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Intel Bets Big On 'Ultrabooks,' To Launch Biggest Ad Campaign Since '03

SANTA CLARA (CBS / AP) -- Intel Corp. announced Monday that it is betting big on its "ultrabook" concept with its largest advertising campaign since 2003.

The campaign to push the new thinner and lighter notebook computers will start in April, said Kevin Sellers, Intel's head of advertising.

Sellers didn't indicate how much Santa Clara-based Intel would spend on the ads and other initiatives when he spoke to the press ahead of the opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Intel hasn't planned a launch this big since the company introduced Centrino chips for Wi-fi-capable laptops eight years ago.

Though it chiefly makes processors, Intel often prods PC makers to build their products in certain ways. The "ultrabooks" are similar to Apple's MacBook Air, which launched three years ago. PC makers have responded well to the ultrabook idea, and Intel said there are 75 models on the way. The Consumer Electronics Association expects 30 to 50 ultrabook models to be on display at CES.

More news was expected out of Intel on Tuesday, when CEO Paul Otellini speaks at the Vegas show. Intel watchers expect that the news will have something to do with the company's long-standing ambition to get its chips into smartphones.

(© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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