Intel partners ‘bold’ brands to take on Apple

The first of the chip maker’s announced partnerships is with W Hotels, which will see the two brands launch a film series produced by film director and screenwriter Roman Coppola and the Directors Bureau.

Aspiring filmmakers are invited to visit Intel’s “Four Stories” website to upload their screenplays for the chance to see it developed by Coppola into a 10-minute short. Coppola will also write and direct his own short film as part of the series.

Action in the films will be set in some of W Hotels’ luxury hotels in the Maldives, Doha, Singapore, Barcelona and Mexico City. The series will also be premiered at W Hotels worldwide.

Further brand partnerships with Intel will be announced over the coming months.

Intel is hoping that by partnering with brands in creative categories it will appeal to the consumers that usually opt for Apple Macs for their work and day to day use.

Johan Jervoe, Intel’s vice president for partner marketing, says: “Today we are in the midst of an evolution of the arts through the power of every day technology. A new generation of artists can bring film, music, design and art to life more easily because they no longer have to compromise. They can have one device, the Ultrabook, with both performance and portability, so they can readily share their creations at the touch of a keyboard button.”

Intel’s marketing push to back the Ultrabook category is its biggest in almost a decade. The company hopes that 40 per cent of the consumer laptop market segment will be Ultrabooks by the end of 2012.

Ultrabooks are smaller, more powerful notebook computers, with longer battery life than most traditional laptops.

Intel says it expects Ultrabook devices will be as transformational to mobile computing as Intel Centrino Mobile technology was more than eight years ago.