All-in-one: Intel gears up to reinvent desktop PC

Intel’s desktop business was up 7% on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2013, which remained a strong period for the desktop platform volume, Intel Pakistan said on Thursday.

KARACHI: After a significant growth in the latest quarter, Intel is now gearing up for product enhancement and improved features to reinvent desktop computing, according to an official press release.

Intel’s desktop business was up 7% on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2013, which remained a strong period for the desktop platform volume, Intel Pakistan said on Thursday.

The California-based manufacturer of semiconductors unveiled a set of roadmap enhancements, platform features and software partnerships to help drive the reinvention of desktop computing, the statement said.

“The desktop business is a large and important segment for Intel, and we are investing in it – reinventing form factors, experiences and products for our customers,” the statement said, quoting Lisa Graff who is the vice president and general manager for Intel’s Desktop Client Platform Group.

Compelling new form factors such as mini PCs and desktop all-in-ones (AIOs) are driving excitement within the category, and Intel is helping deliver new capabilities that consumers and businesses want, the statement says.

The chip-making giant previewed a special unlocked fourth generation Intel Core processor – code-named Devil’s Canyon – at the Game Developers Conference. The product, which is due in mid-2014, includes improved thermal interface and CPU packaging materials that are expected to enable significant enhancements to performance and overclocking capabilities, it said.

For those who demand the highest processor core count and memory bandwidth on the desktop, Intel will deliver an 8-core, 16-thread Intel Core processor Extreme Edition in the second half of this year.

Intel also announced plans for an Intel Pentium processor ‘anniversary edition’ commemorating more than 20 years of the Pentium brand, featuring unlocked multipliers that allow the ability to increase the core and memory frequencies independently from the rest of the system.

Additionally, plans for unlocked desktop versions of the upcoming fifth generation Intel Core processor with Iris Pro graphics, code-named ‘Broadwell’, were confirmed.