Intel has unveiled plans for a low-cost notebook personal computer platform designed for university students in the mainland, code-named 'Tanggula'.
The platform, which seeks to bolster Intel's Pentium processor and its Centrino mobile platform against competing formats in China, would be made available exclusively to mainland university computer users and their parents through a number of Chinese computer makers in the second half.
Intel vice-president Stacy Smith said the introduction was part of the firm's Mobile Initiative for Learning in Education, launched last year in conjunction with more than 100 participating mainland universities.
'The new notebook platform will be stylish and lightweight, and will come in a range of affordable performance and entry-level designs for students and their parents,' Mr Smith told the South China Morning Post.
Mainland original equipment manufacturers would determine which operating system would be used and local pricing, he said.
Gartner's Asia-Pacific research director Dion Wiggins said: 'Any initiative that offers lower-cost computing systems to emerging markets is valuable.'
