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.
Intel is getting serious about its Ultrabook concept. We heard last week that it has developed a list of Ultrabook materials for manufacturers to help them undercut the MacBook Air on price and saw the extremely Apple-like Acer Aspire 3951 Ultrabook leaked yesterday. Now Intel Capital, the company’s investment group, has announced a $300m Ultrabook fund to invest in technologies destined for the new class of laptops.
In a statement, Intel said the fund is designed to help companies “building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks, achieving all-day usage through longer battery life, enabling innovative physical designs and improved storage capacity”.
In other words, it’s a big stash of cash to compete with Apple’s research might. It’s a good move and we’re excited to see how that investment encourages laptop makers to get creative with Ultrabooks. After all, there’s more to life than the MacBook Air, right?
Out now | £NA | Intel
The new Intel Ultrabook class of laptops is aimed squarely at battling the MacBook Air but lots of reports have suggested PC makers are struggling to keep the cost of components down.
Now DigiTimes is reporting that Intel has put together a reference list of materials to show potential Ultrabook creators how to bring their models in at under $1000. Will it be able to get them onside?
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 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.
When Intel outed its Macbook-Air-fighting Ultrabook concept at Computex back in May, Asus was at the front of the queue to make one. The Asus UX21 Ultrabook is slated for a September release but it seems it could be pipped to the post.
New reports claims HP wants to get in on the action first with its own super-slim Ultrabook models. Two designs using Intel Core i7 dual-core processors are said to be in the works with HP outsourcing production to Foxconn. While this rumour comes from DigiTimes, HP’s big boss seemed to drop a big hint about new laptop plans at the D9 conference last month…
