 30 days. In addition, the company announced plans to ensure similar experience across different Intel-powered devices and equip ultrabooks with touch screen panels.

35 Ultrabooks with Ivy Bridge Inside

More than 35 new Ivy Bride-based ultra-sleek, ultra-responsive ultrabook systems are available now or will be for purchase within 30 days, with more than 110 designs expected in the next year. Systems based on Core i 3000-series "Ivy Bridge" chips not only provide increased general purpose and graphics processing technology, but also feature special enhancements to improve security (Anti-Theft, Identity Protection), responsiveness (Rapid Start) and communication capabilities (Smart Connect) amid prolonging battery life.

Tom Kilroy, senior vice president at Intel, also highlighted the company's efforts to deliver user-centric experiences across a range of mobile devices from the ultrabook to smartphones and tablets, pointing to momentum across all three.

"Thank you to our partners here in Taiwan and the computing industry at-large for the unprecedented innovation to bring the ultrabook to life in such a short time. But we are just getting started," said Mr. Kilroy.

Touch-Screen and Voice Controls Enroute to Ultrabooks

Later this year, Intel and the industry will further evolve ultrabook devices with the addition of touch-based experiences. Intel believes that touch capability is a key component to the ultrabook experience and will be increasingly important across a wide range of devices. The world's largest maker of chips also said it had signed agreements with several leading touch panel manufacturers, including Cando, HannsTouch, TPK and Wintek, to ensure adequate capacity to meet the expected demand for touch-enabled ultrabook experiences over the next several years.

The high-ranking exec from Intel also challenged the industry to shape the future of computing experiences by giving computers senses, or the ability to see, hear and feel much like people do. The addition of the touch-enabled experiences to the ultrabook is only the beginning. 

Mr. Kilroy demonstrated for the first time a multi-language voice experience based on Nuance's Dragon engine and speech technology optimized for Intel chips. Announced in January, the companies are collaborating to provide a great voice experience to consumers. With this solution, users can check and update their social media sites, initiate voice over IP calls, search the Internet and control their media. Users can also control the ultrabook when not connected to the Internet by using their voice to quickly and easily launch applications, play local media and multi-task. 

Tom Kilroy said the company is working on future technologies that could let people engage more naturally and intuitively with a variety of devices, from the ultrabook or smartphone to everyday intelligent systems. Such applications could include perceptual computing, intuitive and immersive short-range gesture recognition, using smartphones to interact with and control an ultrabook or desktop PC, or even track a person's heart rate through technology that "sees" and analyzes the movement of a person's cheeks.

Tags: Intel, Ivy Bridge, Core, 22nm