Intel Providing $300 Million Ultrabook Investment Fund

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There are folks out there (yours truly among them) who have been clamoring for a MacBook Air-style PC running Windows. Intel’s new Ultrabook form factor may be the best chance yet we have at a real Windows MBA competitor, and it looks like Intel is greasing the gears with money in order to get them coming. We had previously reported that Intel was providing PC manufacturers with cash in order to get the Ultrabook train moving, but now we have a figure amount. $300 million.

Intel announced via a press release this week that they were providing $300 million in capital to a new “Intel Ultrabook Fund,” which they claim will “help accelerate the next revolution of personal computing.” They say that the fund will invest in technologies that will be used in light computing and beyond. Things like battery technology, screen technology and design technology will be invested in.

In addition to the investments made at the technological innovation level, Intel also says that they’re working with PC manufacturers closely to bring Ultrabook PCs to market as close as possible. Intel has unveiled three different phases of Ultrabook processors:

• Sandy Bridge – out now
• Ivy Bridge – scheduled for H1 2012
• Haswell – scheduled for 2013

Each new generation of processors is supposed to be faster, with less power consumption and heat generation, which makes them better for the Ultrabook format.

Intel popularized built-in WiFi in laptops when they introduced the first Centrino mobile processor. Will Sandy Bridge and beyond make the ultra-thin laptops the future of laptop computers? Time, as always, will tell. While some say that we’ll see Ultrabook PCs before the end of the year, there’s been debates over if they will be priced at under or over the almighty $1,000 price point (which is where the MacBook Air starts).