Intel to make thin computing even better in 2013 with fourth-gen Core technology

We all like thin computers, and we all like fast computers, so why not put the two together? For its fourth-generation Core processor technology, Intel has officially announced what’s changed, and how it will make laptops and tablets better than ever.

Announced over at Computex in Taipei, the next generation of Intel processors will be better than ever, as the company improves its chip designs and aims to make its Ultrabook specification even better.

The new chips, codenamed “Haswell,” will deliver faster processing – an expected upgrade that happens year upon year – but also take in less power and improve graphics significantly, so much that even an Ultrabook could be used for PC gaming this year, something you could do very little of in the past couple of years.

Battery is the next area where Intel has been focusing big, with over nine hours of use expected from a fourth-generation Intel Core processor sitting in a machine plastered with “Ultrabook” stickers, with roughly 10 to 13 days of standby offered.

The wafer of Haswell. Let's call it the Haswell wafer.

“4th generation Intel Core processors offer the most significant gain in battery life enabling ever achieved by Intel, up to double the graphics and significant CPU performance improvements that are delivering exciting new consumer experiences,” said Intel’s Senior Vice President, Kirk Skaugen.

“Today’s announcement accelerates a new category of 2-in-1 computing devices delivering the best of a notebook and a tablet in amazing new form factors.”

That “2-in-1” concept is something we’ve seen a few of since Windows 8 was launched last year, but is expected to grow monumentally as device manufacturers embrace the “hybrid” movement, creating laptop computers with detachable screens, or even tablets with keyboards hidden underneath, creating what is essentially both a tablet and a laptop.

Dell's upcoming XPS 11, one of the more interesting takes on the notebook.

More wireless support has been thrown in, and all Ultrabooks with Haswell will support Intel’s Wireless Display technology, also known as WiDi, while voice command will also exist in the systems.

Security is also a feature from the new processors, and together with McAfee, a level of anti-theft is being built in, so even if you lose your computer, it can still be wiped the moment it returns online.

The official launch for Intel’s fourth-generation processors in Australia isn’t until next week, and it’s there that we expect to see the new machines that will head to shelves later this year, with stock likely landing for Haswell-based machines in late July at the earliest.

Acer's Aspire S7 could see a fourth-generation Intel Core processor upgrade in 2013.