Intel video series tempts users to try the Ultrabook model

A series of candid-camera-style challenges set up in several public places in Indonesia, Thailand and Australia are Intel's latest way of hyping the Ultrabook form factor.

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The company selected six themes for its Ultrabook Temptations campaign. Sample Ultrabooks were placed in well-traveled areas and instructions were provided to passers-by on how to win the computers for themselves.

The challenges ranged from comparatively easy -- break a pane of safety glass and take the Ultrabook -- to quite difficult. The latter category included a metal detector-powered scavenger hunt on Sydney's Bondi Beach and a hardest-punch competition in Thailand, adjudged by a pressure sensor. (Which flashed messages like "my grandmother hits harder" onto a nearby monitor in response to failed attempts.)

Any publicity Intel can gain for the Ultrabook is likely to be valuable, as the market for computing devices sized between smartphones and full-scale laptops is both poorly defined and highly competitive, featuring tablets and netbooks powered by a wide array of different chipsets. The popularity of ARM processors, specifically, represents a major challenge to the microchip giant's prospects in the sector.

Jon Gold is pretty sure he couldn't have won the hardest punch challenge without the aid of a pneumatic hammer. Email him at jgold@nww.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.

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