Intel unveiled a stunning ultrabook-tablet hybrid called 'Cove Point' at IDF 2012 in Beijing. The device was seen running the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, though there's no word on availability.

Ultrabooks are designed to be super-thin and super-light. They dominated the Consumer Electronics Shows this year, though more hybrid designs are being unveiled now.

The latest is Intel's Letexo, or "Cove Point" as it is now known, that combines a tablet and laptop.

"When we started talking about ultrabooks last year, we talked about different form factors, and touch and convertibles. This has been an evolution over time. Ultrabooks were never meant to be just clamshell design," Gary Richman, Director of Marketing for Intel's PC Client Solutions Division, said to Wired Magazine.

Cove Point is a tablet when closed, with the keyboard resting behind the display. Pushing the screen forward reveals the keyboard, with the screen resting against a kickstand.

Intel showed Cove Point running on a sample of the upcoming Ivy Bridge CPU. The device has a 12.5-inch screen, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port with a red-on-black bezel. It will run Windows 8, which releases later this year. So the hybrid design should work well with the desktop and Metro sides of the upcoming OS.

Richman said Intel wanted to use touch and a strong notebook design concurrently.

"Where we see the future of computing going, with tablets and Windows 8, is the importance of the touch experience. [W]e were looking to the define the compelling form factors, usages and benefits of having a notebook design, while taking advantage of the touch experience in Windows 8," Richman added.

There's no confirmed price or release date, or even though the device will definitely come to market, Richman said that it would cost around $1,000 with its current specification. He didn't say whether that was manufacturing cost or the purchase price, so it's a case of wait and see for now.

See a glimpse of the device from IDF 2012 in the YouTube video below, at around the 1:10 mark.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)