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Apple may have the edge when it comes to ultrathin laptops with their MacBook Airs, but I do not expect the status quo to remain for very long. Samsung already has its Series 9 laptops competing with the MacBook Airs – at least in concept, if not yet in sales and demand.

Now Hewlett Packard is going on the offensive as well with its Ultrabook laptops, which are supposed to come out soon. How soon exactly remains a question.

So what in the world is an ultrabook? To be honest, as much as I love gadgets – laptops included, of course – all these terms are starting to get on my nerves. Can you just imagine the average person without much tech knowledge wanting to buy a laptop? Netbook, notebook, Ultrabook, Elitebook, etc. – that list could go on and give someone a headache!

Anyhow, having had that mini-rant, I’ll go ahead and define Ultrabook. I like how CNET simplifies matters: “What is an Ultrabook? In a word, thin.”¹

So basically, the MacBook Airs and whatever other laptops with similar form factors are considered Ultrabooks. Another way to look at it – laptop with features similar to tablets and with a design that is thin and light. We can all blame Intel for this term, as the company is the driving force behind its use. It has even issued guidelines regarding the use of the term and the general specs for this class of laptops.

Going back to HP’s Ultrabook…while there seems to be concrete evidence that the company will be launching at least two Ultrabooks, there isn’t much information to be found right now. All we know are the details for Ultrabooks in general – a maximum thickness of 20 millimeters (0.8 inches); a solid state drive; efficient power consumption; and hopefully, a reasonable price. Although what is reasonable will vary from one person to the next, Intel’s guidelines for this class of laptops states that the price should be less than $1,000. That is definitely a plus for Ultrabooks.

Oh, and there is a little bit more information about HP’s Ultrabooks – they are probably going to use Intel’s Core i7-2677M (1.8GHz) and i7-2637M (1.7GHz) dual-core CPUs.² No surprise there.

What do you think about the Ultrabook concept?

1. Source
2. DigiTimes

Samsung Series 9 Laptop

The other day, I was walking around the mall when a huge display caught my eye in what usually is an open space. Samsung was holding a special exhibit, and special it was! The Series 9 laptops have been the talk of the town for a while now, although I don’t know too many people getting their hands on one. It seems, though, that Samsung has struck gold with this series, making their thin laptops a feasible alternative to Apple’s MacBook Airs. And if expanding the line is anything to go by, then Samsung has really done a good job with the initial offerings.

The news is that there are new 13.3-inch versions which are part of the Series 9 laptops. First comes the NP900X3A-B01US, which comes with an Core i5-2467M CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive. This configuration will cost you a nice $1,349.

If the 128GB storage is not enough for you (understandably, if the laptop is going to be your main computer, that storage space needs to be bumped up), then the next model might be more to your liking – the NP900X3A-B02US. It has similar specs to the previous laptop, except that the SSD is 256GB. The price tag for this configuration is $1,649.

Now for the big boy – the NP900X3A-A05US. This laptop has a Core i7-2617M, 6GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD – all for $2,049.

Of course, it is to be expected that the additions to the line up includes smaller sized laptops. The Samsung Series 9 is also welcoming two new laptops in the 11-inch models. The NP900X1B-A02US has a Core i3-2357M processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. The price is $1,049.

The other option is the NP900X3A-A01US, with the same processor as above, but more RAM at 4GB and more storage space at 128GB (SSD as well). This is priced at $1,249.

My first thoughts – beautifully sleek, but disappointingly pricey. Why would I want to go for these laptops if they are not way cheaper than the MacBook Airs? Then again, for people who want the look without leaving Windows, these laptops are perfect. Another thing going for these laptops is the material used to make the case – duralumin, which is supposed to be twice as strong as aluminum.

Watch out for their release next month, although I hear some stores are already offering them on a pre-order basis.

Via

Anybody know what this is? It looks pretty neat. This looks like an unidentified slate-style MID running Android. Honestly, it looks really beautiful and it’s like an overgrown iPod touch.

See for yourself:

Some names have been floating around for this device. It’s been called the Apple inetbook, the android iMid, and most recently the Android MID. I mean, I don’t know what it really is, but whoever developed this great MID should finally come out and make us want it right away.

But honestly, I was thinking of the Crunchpad when I first saw it. We can only speculate.

Imagine travelling with this baby, guys. Imagine how light that is. Imagine how easy it is to carry around and the envious glances you’ll be getting.

The company acknowledges that the netbook segment is enjoying great sales and is expected to still grow this year. But Intel also believes that by 2010 and beyond, the traditional laptop market will make a stronger impact and go back to double digit growth rates. Although the key to success will lie on how the laptops will be designed and marketed. This opinion was based on an Intel study conducted in 2008 which showed that only 11.6 percent would take their laptop outside. But 23 percent would consider lugging around an ultraportable device.

Intel said that it firmly believes that it can create new device category where what it calls as ultra thin laptops will be lumped with.

The new version, although basically identical to the first generation model, will now have WiMax capability as one of its upgrades. Users can also put a 3G card to the unit. Other additions include a bigger storage space at 160GB. All other features are similar like the 10-inch display, 1.6Ghz Atom processor, a 4-in-1 card reader as well as connectivity for a mouse.

MSI will show the new Wind at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The consumer electronics company has produced laptops before but never for North America so this is potentially a big move for the company.

Among the new laptops that Samsung has announced is its netbook, the NC10, that hopes to compete with the MSI Wind and the Lenovo Ideapad S10. The NC10 has a 160gb HD, a 10-inch screen, 6-cell battery and an Intel Atom processor.

The Magellan computer began deployment last month in Portugal’s schools. The objective is to distribute a total of 500,000 laptops that cost only 50 euros to school children, their homes and eventually even export it to Africa and Latin America.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, officially introduced the Suite Magellan that will be bundled with the laptops. The package includes Windows XP and Home, a number of development applications, as well as free email and messaging functions.

ASUS has announced that it will be adding HSUPA 3.75G technology to the Eee line beginning October. The first product that will get the new tech is the Eee PC 901. Although no price was announced for this new iteration, the 901 will be available in both black and white. There were also no announcements whether the 901 will be partnered with any wireless supplier.

The 901′s specifications include an 8.9 inch display, Intel Atom processor, 1gb of memory, 802.11/b/g/n, bluetooth and Windows XP Home. The 901 will have a 16Gb SSD as well as 20gb of free online storage.

The X110 Momo has specs that are very identical to products already available in the market — 1.6Ghz Atom processor, Windows Home Basic, 1.3 megapixel webcam, bluetoot and SD card reader. It will also sport a 10-inch screen. Available colors are black, silver and pink.

LG has yet to announce when it will be released but it will most probably be unveiled before the year ends.

The Dell UMPC, otherwise called the Inspiron Mini, will have a 16gb SSD and an Intel integrated video solution that can be bumped up to 8mh of shared memory. This will result in a resolution of 1024 x 600 over an 8.9″ screen. The PC will also have a 1.3 megapixel web camera.

The Inspiron Mini will offer both Linux and Windows XP version. Finally, it will also have a 512mb RAM that can be upgraded up to 1GB, and an Intel Atom processor that runs at 1.6Ghz.

No price points have been announced yet though.