Qualcomm chips to steal ultrabook thunder?

PC World writes.

The S4 chips will go into laptops that are thinner and lighter than Apple's MacBook Air or today's ultrabooks, according to Rob Chandhok, senior VP at Qualcomm.

Chandhok pointed out that the line between high-end smartphones and laptops has started to blur, with handsets offering more power and bigger screens, CNET reports.

The company has shipped to developers some prototype Windows 8 PCs equipped with Snapdragon chips. The smartbooks are expected to go on sale in the second half of this year.

According to Tech Radar, the quad-core S4 will use a 28-nanometer process, which promises to improve performance while increasing battery life.

It signals the blurring of boundaries between chips for mobile devices and chips for computers, with the quad-core S4 promising smaller laptops with longer battery life.