vlady: Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011 (update: video!)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011 (update: video!)

Guess what, Wintel loyalists? "Apple's" Thunderbolt I/O port is coming your way. If you'll recall, Thunderbolt was actually built with Intel's collaboration (Light Peak, anyone?), and sensibly, the chip giant is now making it possible for the port to appear on non-Mac machines. The news was just broken here at IDF, where a Haswell-based machine was briefly teased with a heretofore unpossible T-bolt port. Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, was on-stage to showcase six pre-production Ultrabook designs (all based on 3rd generation Intel Core processors), but stopped short of telling us exactly when the Thunderbolt I/O port would make its debut on ~~commercially available rigs~~ (Acer and ASUS are onboard for a 2012 launch!). Naturally, we're hoping it's sooner (tomorrow) rather than later (the 2013 launch of Haswell).

Update: Video of the unveiling is now embedded after the break!

Gallery: Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011