‘Convertibles will be next big thing’

AFTER smartphones and tablets have taken over the computing world, a company that produces microprocessors believes the next big thing in mobile devices will catch on in 2013–the convertible.

This year, a convertible will no longer just refer to a fancy car with a retractable roof.

Intel Philippines manager Ricardo Banaag said the convertible, which is a slim notebook with a screen that can be flipped over to become a tablet, gives the consumer “the best of both worlds.”

The convenience of the tablet’s weight and touch capabilities and the power of a laptop computer are what make convertibles attractive to consumers.

A Windows 8 experience study conducted by Intel showed that 44 percent of respondents from four different countries preferred to use the Ultrabook convertible over other devices.

“This is a growth area we will continue to see. The opportunity for adoption excites us,” said Banaag, who made a presentation on trends to watch for 2013.

Banaag said notebooks will come with a slew of new features like responsive voice, instant on, HD cameras, always fresh data, all-day battery life, wireless charging, sensors, facial recognition, touch and better security features.

Banaag said all-day battery life and wireless charging will be an attractive feature, with many heavy users uploading data and sharing their videos and photos online.

“People are seeing the value of a powerful, robust mobile device that’s easy to bring along.”

There are predictions that there will be over 15 billion intelligent connected devices by 2015, including cameras and car GPS systems, and that these devices will generate 35 trillion gigabytes of data by 2020.

Banaag said mobile devices and functions on the Internet will drive a data center explosion, citing 500 million shares on Facebook, 230 million tweets, 86,000 hours of video uploaded and 100 million hours of these watched on YouTube.

Top Intel officials in Asia Pacific noted cloud computing as gaining momentum in the region, with an IDG Survey stating nine percent of IT decision makers in Asia plan to implement cloud environments in the next 12 months and 26 percent looking to pilot test cloud projects.

Banaag also believes governments will adopt technology, especially in delivering services. In his presentation, he quoted Intel Southeast Asia managing director Uday Marty as saying 2013 having an increased focus in the future, with education transformation becoming crucial to the region.

“Governments and institutions will invest in developing strong educational frameworks to create a skilled labor force for the future,” Marty said.

Banaag pointed out that some schools have already introduced tablets to grade school pupils to see if they are learning math and other skills faster using such devices.

Aside from governments, they see more small and medium enterprises embracing IT solutions to add value to their business and make them more competitive. Banaag said technology is becoming affordable and they hope the rate of adoption for businesses will continue.

This year, Intel will be introducing its fourth generation of processors.