Image courtesy of Intel

Intel's Mooly Eden shows off the newest version of its Ultrabook, based on Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system.

Intel drew gasps and "Wows" from a crowd of jaded tech journalists on Monday (1/9) as it demonstrated a concept laptop computer, code-named “Nikiski,” at a crowded press conference.

Part tablet, part a reimagining of the traditional "clamshell" laptop, it was a major step into the design arena where Apple has been virtually unchallanged for several years. It takes the Ultrabook concept formally introduced by Intel last June – a slim, powerful lightweight laptop seen by some as a me-too reaction to the ultra-thin MacBook Air – and transforms it into a wildly different system.

As presented by Mooly Eden (see video below), Intel VP and general manager of the company’s PC client group, the Nikiski clamshell notebook looks familiar when it is opened up except for a screen that stretches horizontally across roughly 25 percent of the keyboard area. The screen doubles as a touchpad. Built on Microsoft Corp.’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system, the laptop’s main screen displays the tiled concept that will become the new face of all Microsoft products from computers to mobile phones to its Xbox gaming system.

It’s when the laptop closes – and that horizontal touchpad appears as a wide, transparent strip on the front cover – that the demonstration unit shines: displaying the Windows 8 tiles in full color, and containing dates, appointments and other pertinent information that would normally appear only if the computer were turned on and fully awake.

Moreover, the unit can operate as a clamshell computer, or the keyboard can slide out similar to the way that cell phones have slide-out keyboards. Little wonder that Eden labeled the concept a “slider.”

No matter what form the concept takes as a finished product, Intel seems to have reimagined the laptop form factor: using the cover essentially as a separate information access point with the turn-on time of a tablet. This is not the first time that LED displays with information have appeared on the exterior of a computer, according to some, nor has it been sucessfully marketed before; but this implementation is striking. With the added integration of Windows 8 and its tiled approach to user-friendly information, this is innovation that can stand on its own two feet -- not as an Apple follow-on.

According to Eden, the company felt it could do more with the Ultrabook concept because now there are powerful enough chips, such as Intel’s own Sandy Bridge dual core processor -- designed for new-generation mobile devices, laptop and desktop computers to take ideas previously reserved for the lab and apply them to more practical uses. The company also found it necessary to review and revise virtually every piece of processing hardware plus reduce power usage and, by proxy, reducing heat generation.

Intel is also looking at other possibilities including natural voice recognition that would exclude the necessity for a headset/microphone, and gesture recognition (shades of Microsoft’s Kinect system for the Xbox!). Neither development was directly tied to the Nikiski demonstration.

What is most important, however, is that Intel has introduced a concept that is more than cosmetic, more than a new color computer cover or yet another faster processer.

Here's a video from Eden's CES press conference, where he displayed the Nikiski device. Skip to the 2:00 mark for the Windows 8 segment and the 3:00 mark for the transparent touchpad.

SKIP FERDERBER is writing for TechFlash.com from CES and can be reached at sferderber@gmail.com.