Acer, Dell, HP Roll Out New PCs Based on Intel Core vPro Family

If your customers have been waiting for PCs based on the 2010 Intel Core vPro processor family to release their pent-up demand and upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7, their wait is over.

Bring on the refresh cycle.

Intel has unveiled the processor family, and PC makers Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba are introducing business PCs based on the new technology.

Plus, managed services platform and other software providers such as Bomgar, Kaseya, LANDesk, Level Platforms, LogMeIn, Microsoft, RealVNC, Spiceworks, Symantec and WinZip will be including technologies that exploit the chip technology in their own software offerings.

“Businesses, particularly those that haven’t purchased PCs for several years, face a computing environment that no longer handles the applications many workers and IT are adopting,” said Rick Echevarria, vice president of Intel Architecture Group and general manager of the Business Client Platform Division, in a statement “The integration of intelligent performance along with smart security and cost-saving manageability features in the Intel Core vPro processor family provide IT and SMBs a no-compromise platform. We also are excited about how Intel vPro Technology gives IT the flexibility to look at client virtualization, consumerization and rich cloud applications.”

The new Core  i7 and Core i5 processor chips are based on Intel’s Nehalem architecture at the 32-nanometer process technology node. They also mark the first time that Intel has incorporated HD graphics in its processors. Further, Intel says that the technology relies on its second-generation high-k metal gate transistors to help improve computing speed and battery life.

Intel’s platform for the processors includes the new Intel Q57 Express chip set, new Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection for notebooks and Intel 82578DM Network Connection for desktop PCs.
           
Intel says that using standard benchmarks, a notebook with the 2010 Intel Core i5 vPro processor can run business productivity applications up to 80 percent faster and multiple applications up to twice as fast, and can protect confidential data up to 3.5 times quicker compared with a 3-year-old mainstream notebook.

The chips also include Intel Anti-Theft technology that locks PC access if a central server or built-in intelligence concludes the machine has been lost or stolen. The most recent version of the technology, 2.0, enables encryption solutions to disable access to cryptographic keys through hardware to completely block access to data and also make it easier to reactivate the PC once it’s back in the rightful hands, Intel said.

For IT administrators, the new Intel Keyboard-Video-Mouse remote control features work in conjunction with Intel integrated graphics that enable admins to see the users’ screens just as the users do and have full control of the PC, even if the operating system isn’t working.