14 DAY TRIAL // As ultrabooks get off the ground, the so-called competition between them and Apple's Macbook Air will be highlighted even though it has barely even sparked, if at all.
As it happens, Anand Kajshmanan, an Intel product manager, touched on the matter during a recent interview with PCWorld.
According to him, Intel is fully determined to promote ultrabooks with touch support.
The beginning could be somewhat slow, but interest should be strong for this category by the end of this year (2012) or the next.
Naturally, Windows 8 is cited as one of the factors expected to aid in this matter.
After all, the operating system will have a much better set of touch and gesture controls, among other things.
"We fundamentally believe in the concept of touch, and touch on a clamshell. We believe it is going to take off in 2012 or at least 2013, especially with Windows 8,” Kajshmanan said.
“It really feels like now is the right time, now that the hardware and software are working really well together. We are strongly encouraging our partners to incorporate touch on the ultrabooks."
As the interest in touch input escalates, consumers may start to see it as an intrinsic part of any electronic device with a display.
Tablets started the process, and ultrabooks will just push it forward.
All in all, Intel has every hope that the Apple Macbook Air and the iPad will be only temporary obstacles.
"With the Ultrabook, it is about offering all those things in the same device - the great responsiveness, the great battery life - and with an operating system that people have come to love over the years, as well as all the legacy applications that they would like to run," Mr. Kajshmanan stated.
In other words, the ultrabook will eventually offer everything equivalent Apple products do but at a better value (lower prices, wider application ecosystem, etc.).