Ultrabooks, a new category of super thin, but not underpowered laptops that’s being pushed through by Intel, have been all the rage this week at IFA 2011. Laptop manufacturers are falling over themselves to show off stupidly skinny rivals to the quite frankly peerless third-gen MacBook Air, and we’ve got them all right here for you in our guide.
How will Asus battle Apple’s MacBook Air? By launching up to six Intel Ultrabooks ranging in screen size from 11.6 to 13.3-inches. The news came straight from Asus chairman Jonney Shih who also confirmed pricing would start at $899 (£552). Depending on screen size and features, this price could sky rocket to $1999 (£1228). All thing considered, Asus might have what it takes to give Apple a run for its money.
For the first time ever, Acer has posted a net loss of £142m for the quarter ending in June. Company chairman J.T. Wang said that he sees a slowdown to the current wave of ‘tablet fever’. This, in part, explains the dip in sales of 32 percent from a year ago. Acer has explained the quarterly loss as a “correction period” plagued by severance pay, £91m to rid itself of excess inventory and £18 million to reorganize the company.
Asus is not the only kid on the block planning an Ultrabook release this September. According to a report from industry insider DigiTimes, Acer has moved up the release of its slender notebook and now plans to go head-to-head with the Asus UX21 next month. The 2011 MacBook Air will be put to the test next month when two new challengers step into the octagon.
The Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 series processors powering the new MacBook Air and upcoming Ultrabooks from Asus and HP are only the tip of the iceberg. Today Intel has announced tentative plans to release Ivy Bridge ships in the first half of 2012 followed by the next-generation Haswell architecture soon after.
The HTC Flyer will finally have a competitor next month when the Acer Iconia Tab A100 is officially released. We had our doubts as to whether the tablet would see a release, but alas Acer has gone official with an announcement. The A100 will be released in ‘early August’ and the company promises the delays are in the past.
The 2011 MacBook Air line will face stiff competition from Acer, Asustek, Dell and Lenovo very soon according to a report from DigiTimes. The industry insider has confirmed mass production of Intel-powered ultrabooks are scheduled for September. Leading the charge will be the Asus UX21 with its Core i7 processor and SanDisk SSD.
Since the Asus UX21 will be the first Intel ultrabook to come to market, it’s only fitting that we retouch its highlights. The UX21 features a second generation Intel i7 mobile processor, the same chip offered as an optional upgrade on the new MacBook Airs. It also features a 13-inch display, USB 3.0, weighs 2.4 lbs and is 17mm at its thickest point. Like the MacBook Air, it lacks an optical drive and uses a SSD for instant on and speedy boot times.
