At Intel's IDF 2012 conference held in Beijing last week, Microsoft outlined plans to release Windows 8 tablets, announcing a 10-inch model and an 11-inch hybrid with a physical keyboard.
Windows 8 tablets and hybrids will feature touch-first, multi-point interfaces, sensors (touch, ALS, GPS etc.), wireless capabilities, full Windows Desktop application-compatibility along with long battery life. Si, OS and driver enhanncements include fine-gran power management, instant On (fast boot/resume), HD-capable Si and HD video offload, wide support for USB devices and security solutions.
The Intel Core processor based tablets will be powered by the company's 3rd generation Intel Core Mobile Platform (Ivy Bridge) while the Atom-based tablets and hybrids will be initially based on the Intel Atom Z2760 platform, codenamed Clover Trail. These tablets and hybrids will offer 9+ hours batter life, ~30 days power in standby, will weigh less than 1.5 pounds, will be less and 9mm thick and will also offer 3G/4G LTE connectivity. Other features will include support for Intel WiDI WiFi Direst technology, One Tap NFC, native Connected Standby and Intel Insider (for watching protected HD movies).
The Intel Core processor platform for tablets codenamed Chief River, will offer backward compatibility with Windows 7 applications, Intel Turbo Boost Technology, up to 4C and 8MB of Intel Samrt Cache, Intel Hyper-Threading technology and low voltage DDR3L memory. The chip will also feature Last Level Cache (LLC) Shared between CPU and Processor Graphics for better performance. The built-in graphics will support Direct X 11.