Friday, August 9th 2019
Intel Debuts Visual Identifier for Project Athena
Intel announced that laptops verified through its innovation program, code-named "Project Athena," will feature the visual identifier "Engineered for Mobile Performance." PC manufacturers and retailers can use the identifier across promotional activities and in-store and online retail environments to draw consumers to the laptops that meet the high standards of the program's target specification and key experience indicators (KEI).
The new identifier can be found for the first time today with the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, one of the initial systems verified through Project Athena and now available for U.S. customers to purchase from Dell.com. Over the coming weeks, the identifier will also be visible in marketing efforts for the HP Elitebook 1040 and HP Elitebook 830, which are also among the initial laptops verified through the program. Additional laptops are expected from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung for the holiday season.
"With Project Athena, we are fundamentally changing our approach to innovation by defining the program and its methodologies through the lens of how people use their devices every day. On-the-move, ambitious people turn to their laptops across every facet of their lives - work, home, and passion projects. 'Engineered for Mobile Performance' refers to the high-quality experience consumers can expect from these laptops enabled by deep co-engineering from Intel and its partners," said Josh Newman, Intel vice president and general manager of PC Innovation Segments in the Client Computing Group.
Project Athena is Intel's ambitious innovation program aimed at delivering a new class of advanced laptops that help people to focus, to be always ready and to adapt to different roles throughout the day. With support from more than 100 partners across the ecosystem, Intel's long-term commitment with Project Athena includes ongoing research to define new experience targets and product specifications, co-engineering support, innovation path-finding and joint marketing efforts. Through broad ecosystem collaboration, the program will drive innovation across the entire PC platform to create better experiences on the laptop and help people do the things that matter most to them.
Research suggests that consumers often rely on visual signals and retail displays to inform their buying decisions. Testing of the identifier and its messaging showed that it grabbed people's attention in stores and online and indicates how the laptops are the result of engineering collaborations specifically designed for on-the-go PC experiences.
In this first year of the program, the "Engineered for Mobile Performance" identifier indicates that the laptop has been co-engineered with Intel to meet the foundational KEIs of the program.
Laptops featuring the identifier will have passed the verification process, a robust and iterative process led by Intel engineers, that includes meeting specified platform requirements and KEI targets across six innovation vectors: instant action, performance and responsiveness, intelligence, battery life, connectivity and form factor.
The identifier can be used across PC manufacturer, retailer and other online listings and product detail pages, as well as on in-store display systems, demos and packaging. For applicable 10th Gen Intel Core processor-based systems, the designation will be used in conjunction with 10th Gen Intel Core processor badges.
For highlights of the 1.0 target specification and KEIs, see the Project Athena fact sheet. More than a dozen designs from PC manufacturers are expected to be aligned with the first target specification.
The new identifier can be found for the first time today with the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, one of the initial systems verified through Project Athena and now available for U.S. customers to purchase from Dell.com. Over the coming weeks, the identifier will also be visible in marketing efforts for the HP Elitebook 1040 and HP Elitebook 830, which are also among the initial laptops verified through the program. Additional laptops are expected from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung for the holiday season.
Project Athena is Intel's ambitious innovation program aimed at delivering a new class of advanced laptops that help people to focus, to be always ready and to adapt to different roles throughout the day. With support from more than 100 partners across the ecosystem, Intel's long-term commitment with Project Athena includes ongoing research to define new experience targets and product specifications, co-engineering support, innovation path-finding and joint marketing efforts. Through broad ecosystem collaboration, the program will drive innovation across the entire PC platform to create better experiences on the laptop and help people do the things that matter most to them.
Research suggests that consumers often rely on visual signals and retail displays to inform their buying decisions. Testing of the identifier and its messaging showed that it grabbed people's attention in stores and online and indicates how the laptops are the result of engineering collaborations specifically designed for on-the-go PC experiences.
In this first year of the program, the "Engineered for Mobile Performance" identifier indicates that the laptop has been co-engineered with Intel to meet the foundational KEIs of the program.
Laptops featuring the identifier will have passed the verification process, a robust and iterative process led by Intel engineers, that includes meeting specified platform requirements and KEI targets across six innovation vectors: instant action, performance and responsiveness, intelligence, battery life, connectivity and form factor.
The identifier can be used across PC manufacturer, retailer and other online listings and product detail pages, as well as on in-store display systems, demos and packaging. For applicable 10th Gen Intel Core processor-based systems, the designation will be used in conjunction with 10th Gen Intel Core processor badges.
For highlights of the 1.0 target specification and KEIs, see the Project Athena fact sheet. More than a dozen designs from PC manufacturers are expected to be aligned with the first target specification.
24 Comments on Intel Debuts Visual Identifier for Project Athena
Also, I loathe stickers all over my products and this is just one more sticker that I have to try and remove...
this just screams Intel is desperate and shouting gimmicks and the only monopoly they have left (mobile high end gaming) lol, it's sad in a way, I feel kind of bad for them, but then I remember the corporate shills...
Glad to be on the red team baby! Lisa Su!!!! rock on baby!!!
All of this "Engineered for Mobile Performance" boils down to Intel checking the spec sheet prior to product launch and checking whether it meets its own minimal requirements (e.g. 10th gen CPU, 8GB DDR4, NVME SSD etc) and that is pretty much it.
Their language on the official Pr. Athena page is kinda vague, and Intel is never forgetting to add subsection with things like "performance is not guaranteed", "may vary from product to product", "depends on the manufacturer" etc. Basically whatever I thought was Intel's target for managing and inspection turns out to be a "small footnote exempt".
Looks like this whole thing boils down to a useless and meaningless "Visual Identifier".
Also, no matter how much I like AMD, if I was getting a laptop in the near future it would definitely be a Project Athena one - that XPS 13 2-in-1 is pretty much my dream laptop. Thin and light, passable GPU for light gaming (think Rocket League) but still good battery, 16:10 display! (even if 3:2 would have been better), convertible with pen support, etc. If it had a ThinkPad keyboard with a trackpoint, I would be tempted to buy it even today.
I really, really hope AMD comes out swinging with its 4000-series mobile APUs - 7nm, Zen2, Navi up to ... 20 CUs? 16? More than 10, at least, and an LPDDR4X controller to match Intel's bandwidth. Until that arrives, this will be the laptop setup to get.
Intel presents a sticker…
That paragraph said absolutely nothing.
Project Athena, on the other hand, does nothing of the sort. They simply assume that all previous participants of Ultrabook program already know the rules (and will "grandfather" this into Athena), and all they have left is check the spec for upcoming products and possibly run a few tests on pre-release engineering samples, if they feel like it. Things like quality of components, properly designed PCB, endurance testing etc. is not the topic intel wants to be involved in, cause OEMs will do their own thing either way, sticker or no sticker. The only reason this program exists, is to have a label on the box which may potentially increase their mobile sales across all segments, and misinform people that any 10th gen SoC is better than any current alternatives, including their own 8th gen Core U/Y (which in reality only translates into better iGPU performance and nearly negligible CPU gains).
All requirements to qualify for the Project Athena program were detailed at Anandtech two months ago. Requirements are even stricter than the Ultrabook program.
Edit: more recent details in their Ice Lake architecture article. Summing it up:
Basically, it's going to be slapped on every laptop costing, I dunno, 550+ just as an attempt to sell the crap? Another sad move.
Now I can just say, if you can afford it, anything that says Athena on it, else no idea sorry man