Windows 8.1 added support for Miracast wireless display in the OS. I have a Gen 1 Surface Pro. With that said, I'd still rather see Intel WiFi in the Surface Pro.
It is nice to see the wireless docking, but Intel hasn't committed to making their own dock. This means we're at the mercy of manufacturers to make a decent product.
What does the vPro chipset actually do with the SSD? For the life of me I can't see a reason to buy those Pro drives.
Maybe. But I suspect the power supply will double as a USB 3.1 hub and maybe include stuff like a wired network port or a DisplayPort link. The base model will probably just have the hub and the docking ports will be an optional upgrade purchase. They could still support the wireless docking but the PSU/hub would be needed anyway.
Will enabling the 60GHz mode for wireless docking need any extra hardware (eg more/different antennas) or is it a completely free addition with vPro chips?
The ability to connect to a dock is a major quality of life advantage in using a laptop as a desktop replacement because everything (Power, external displays, USB, audio) is connected in a single action. If Intel's solution is free or nearly so, it might escape from a handful of business class laptops to wider variety of higher end consumer models.
The only silliness is that 99% of "docked" use includes plugging it in to charge the battery. If you're going to have it connected for power, why not use whatever that connection is for everything else?
A dedicated docking port (as my HP at work has,) that you just drop the computer down on the dock is good. A single-cable connection (like USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt+power) would be fine, too.
This would only be useful if wireless charging at laptop power levels becomes useful, too. Just plop your laptop down NEAR the dock. Of course, I also like the satisfying "detach" mechanism to ensure my laptop stops using the external monitors and goes to sleep. You'd have to make it a pretty tight range for charging/"docked" status. I would want it to charge/"dock" from a few locations on my desk, but not have it be so far that if I walk even three feet from my desk it would still be showing on my displays.
Pretty sweet!! Intel will invent a great cool technology that Apple will rebrand and make cool! And of course the PC manufacturers will do what they can to insure it works like crap on PC, just like they did with WiDi. Can't wait to see how cool this will be on the MacBook Air!
Not really savvy on this sort of stuff, but shouldn't AMD somewhat follow this strategy but making CPUs specially dedicated to gaming/multimedia production with more on-chip functions serving higher framerates/DSP functions, I mean their A-xx APUs look like they are trying something like that, but under powered GPUs don't really serve any purpose other than web games and multimedia (I have an A-8 as my media centerpiece) and lets face it, for general use Intel CPUs are more than up to those tasks so their APUs, I think, don't really bring anything to the table other than being a little bit cheaper.
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Gunbuster - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
Are you reading this Microsoft? Throw the Marvell AVASTAR in the trash and use 100% intel in the next Surface Pro.nathanddrews - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
I'm digging the WiDi multicast feature.nathanddrews - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
D'oh! that's supposed to be its own comment. :-|eanazag - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
Windows 8.1 added support for Miracast wireless display in the OS. I have a Gen 1 Surface Pro. With that said, I'd still rather see Intel WiFi in the Surface Pro.It is nice to see the wireless docking, but Intel hasn't committed to making their own dock. This means we're at the mercy of manufacturers to make a decent product.
What does the vPro chipset actually do with the SSD? For the life of me I can't see a reason to buy those Pro drives.
damianrobertjones - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
+1. Far too many wireless issues reportedRogerShepherd - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
Maybe we now know why the next Apple MacBook Air will have only one wired port?epobirs - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
Maybe. But I suspect the power supply will double as a USB 3.1 hub and maybe include stuff like a wired network port or a DisplayPort link. The base model will probably just have the hub and the docking ports will be an optional upgrade purchase. They could still support the wireless docking but the PSU/hub would be needed anyway.DanNeely - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
Will enabling the 60GHz mode for wireless docking need any extra hardware (eg more/different antennas) or is it a completely free addition with vPro chips?The ability to connect to a dock is a major quality of life advantage in using a laptop as a desktop replacement because everything (Power, external displays, USB, audio) is connected in a single action. If Intel's solution is free or nearly so, it might escape from a handful of business class laptops to wider variety of higher end consumer models.
extide - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
You would need an 802.11ad compatible wireless adapter.peevee - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
So, which displays support Intel Wireless Docking?personne - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
Not a peep about the security issues inherent in vPro's black box, multi vendor approach? Surprising for a critical site.CharonPDX - Monday, February 2, 2015 - link
The only silliness is that 99% of "docked" use includes plugging it in to charge the battery. If you're going to have it connected for power, why not use whatever that connection is for everything else?A dedicated docking port (as my HP at work has,) that you just drop the computer down on the dock is good. A single-cable connection (like USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt+power) would be fine, too.
This would only be useful if wireless charging at laptop power levels becomes useful, too. Just plop your laptop down NEAR the dock. Of course, I also like the satisfying "detach" mechanism to ensure my laptop stops using the external monitors and goes to sleep. You'd have to make it a pretty tight range for charging/"docked" status. I would want it to charge/"dock" from a few locations on my desk, but not have it be so far that if I walk even three feet from my desk it would still be showing on my displays.
Shiitaki - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
Pretty sweet!! Intel will invent a great cool technology that Apple will rebrand and make cool! And of course the PC manufacturers will do what they can to insure it works like crap on PC, just like they did with WiDi. Can't wait to see how cool this will be on the MacBook Air!Nheco - Friday, February 6, 2015 - link
Not really savvy on this sort of stuff, but shouldn't AMD somewhat follow this strategy but making CPUs specially dedicated to gaming/multimedia production with more on-chip functions serving higher framerates/DSP functions, I mean their A-xx APUs look like they are trying something like that, but under powered GPUs don't really serve any purpose other than web games and multimedia (I have an A-8 as my media centerpiece) and lets face it, for general use Intel CPUs are more than up to those tasks so their APUs, I think, don't really bring anything to the table other than being a little bit cheaper.