Intel working on touch-enabled ultrabooks

Chip maker Intel is powering full steam ahead on its ultrabook vision with more than 140 ultrabooks powered by its Ivy Bridge chipset in the works - up from the 110 it said it was working on in May.

Of those, 40 will be touch-enabled ultrabooks sporting both a qwerty keyboard and a touch-sensitive display, said Intel CEO Paul Otellini during the company's recent investor call.

"Ultrabooks continue to build momentum, and achieved our volume goals in the first half. We are very pleased with the level of innovation and invention being brought into this category, and are now tracking over 140 Ivy Bridge-based designs in the pipeline," said technology blog The Verge quoting Otellini.

Otellini said Intel's chips will be powering approximately 12 "convertibles," PCs such as the Asus Transformer Prime that are able to transform from a tablet into an ultrabook and vice versa.

With Microsoft's tablet-optimized Windows 8 operating system looking set to be released in October, Intel is hoping to see its low-cost, low-power Clover Trail Atom processor used in over 20 new Windows 8 tablet designs.

Defined as a category of low-cost yet powerful laptops that are designed to be highly portable, ultrabooks look to be one of the main features at this year's IFA consumer electronics trade show in Germany.

Intel is expected to show off more than 60 ultrabook and 20 Windows 8 tablet PCs at IFA with partners including Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba.

"With visibility into this many designs, we are confident that we'll see $699 systems at retail this fall," added Otellini.