HP might have confirmed it’s working on Windows 8 tablets for next year. But in the meantime, it’s looking to sate business punters with an upgrade to its Windows 7-packing Slate 500, the Slate 2. The original HP Slate was positioned as a pre-emptive strike by Microsoft and HP on the iPad. And the Skate 2 keeps many of the work-focused features of its predecessors.
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.
Samsung has made the push into the world of high-end gaming laptops. Announced today, the Samsung Series 7 gaming laptop (model 700G7A) packs a quad-core Intel i7 processor, AMD Radeon HD 6970M GPU with 2GB of DDR5 memory and support for up to 16GB of RAM. If Epic Meal Time built a laptop, this would be it.
In addition to its graphics and processing chops, the Series 7 laptop features a full HD LED 17.3-inch display with a brightness of 400nits. The massive display allows for a full-sized keyboard with number pad, chicklet-style keys and backlighting. Other highlights include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 + HS, HD webcam, Blu-ray drive, HDMI-out, USB 3.0, VGA port and a 7-in-1 card reader.
September 12th | Samsung | £1564
Not sure whether you’re ready to commit to an Android or Windows 7 tablet? The ViewSonic ViewPad 10pro might be the solution. As the world’s first 10.1-inch tablet to offer a “true dual Windows and Android OS experience”, the ViewPad 10pro earns its stripes thanks to the new Intel Atom Z670 processor. Clocked at 1.5 GHz, the new chip minimizes power consumption while enabled smaller and thinner product designs.
Micro-Star International (MSI) introduced a new gaming laptop this morning, adding to its ever expanding notebook line up. This time, MSI is going after the high-end gaming market with its GE620DX. The notebook packs Intel’s Core i7-2630QM quad-core processor clocked at 2 GHz and Nvidia’s top-end GeForce GT 555M discrete graphics cards which includes Nvidia PhysX and DirectX 11 support.
HP is reportedly ready to ship its MacBook Air competitor, the HP Ultrabook. After last month’s D9 conference where CEO Leo Apotheker confirmed “there’s a whole new product refresh coming out”, anticipation for an ultra-slim HP laptop is at an all-time high. DigiTimes corroborated the story today by confirming two or more Ultrabooks are ready to ship. Can HP actually compete with the Acer UX21 and MacBook Air?
Remember that MacBook Air inspired Asus netbook unveiled at Computex in May? According to DigiTimes, the Asus PC X101 will be available in July with the MeeGo and Windows 7 models priced at $199 (£124) and $310-$350 (£194-£219) respectively.
Under the hood of the Asus PC X101 is an Intel low-power Atom N435 1.33 GHZ single-core processor. While not the fastest chip on the block, the addition of a small SSD should make up for its shortcomings.
We’ve got a fair while to wait for Windows 8. Its radical new tablet-friendly interface with titles that tip a wink to Windows Phone 7 isn’t due to make its proper debut until sometime in 2012.
But if you’re growing bored of Windows 7 and want to give it a splash of Windows 8-style pzazz, there’s already a way. Read for the two easy steps it takes to give your desktop that Windows 8 look…
