5G-connected laptops, 2-and-1s highlighted by Intel at Computex
From distributed computing and artificial intelligence to enterprise-enablement and 5G, Intel is pushing hard into the next-generation of mobility, which is poised to be about a lot more than just smartphones.
This week at the Computex event in Taipei, Taiwan, the company announced plans to work with a robust OEM ecosystem—Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft—to bring 5G personal computers to market in 2019.
Intel SVP and GM of the Client Computing Group Gregory Bryant wrote in a recent blog post, “Most of us are already choosing the PC as the place to go to focus. In fact, when people really need to get things done, over 80% turn to their PC…The nature of where, how and why we work is also changing. And the way people connect with one another has changed, with technology being a key driving force.”
Bryant continued: “Against this backdrop, there is an opportunity to fundamentally improve the PC experience to meet today’s needs and help people focus on what is most important to them…But to make this leap, we need to innovate the PC around five key vectors: performance, connectivity, battery life, adaptability and intelligence.”
Intel chips are currently powering around 25 commercially available PCs that connect to LTE networks. Gregory said to look for about 10 more of those prior to the 2019 release of laptops and 2-in-1s that connect to 5G networks. Operators in the U.S. are planning limited commercialization of 5G, both mobile and fixed wireless, this year followed by more widespread deployments in 2019.
Gregory also called out improved battery life as a major selling point of the next generation of PCs. Intel is “co-engineering” with Sharp and Innolux to cut the amount of power consumed by the display. He said some devices support four to eight hours of local video playback and potentially up to 28 hours on some devices.
