ultrabooks

This episode, the Google/Motorola deal is the big news of the day, but we also delve into the murky world of Intel's Ultrabook concept, as well as some MIA Samsung laptops. Also--a quick rundown of the biggest, baddest 18-inch gaming laptop ever, and a chance to pick up a sweet Call of Duty T-shirt, just by commenting on our Facebook page.

Bonus: Download the show's jaunty theme song as a free MP3 here.

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With Intel now kicking in $300 million to partner with PC makers on its ultrabook concept, one has to ask whether this purported revolution in mobile computing is on shaky ground. After all, representatives of several of the major computer companies could barely stifle a yawn when I've asked them (both pre- and post-$300,000,000) about their plans for, or enthusiasm about, the ultrabook category.

The basic pitch, not that it has been particularly clearly communicated by anyone to date, is this: We can already make a really thin laptop with decent battery life and a fast, power-efficient processor (as opposed to low-performance CULV chips, which led to modest battery life gains, but serious performance hits)--but these tend to start out expensive, and only go up from there. We also know how to make pretty decent midprice laptops, in the $600-$900 range, and that's a comfortable budget for many computer shoppers. What if, the ultrabook theory states, we could somehow make a thin, full-featured laptop, and also get the price down to that magic range everyone from small-business owners to students likes to shop in?

Sounds like a solid idea, but the R&D required for such a new category would be extensive, which is where the Intel investment comes in. But the problems go further than that. To be blunt, there are a lot of great, reasonably thin laptops already available in that price range (Acer's Timeline X, Toshiba's R835, Samsung's Series 3), and shaving a few tenths of an inch off them would not necessarily make a huge difference to most consumers. … Read more

Intel will not give in to demands of Ultrabook vendors to reduce the price of its CPUs by 50 percent, DigiTimes is reporting.

Citing anonymous sources, the Taiwan-based publication said that Intel was asked by its Ultrabook vendor partners to cut the price on its CPUs to help the companies improve their chances of profitability on the upcoming machine. However, for fear of missing out on its own profitability marks, Intel has agreed only to a 20 percent discount and some assistance with marketing costs.

Intel introduced Ultrabooks earlier this year. The yet-to-be-released computers from vendor partners, such as Asus, feature a laptop-like design with "tablet-like features." In order to qualify as an Ultrabook, a computer must be 0.8-inches thick or less and cost under $1,000. For its part, Intel has high hopes for Ultrabooks, saying that they could make up a large chunk of portable shipments in the coming years.

"Many of the super-sleek devices today are quite pricey. The price points need to become more mainstream," Intel marketing chief Tom Kilroy told CNET in an interview earlier this year. "And as volume ramps, say by the end of 2012, we think as much as 40 percent of the volume will be in this ultra category."… Read more

What's an Ultrabook? According to Intel, it's a superthin MacBook Air-like laptop with great battery life and a solid-state drive, which is less than .8 inch thick. Most people couldn't tell you that, though. It's not surprising then, perhaps, that Intel Capital has created a $300 million Ultrabook Fund to drive continuing growth in the category. It is, however, significant news.

According to the press release sent today, Intel's Ultrabook Fund will "invest in companies building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks such as through sensors and touch, … Read more

A rumored Acer laptop appears to offer a striking likeness to the MacBook Air, though Acer wouldn't be the first to offer a design that closely adheres to Apple's design parameters.

The 13.3-inch Aspire 3951 will have many of the hallmarks of the Air, including an aluminum chassis, a weight of about 3 pounds, and a thickness of about 0.5 inches, according to Vietnam-based tech Web site Sohoa.

And like other Ultrabooks, it will use Intel's Sandy Bridge processors and come with a 160GB solid-state drive option, according to Sohoa, which says ports include HDMI and USB and battery life is said to be six hours.

Of course, the biggest difference is that Ultrabooks like the Aspire and Asus' UX21 and UX31 (also Air look-alikes) will run Windows 7, not OS X. Price may also set them apart. The Vietnamese Web site hints at prices starting as low as $800, which would be about $200 less than the cheapest Air. No release date information was given, and Acer declined to comment.

(Via Electronista)… Read more

Staples has begun selling the 11.6-inch Samsung Series 3 laptop for $619 after "instant savings," one of the least expensive ultraportables based on Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processor.

The Series 3 presages sub-$800 Ultrabooks likely to appear in 2012 from PC makers. Though--with a maximum thickness of about 1 inch--it's not as thin as Ultrabooks are expected to be, the weight is about right at 2.8 pounds.

The silicon is similar to Ultrabooks too. In this case, an ultra power efficient Intel Core i3-2357M Sandy Bridge processor.

Unlike the Samsung Series 9 (which … Read more

Apple's MacBook is set to make market share gains on PCs in the second half, according to a research note from a Deutsche Bank analyst.

As demand for consumer Windows PCs softens a bit, Apple will be in a position to a grab market share, according to a research note released today from Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore.

"Our recent checks with the PC supply chain suggest overall orders have softened modestly in the past several weeks due to weaker European and U.S. Consumer NB (notebook) demand and more conservative back-to-school expectations from OEMs," he wrote. … Read more

For now, Apple has a vise-grip on ultraportables like it has on tablets.

With the company on track to sell well over 10 million Airs this year, it may well see the product ultimately become its bestselling laptop. And the company will only accelerate this trend when it brings out a larger ultraslim model, which, for all intents and purposes, will also be a MacBook Air.

Samsung with the Series 9 is the only big-time, high-profile PC competitor in the Air's price range right now. The rest is rumor and marketing promises, under the banner of "Ultrabook." … Read more

Intel believes ultraslim Windows laptops dubbed Ultrabooks can reach aggressive price points and compete with the MacBook Air, arguably the first Ultrabook.

With the entry-level Air today bottoming out at $999 for an 11-inch model, major PC vendors like Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Asus must roughly match Apple's build quality at lower prices to draw consumers to the category in large numbers. This issue was raised in a report from Taipei-based Digitimes on Friday.

Intel--which, ironically, is competing with itself in a sense because the Air already uses its chips--believes the industry can get there. "We won't publicly … Read more