We’ve barely had a year with third-gen Core processors running the Ivy Bridge technology, but Intel is ready to slap us with some even newer technology, and has earmarked fourth-generation Core technology for release to customers later this year.
Announced at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, China, the next breed of Intel Core processors increases the power for graphics, increases battery life, and aims to offer Intel’s Wireless Display or WiDi technology for easy streaming to TVs and large displays.
According to Intel, the increase in graphics power provided by the up and coming chips will allow for some high-end gaming to be possible in notebooks without a heavy-handed discrete graphics chip being needed.
“Ultrabooks based on the 4th generation Intel Core processor family will enable exciting, new computing experiences and all-day battery life delivering the most significant battery life capability improvement in Intel’s history,” said Kirk Skaugen, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s PC Client Group.
“It will also bring to consumers a new wave of ‘two-for-one’ convertible and detachable systems that combine the best of a full PC experience with the best of a tablet in amazing new form factors.”
Those form factors are likely to be a continued evolution from the touch-enabled Ultrabooks we’re seeing today, including Dell’s XPS 12, the Sony Duo 11, Samsung ATIV 700T, and other convertible machines using the Intel Core technology.
Meanwhile, Intel’s system-on-a-chip technology – found in the Acer Iconia W510 and HP Envy X2 – will also be upgraded too.
The next generation of Intel’s Atom technology, called “Bay Trail,” is set to be available in tablets coming later this year, and will apparently bring with them “all-day battery life,” as well as quad-core processing, and the ability to run two operating systems, such as Windows 8 and Android.
Of course, you will have to wait to get your mitts on these new chips, with computers not set to sport them until later this year, with September likely the earliest that we’ll see them.
If reading this has made you want to hold off until then to purchase, be aware that the downside to purchasing any piece of technology is knowing that within a week, it will be out of date. Even when we see these in the flesh, there will probably be a fifth-generation Intel Core on track for release the following year, so don’t let the news of upcoming processors put you off.
