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New Intel Core processors gives hybrid PCs a boost up



Intel - the US based chipmaker launched its 4th generation processors in India which is specially designed to address the needs of 2 in 1 devices, also called Convertibles or Hybrids. These processors have features of both a tablet and a laptop and try to address both the markets. 

The fourth generation processor has better CPU performance and almost double the graphics power when compared to the previous generation. In terms of battery life, it provides 10-13 days of standby compared to 4-5 days of the third generation series. 22 nm technology allows the packing of more transistors in the same size thereby increasing performance.



Intel's major partners have started announcing their offerings based on this new family of processors code-named 'Haswell' . While Acer's Aspire S7 will be launched next month, Dell's XPS 12 will be available by the first week of July. HP said it already has offerings in the market and Lenovo will be launching its 'Horizon' Allin-one systems (AIOs) in the next few months.

Intel also has plans to launch a 22 nm quad core processor for mobile devices in October this year which would help it compete with quad core offerings by other chipmakers. Mobile is one segment where Intel lagged other chipmakers in spite of being completely dominant in the PC segment. It is codenamed 'Bay Trail' and follows the 'Clover Trail' series of processors of Intel currently being deployed by some smartphone vendors. 


Acer plans to launch as many as 15-20 products based on these processors in the next 4 months. Acer also said that among its soon to be available models based on these processors, the cheapest was around Rs 37,000. 

Based on 22 nanometre (nm) technology, the launch represents an improvement over its previous family of processors both in terms of speed and power savings. "Most users today have to choose between speed and battery. Higher speed means lesser battery while more battery leads to bulkier designs. We want to remove this choice of one over the other with our latest processors," said Leighton Phillips, director , Intel Asia-Pacific . 

Ghosh said that to encourage developers and also to kick-start development , Intel recently announced a $100 million experience and perceptual computing' fund. It also hosted a perceptual computing challenge in which more than 30% of applications were from Indian developers.