Tablet PCs, which the Florence prototype is loosely based on, are carving out a niche among the smallest and lightest notebooks. Most of the devices allow the input of data with a stylus in addition to or instead of a keyboard. But the machines still serve a fairly limited number of customers compared with the overall size of the notebook market. Increasing the functionality of notebooks could help improve sales by giving customers more reasons to upgrade. People who might not necessarily need a new PC might consider a Florence-style machine either because it's more useful to them or because they might find its design irresistible. "What Intel and other PC vendors are tying to accomplish is to create new usage models for PCs...with designs that extend the capabilities of the PC -- either at work or in the home," said Alan Promisel, an analyst with IDC. "Ultimately, they are trying to create demand in a segment that right now is somewhat sluggish...and reinvigorate overall sales, recreating that boom that we saw in 1998 and 1999." For the most part, Intel doesn't directly benefit from creating PC concepts. The company uses prototypes mainly to glean ideas on future demands that might be placed on its chips from its prototypes, Oakley said. "Doing these kinds of concepts kind of pulls the technology along," he said. Florence was created by Intel's Mobile Architecture Lab. The lab is part of Intel's larger Mobile Platforms Group, which is responsible for creating new mobile products. The lab creates many new designs on paper each year, but constructs only a few prototypes. It created three prototypes last year, for example, including Newport, which was designed to demonstrate what a Centrino notebook might look like in 2004. Many Intel prototypes are viewed only internally by the company or shared with outside computer manufacturers and designers that have partnered with Intel. However, the chipmaker plans to show Florence publicly several times later in the year, a company representative said.
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