Intel hasn't given up on the desktop PC

(Photo: Intel Corporation)At Intel's '2-in-1 Computing Experience' Computex press conference, Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group holds up the module which will become an integrated 3-D depth camera in Ultrabook 2-in-1s, all-in-ones, laptops and desktops starting in 2014

Intel vice president Lisa Graff said the desktop PC isn't going away. Intel is rethinking of reinventing the desktop to make it portable, either through new iterations of its Next Unit of Computing (the NUC) or portable all-in-ones (AIOs) like Black Brook.

Black Brook is a portable all-in-one PC that will use the upcoming, next-generation of Core architecture named Broadwell.

Intel's idea is that eventually the desktop "will get so small that it disappears," Graff said. "We're reinventing the home theater PC, it tucks behind your TV… you just won't see it anymore," she said.

Black Brook is essentially a large all-in-one PC, but it can be taken back and forth from room to room. That PC will include a handle, Graff said. Intel has shown off a Black Brook that includes its new RealSense 3D camera and dual microphones for improved audio.

Analysts noted that the desktop PC market has evolved into something far different than what it was just five years ago. Towers have evolved into mini PCs and AIOs and business PCs are becoming more important.

(Credit: Intel Corporation)Intel Corporation Vice President Lisa Graff.

Graff said Intel's new chips include an "unlocked" fourth-generation Core processor, code-named Devil's Canyon; a new Extreme Edition part; and an "anniversary edition" Pentium processor.

Intel has pushed ahead with a new Extreme Edition chip for gamers. All three of the new chips Graff announced are unlocked, meaning Intel will allow buyers of the chips to dial up their clock frequency to gain extra performance, provided that the processors themselves are adequately cooled.

Intel will also unveil an improved fourth-generation Haswell Core processor with an improved thermal interface and packaging. The Devil's Canyon chip will be launched in mid-2014, Graff said.

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