SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 20, 2005–Today’s savvy vacationers are going high-tech to stay informed, in touch and entertained while on vacation. A recent survey of U.S. adult computer users, commissioned by Intel Corporation(R) and conducted by Harris Interactive(R), reveals that 34 percent of respondents or their families have taken a laptop PC with them on vacation(1) and half (51 percent) of all respondents are likely to take a laptop PC on a future vacation(2). Ahead of checking and sending work-related email (43 percent), the three most popular uses of a laptop PC for those who say they have taken one on vacation were checking personal e-mail (72 percent); enjoying entertainment such as movies, music and games (56 percent); and gathering trip information online (45 percent).

With a wireless-enabled laptop PC, such as those based on Intel Centrino(TM) mobile technology, travelers can surf the Web and connect to the Internet to do things such as check and send e-mail, download movies, play games and create a travel blog(a). All around the world, wireless "hotspots" are popping up at family-friendly vacation destinations and businesses, including:

– Nearly 1,000 Holiday Inn hotels in North America;

– More than 100 U.S. KOA campgrounds and 85 California state parks;

– Eleven commercial airlines that offer or plan to offer Connexion by Boeing(b) in-flight Internet access service, which is currently available on more than 100 routes daily to and from U.S. and international destinations;

– Cruise lines such as Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian and Princess;

– Grand Canyon and Yellowstone national parks;

– Tourist attractions such as Universal CityWalk Hollywood;

– Events such as the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, Calif. and Bumbershoot in Seattle; and

– More than 6,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world.

Analyst firm IDC estimates that there are likely to be more than 130,000 wireless hotspots worldwide by the end of 2005(3). Travelers can locate wireless hotspots using Intel’s hotspot finder at http://intel.jiwire.com.

"The survey results show that mobile technology is making it easy for travelers to research destinations, be entertained and stay in touch with family and friends while away from home," said Ralph Bond, Intel consumer education manager. "Whether it’s traveling retirees e-mailing their grandkids vacation notes and photos, families downloading movies and music to enjoy on the road, newlyweds creating Web logs of their honeymoon and reading reviews of romantic restaurants, or out-of-towners researching and buying tickets to local attractions and events, leisure travelers are finding laptop computers useful as all-in-one communication and entertainment devices."

Whether they have or have not taken a laptop on vacation, computer users would find laptop features specifically designed for mobility to be of value when vacationing. Survey respondents said long battery life (62 percent), lightweight design (58 percent) and the ability to surf the Internet wirelessly (55 percent) are the most valuable features of a laptop for vacation use.

Win a Laptop

Travelers can enter to win an Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop from Intel starting today and through the end of August at www.intel.com/go/travel(4). Intel Centrino mobile technology is designed to meet laptop users’ demands for outstanding mobile performance, great battery life, thin and light designs and integrated wireless networking capability.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

(1) "A Study about Laptops & Vacations," an Intel-sponsored online omnibus survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) in June 2005. Note: Based on the 2004 U.S. Census Current Population Survey, there are approximately 288 million people in the United States, of which about 214 million of them are adults ages 18 and older. Of those adults, a 2005 Harris Poll shows that 74 percent are online, which translates into 163 million people. The Harris Poll(R) was conducted by telephone by Harris Interactive in February and April 2005 among 2,022 U.S. adults aged 18+. Sampling error is +/-2 percentage points.

(2) Fifty-one percent of respondents indicated they are "very likely," "likely" or "somewhat likely" to take a laptop computer with them on a future vacation.

About the Survey

Harris Interactive(R) fielded the online survey on behalf of Intel between June 23 and 30, 2005 among a nationwide sample of 2,547 U.S. adult computer users aged 18 and older, of whom 911 have taken a laptop computer with them on vacation. The data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult computer user population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity and amount of time spent using a computer per week. Though this online sample is not a probability sample, in theory, with probability samples of this size, Harris Interactive estimates with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Sampling error for the results of those who have taken a laptop with them on vacation is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

(3) Source: IDC Worldwide Hotspot 2004-2008 Forecast and Analysis, Dec. 2004.

(4) Unwired Travel Sweepstakes: Prize drawing is open to legal residents of the U.S., 18 years or older at time of participation. Limit one entry per person. No purchase necessary. Void where restricted or prohibited by law. The Sweepstakes promotion begins July 20, 2005, at 8:00 am Pacific Daylight Time ("PDT") and ends Aug. 31, 2005, at 11:59:59 pm PDT (the "Promotion Period"). Winners will be determined in a random drawing conducted by an Intel representative on or about September 7, 2005. One (1) Intel(R) Centrino(TM) mobile technology based laptop (approximate value of $1500) will be awarded as the first prize and four (4) Mobile Entertainment Starter Kits (approximate value of $350 each) will be awarded as secondary prizes. Odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible entries received. Complete rules are available at http://www.intel.com/personal/wireless/contestrules.htm.

(a) Wireless connectivity and some features may require you to purchase additional software, services or external hardware. Availability of public wireless LAN access points limited and some hotspots may not support Linux-based Intel Centrino mobile technology systems. System performance measured by MobileMark(b) 2002. System performance, battery life, wireless performance and functionality will vary depending on your specific operating system, hardware and software configurations. See www.intel.com/products/centrino/more_info for more information.

Intel and Intel Centrino are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

(b) Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Our "office" in the Grenadines

This was our "office" during our week long sailing adventure in the Grenadines in June 2005. We propped our notebook computer on the cockpit table, plugged the cable to the sailboat’s system using an extension cord and were able to work while enjoying beautiful tropical views such as this. We had to clearout at meal times since it was dining table where we sat. When we arrived at an island we always had the option of connecting to the Internet for any urgent issues and the cell phones worked pretty well on the boat if we needed to reach anyone that way.

A recent trend that we have been seeing is for hotels that are not already wired for ethernet to join the high speed access club by adding a wireless network. At the Guanahani in St. Barts, you could get either one. Many older hotels and resorts with extensive grounds are settling for wireless only networks, while the ones that jumped early onto the ethernet bandwagon are often slow to add wireless to their offerings.

The power combo that we see being the ideal travel companions are the LinkSys router that Vonage gives you free for subscribing and the 3Com OfficeConnect wireless router. The LinkSys router can be used to connect to a hard wired network connection, and the 3Com goes nicely into one its ports to turn your hotel room wireless for those properties that don’t have it. For those properties that only supply wireless, the 3Com seems to be the only player in the market that offers a "client" mode that will connect to a wireless network and allow your LinkSys router to provide VoIP services even without a hardwired connection!

We can’t wait to try out this combo on our next trip.

View from our "office" during a visit to St. Barthelemy

This was the view from our "office" while we were in the picturesque island of St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. Thanks to modern technology, we were able to operate our computer from anywhere in our temporary home - Villa Bel’Ombre, through a high speed wireless Internet connection. A VoIP set up allowed us to connect seemlessly with the rest of the world from the comfort of the pool deck, dining room, living room, kitchen or bedrooms.

Wireless hot spot operator Boingo Wireless on Tuesday began offering dramatic discounts to users of Skype, an Internet telephony operator with tens of millions of users.

Boingo, founded by EarthLink creator Sky Dayton, makes available Wi-Fi technology to dispense high-speed Internet access. It’s currently used in about 18,000 locations. Skype is among the most popular providers of voice over Internet Protocol software for making inexpensive or free phone calls using the Internet.

Starting Tuesday, Skype users can now get unlimited access to Skype services within Boingo hot spots for $8 a month, or $3 for a two-hour connection. While use of the hot spots is restricted to Skype-only services, from Boingo’s perspective it’s a significant discount. Boingo typically charges $22 a month for unlimited use of its hot spots for any kind of Internet activity.

"We believe affordable broadband access is fundamental" to advance Internet telephony, said Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom.

The Skype-Boingo offering, for now, is only for devices using Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

"Partnering with Skype demonstrates the evolution of public-access Wi-Fi to include VoIP," said Boingo President David Hagan. "Voice has always been the killer app, but it’s moving away from traditional networks."