With ARM gearing up to enter the world of Windows later in 2012 when Windows 8 launches, Intel is preparing its own battle plans to compete with this new threat to its Windows PC dominance. The plan here is to push Ultrabooks into the minds and heart of consumers, something that hasn't been working very well since the company first announced the very first Ultrabook laptop two years ago.

The main reason why Ultrabooks find it so hard to take off is the prohibitive price. The cheapest Ultrabook today is priced at $800, which is very expensive when you take into consideration the size of the machine. Intel plans to combat this with 75 new Ultrabook designs along with a new price point set at $699. The company hopes to have this done in time for back to school this year, but would a $699 price point be enough to compete with upcoming ARM based devices which are expected to compete on the cheap? We doubt it - Intel would need to do more than this.

Since the announcement of Ultrabooks, 21 devices have made it to store shelves so far. While sales have been underwhelming, Intel is holding its ground in hopes to get Ultrabooks at the right price point for them to go mass market.

General Manager for Intel's PC client group Kirk Skaugen had this to say:

"Intel plans to ensure ultrabooks have a consistent experience. And if it's too thick it won't be called an ultrabook.

"It won't be allowed to be called an ultrabook because ultrabook is a trademark of Intel and we can protect the trademark."

We totally agree here with Skaugen. If an Ultrabook is not thin, then this device does not warrant to be called as such. However, can manufactures keep devices thin while keeping the price at $699? Time will tell when the first batch of devices launches before back to school.

Meanwhile, there is one Ultrabook we are extremely excited about, and that is the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga. This beauty is a lot like the Dell Inspiron Duo which can be transformed into a tablet by bending the screen backwards then folding. This device will launch soon with Windows 8 installed. Hopefully the price won't be out of this world.

(reported by Vamien MacKalin, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)