Windows 8 Ultrabooks with touchscreens a possibility

Once Windows 8 releases mid to late 2012, Ultrabooks are expected to follow suit by including the new OS by default. What’s more surprising is that Intel may be testing Windows 8 Ultrabooks with touchscreens as potential products.

“Staring with Windows 8, you have a mainstream operating system incorporating touch,” said Intel CEO Paul Otellini as reported on CNet. “When users see that new Windows interface, they’re going to want to touch it. If the screen does nothing, you have disappointed [the] cussumer.”

The big question is how Intel plans to incorporate touch-based technology while keeping Ultrabook prices low. Current Ultrabooks are already having trouble retailing for less than $1000, so the addition of a touchscreen monitor will add to overall costs and make that $699 target price point even more difficult.

“To do that, we have to get touch to a lower cost,” CNet quotes. “The iPad and the iPhone have made touch a paradigm.”

With that quote in mind, we may begin to see Intel investing heavily on less expensive touch-based screens and interfaces as part of the $300 million investment from earlier this year. Indeed, a thin Ultrabook with touchscreen capabilities at reasonable prices could make them more appealing overall than dedicated tablets.

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