Intel launches Project Athena 'visual identifier'

Intel has officially unveiled a graphical identifier for laptops which have been verified through its Project Athena programme, though you won't find the name Athena anywhere: Instead, the label simply indicates the device is 'Engineered for Mobile Performance.'

Launched back in January and extended with the Project Athena Open Labs initiative in May, Project Athena is Intel's attempt to have more say over what goes into a laptop built around its processors. Under Project Athena, which builds upon the concepts introduced in the company's earlier Centrino and Ultrabook programmes, partners in the programme can sign up to have their designs validated in five key pillars including the requirement for up-to-date specifications, refreshed annually and to include user experience and benchmarking targets based on real-world usage models.

For end-users, however, it hasn't been clear how a Project Athena device will differ from any other laptop. Intel now has the answer: a visual identifier - which it has gone to some lengths to point out is not a badge nor a logo and will not replace its existing branding efforts - which can be applied to devices and marketing materials to showcase that they have been verified through the Project Athena programme, or as Intel would have it have been 'Engineered for Mobile Performance.'

'With Project Athena, we are fundamentally changing our approach to innovation by defining the programme and its methodologies through the lens of how people use their devices every day,' claims Josh Newman, Intel vice president and general manager of the PC Innovation Segments arm of the Client Computing Group. 'On-the-move, ambitious people turn to their laptops across every facet of their lives – work, home, and passion projects. "Engineered for Mobile Performance" refers to the high-quality experience consumers can expect from these laptops enabled by deep co-engineering from Intel and its partners.'

The identifier will be available only to those laptops which have been validated through Project Athena, Intel explains, which includes Dell's latest XPS 13 2-in-1 refresh plus upcoming devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung.