» Clover Trail

Intel-powered Windows 8 Tablets to Struggle for Sub-$600 Pricing?

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Lane Jesseph Posted in Blog, IT





Originally Posted By Tim Stevens, engadget.com

Microsoft has a big battle ahead to overcome the overwhelming popularity of the iPad on the tablet computing front, and its Intel-powered slates might be starting at a distinct disadvantage if a DigiTimes report is to be believed. The site indicates that neither Intel nor Microsoft are willing to cut their prices to help manufacturers, the former providing the Clover Trail hardware and the latter the Windows 8 software, which could see these machines starting at $599 and going way up from there.

This could send manufacturers looking for lesser-expensive ARM-powered hardware, creating tablets incapable of executing the current gamut of x86 Windows software. Will users pay a premium for app compatibility as tablet prices on other platforms plummet? Just how attached are you to that copy of Wing Commander you’ve been hanging on to for decades?

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Lenovo, Acer Planning Wintel Tablets in 2012: Report

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Lane Jesseph Posted in Blog, Mobility Strategy





Originally Posted By Nathan Eddy, eWeek

Tablets running Microsoft Windows 8 and Intel Clover Trail chips—and built by Lenovo and Acer—are reportedly in the works.

Computer makers Lenovo and Acer are reportedly planning to release tablet devices running the Windows 8 platform from Microsoft and sporting Intel chips known as Clover Trail. A DigiTimes report quoted sources in the “upstream supply chain” as saying that PC players are putting more hope on Intel’s Clover Trail platform as Medfield, designed by Intel for Android-based smartphones and tablet PCs, is “eclipsed by ARM-based processors in terms of performance and power saving.”

The report also says the combined Windows and Intel (Wintel) tablets could be available in the third quarter, finding strong demand in the enterprise as tablet sales grow and users familiar with Microsoft applications look for a platform they are familiar with. Acer and Lenovo join other technology giants, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft mobile platform partner Nokia in their plans for a Windows-based tablet to rival Apple’s iPad.

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Intel’s ‘Clover Trail’ to pair up with Windows 8 for Tablets

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Lane Jesseph Posted in Blog, IT





Originally Posted By Brooke Crothers, CNET

Intel’s Clover Trail silicon will be the first major push by the chipmaker for Windows 8 tablets, CNET has learned.

Clover Trail is an Atom chip slated for the second half of the year, about the same time frame that Windows 8 is due, a source familiar with Intel’s plans told CNET.

Clover Trail is a follow-on to Medfield–due in the second quarter–which is aimed primarily at smartphones. While the Medfield chip will undoubtedly be used in some tablets, it is a single-core design, while Clover Trail will also be offered in dual-core versions, making it more attractive for tablet makers, according to sources.

And Intel is expected to show off–either publicly or privately–Clover Trail-based prototype tablets running on Windows 8 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) later this month.