Tag: Ultrabooks
Samsung Series 5 Windows 8 Ultrabook
With Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS expected to launch in a few months, PC vendors are preparing a number of devices to take advantage of the touch-based Metro interface. Asus is going with its Transformer-style detachable screen, while others such as Samsung and Lenovo have convertible Notebook-cum-tablet hybrids in mind.
Dell: XPS 13 Ultrabook exceeds sales expectations
The XPS 13 Ultrabook is selling well above expectations, a Dell executive told CNET this week, offering some hope for the new class of skinny Laptops.
“We can’t build enough of them at the moment,” said Sam Burd, vice president of Dell’s Consumer and SMB (small and medium business) product group, speaking about the higher-end laptop announced back in January.
“A little bit less than 3X the expected demand,” he said. Burd declined to be more specific, saying Dell “never” discloses numbers. Read more »
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook
First Windows 8 tablet Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
What could be the first Windows 8 tablet has a price tag. We hope you’re not standing on your head right now, because the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga will cost £1,200, the company has revealed.
The Yoga is an Ultrabook laptop with a folding screen that bends over backwards to turn the whole thing into a tablet, like the Asus Eee PC T101MT. It’s powered by Windows 8, the next generation of Microsoft’s venerable operating system which will run both computers and tablets. The basic model costs £1,200, and a more powerful Core i7 model costs an even more kundalini-disturbing £1,500.
Intel SSD to boost Windows 8 boot, wake times
New Intel solid-state drives are aimed at boosting Windows startup and wake times, making them a hardware feature that will be especially applicable to Windows 8.
The Intel SSD 313 Series offers what is in effect a solid-state drive cache, increasing the “responsiveness” of PCs that are based on hard disk drives — that being a word Intel and Microsoft throw around a lot these days.
Responsiveness is code for the kind of instant-on experience you get on a tablet or smartphone. Read more »
Intel Ultrabooks need displays like the MacBook
For Ultrabooks to succeed, the display needs to be as good as a MacBook or iPad.
A lower quality display can be a deal breaker for consumers in the age of the iPad, which boasts a high-quality, high-resolution in-plane switching (IPS) display.
IPS typically offers better viewing angles and better contrast than the screens used on most ultrabooks today.
This shortcoming has become apparent in more than a fewreviews of the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook, which in almost every other respect is generally considered an excellent design. (Another review here focuses on the XPS’ display.) Read more »
Intel Windows 8 Ultrabooks: Better Than MacBook?
With Intel’s latest silicon due soon, the chipmaker is cranking up the marketing volume for Ultrabooks, saying the skinny Laptops usher in a “a new era of computing.”
The marketing campaign launched this week is the biggest in about a decade, spanning television, online, and print ads, the company said today. And Intel is putting its proverbial money where its mouth is.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be allocated for the “largest marketing spend for the company since launching Intel Centrino in 2003,” Intel said in a statement. (See first TV ad below.) Read more »
Intel: Windows 8 to drive laptops with touch screens
Intel is betting on the Metro interface in Windows 8 to help drive the production of Laptops with touch screens.
The Metro interface in Windows 8 is a unique departure for Microsoft, and garners a strong reaction from those who try it. The interface consisting of colorful tiles is tailor-made for touch operation, and both Microsoft and Intel are expecting lots of tablets to hit the market.
Tablets are not the only focus for Windows 8 according to Intel. The company expects to see laptops appearing in numbers with touch screens to take advantage of the Metro interface. Intel is even recommending its partners consider building them to fully leverage the new Windows 8 user experience. Read more »
What Will Windows 8 Touchscreen Laptops Look Like?
Windows 8’s touch-centric interface will help to usher in a new wave of Laptops with tabletlike touchscreens. To make it easier for users to tap and swipe on even superthin Ultrabooks, laptop makers will break out of the traditional clamshell shape and introduce laptops with more unusual designs.
What will these new Windows 8 hybrid laptops look like? The new operating system will make rotating, sliding, and flipping possible on Windows laptops. Here are a few examples of existing hardware designs that offer a taste of what a laptop with Windows 8 capabilities could do. Read more »
Windows 8 laptops more ultra than an ultrabook?
Imagine a quad-core Windows 8 laptop as light as a tablet. Enticing — but first let’s see if commercial designs actually appear from top-tier device makers.
Can a quad-core Windows 8 laptop be as thin as an iPad? That’s the design Qualcomm is aiming for. But we’ve heard this story before.
The San Diego-based chip supplier anticipates superthin Laptops running Windows 8 on top of its Snapdragon chips, according to a report in PC World. Read more »
