Intel refutes the claims that Win 8 is not ready, demos thin Atom-based reference tablets with 10-hour battery

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Intel refutes the claims that Win 8 is not ready, demos thin Atom-based reference tablets with 10-hour battery
Intel's CEO has allegedly made some unvetted remarks at employee meetings that he considers Windows 8 not fully baked yet for a release, regarding driver compatibilities and such, but it seems he was speaking for himself, not Intel as a whole, or at least that's what the company's PR would like you to know.

The processor behemoth made the unusual move to release a statement and refute the news reports, which many dismissed as sour grapes because of Microsoft's Win RT port for ARM-based processors. Here's the worded refute:



Moreover, Intel doubled down on the Windows 8 news, demonstrating its Clover Trail reference platform for tablets, saying that the Atom processor inside will be bringing 10-hour battery life, which is very comparable to ARM-based slates. The Z2760 inside is clocked at 1.8GHz, and embeds PowerVR SGX545 graphics, with slates coming at just 1.5 pounds (680g), at 8.5mm thickness, but with built in 3G, 4G and NFC. The advantage is that you get the full Windows 8 experience, which means backwards compatibility with all programs ever written for Windows, something Win RT slates can't do. 

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Clover Trail slates will have downsides, too, like lack of USB 3.0 support, and somewhat stifled specs with no 1080 screens on the horizon, but Intel said more than 20 such frugal Win 8 slates are in the works. The price, however, doesn't sound very enticing compared to what we've heard about Win RT tablets - the Atom-based slates with baseband radios might very well start at $799, it seems.

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