The Ultrabook is Intel’s answer to the new mobile computing landscape. During his keynote today at the Intel Developer Forum, CEO Paul Otellini pushed heavily on the topic of mobility with a road map that shows how invested the company is in PC-style devices.

The Ultrabook has been promoted since the summer. We are now seeing the first devices. Otellini said there will be three new chips introduced through the end of 2013. The intent is to continue driving demand for PC-style devices. The Haswell chip is the code-name for Intel’s next generation processor. We’ll see that next year. It will integrate the Intel Ivy Bridge microprocessor.

Services Angle

The Ultrabook is interesting from a services point of view. Intel is pushing on this theme of connectivity. In this age of connectivity, the security requirements for the enterprise will become the focal issue for IT. Intel is pushing its McAfee acquisition by promoting a hardware and software combined technology at the chip level. The technology is called DeepSafe and is intended to help detect malware.

The challenge for Intel is pricing and what people actually want to use for work. The iPad has a certain level of built in security. Apps are filtered by Apple as opposed to the Google Android OS which permits any app to be added to its ecosystem. People use the iPad for every day use. And we know they love it. Can Intel make sure the Ultrabook price is low enough? People want to connect to services. But if they are not paying for an iPad, what is the most they are willing to spend?