the European market, but this year there were a lot of global PC announcements as vendors were eager to get the word out on AI PCs, particularly after Computex in Taiwan a few months ago. We were excited to be on the ground in Berlin this month to catch the action.
Chip vendors led the charge, with Intel providing more details for Lunar Lake, now officially named Core Ultra 200V, with the “V” designating a premium against Meteor Lake. One of the most important details provided was around battery life, which looks more promising now than what was discussed at Computex. If real-world tests hold true when shipments commence later this year, Intel will be on better footing, especially given its competitive advantage with developers. Qualcomm didn’t stand by idly by though; it also released its lower-tier Snapdragon X Plus in both 8 and 10-core variants, allowing OEMs to target the US$700 range that Lunar Lake isn’t addressing yet.
With new chips comes new design wins with PC OEMs, who showcased boost your business with our doctor database an array of models, as well as a number of attention-grabbing concepts. My teammates Tom Mainelli and Linn Huang will be diving deeper into some of these developments in a dedicated report, but there were some high-level highlights, including some other devices at the end for good measure:
Lenovo introduced its Intel-exclusive Aura Edition products within the ThinkPad and Yoga lines, featuring Smart Modes that adapt device settings based on usage, Smart Share that leverages Intel’s Unison phone sharing, and Smart Care that provides a nice feed into Lenovo’s services arm. Lenovo separately talked up its AI PC Fast Start, which is not about boot speeds like the name might suggest, but instead, a lifecycle service to help organizations deploy AI. What might have garnered the most attention though – and such differentiation is important in such a crowded week of launches – was Lenovo’s voice-driven Auto Twist AI PC, which was a concept only but nonetheless elicited oohs-and-ahs.