The primary culprit is SSD drives, which remain pricey even as traditional hard drives offer greater capacities as lower prices. Solid-state drives continue to offer comparatively huge dollar to gigabyte ratios, and their speed and power advantages are unlikely to win over the consumer market, which tends to focus on raw storage. Thin display panels and expensive metal chassis aren’t helping the situation. Many “premium” ultrabooks are still saddled with relatively high retail prices, like HP’s Envy 14 Spectre, hitting the street on Friday with a price of $1399.

Still, there’s light at the end of the tunnel for those who want power, style and battery life without breaking the bank. Suppliers and vendors claim that many models will land in Q2 just south of the $800 mark, though computer sellers will be making razor-thin margins and will likely push for either upgraded internals or more expensive alternatives. Intel stated at their CES Ultrabook press event that they’re hoping to see the spec lead to significant increases in both computing power and affordability – us too, Intel. Us too.

[via BGR]

Hardware

For those of you wondering, this device goes by the code S3-951-6432. You’ll find that the display has a perfectly bright and sharp widescreen view for your gaming, processing, and video viewing needs, but beware the glossiness of the display if you’re planning on using this laptop outdoors. Of course you’re not the type of person to go galavanting around the park with a laptop, so you’ll only be worried about your ability to have a great experience on the run. This notebook is made for your ability to both carry it around all day and provide you the power you need to use it for all of your daily activities be you a student, a journalist, or a graphic designer, all the same.

The keyboard is one made for typing rather than gaming, and you’ll find that using the return key and the arrow keys will be a bit of a learning activity at first as they’re connected in space and not separated by the surrounding base of the notebook. On the back of the device you’ll find two USB 2.0 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, and your power port. On the right you’ll find a full-sized SD card port (that also has the ability to read MultiMediaCard (MMC) units) and on the left you’ll find a headphone jack. On the bottom left and right near the front of the laptop are speakers, each of them part of the Dolby-optimized speaker system which together create a surprisingly nice sounding experience for movie-watching especially.

On the other hand, don’t expect to watch a movie with a group of too many folks to you left or two your right as the viewing angles aren’t too fantastically great here. Watch the hands-on video to see a basic view of how far you’ll be able to see, but note that it’s certainly not more than 60 degrees in any direction from straight on. Straight on though, and inside everywhere 60 degrees looks just as bright and sharp as a Core i7 processor under the hood would suggest. I’ve heard reviewers speaking on how the color accuracy isn’t perfect, and I agree, but the difference between this display and a perfectly tuned display for graphic designers and photography majors is so small that I doubt anyone in the field will have a big issue. Those of you in the photography business should take note though – perfection is needed!

Inside you’ve got Bluetooth 4.0, the multi-gesture touchpad is precise and makes for an easy to control experience all around, and the webcam is alright – good enough for video chat certainly. You’ve got 3.86 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 666MHz controlled by your HD 3000 graphics control unit, and a partridge in a pear tree. And that’s just the hardware. The whole thing looks rather nice too, if you don’t mind the similarities to the rest of the ultra-thin super-powered notebook competition out there. Take a peek at this tower of laptops to see the difference between the units your humble narrator has been using lately – up top you’ve got an 11-inch MacBook Air, next the Acer Aspire S3, a MacBook Pro 15-inch, and a gigantic mother of an Alienware gaming notebook M17xR3 complete with lots o’ lights – each of these units has a different purpose, and the size shows their power here, as it were – note that the MacBook air is from a few years ago so isn’t as pumped up as the line is today, and you can check the Alienware machine in action back at Arkham City.

Software

You’ve got Windows 7 Home Premium right out of the box and Clear.fi for all your personal cloud needs. This machine is set to bring you a personal experience for, again, the student or the everyday average user – with the i7 under the hood you’ve got the ability to play some higher powered software if you wish, but for what the machine comes with – not one whole heck of a lot – you’ll be more than prepared to run the heck out of all of it. Take a peek at this hands-on with the machine and get a glimpse of how quick the machine starts up from being off completely, how the display looks, and the basic software set you’ll get with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Performance

You’re certainly going to see the S3 knocking out the benchmarks as any i7-toting machine should, and as far as the instant-on feature goes: it really truly does make the machine seem much higher class than previous models with a much slower wake-up time. This machine is speedy, hasn’t had a real rough time working with any of the built-in apps or functions it’s got out of the box, and is OK for some random gaming here and there. Again, this machine is by no means built for hardcore gamers, but if you’re just looking to play a racing game here and there, you’ll be set.

Battery

One of the most awesome bits in this machine’s bag of tricks is the Instant-On technology Acer is employing, this allowing you to pop your machine open and have it up and running in 2 seconds. The real magic here is when you close the notebook though, as once you’ve closed the machine it goes to one level of sleep, then after 8 hours it goes into a much deeper sleep which will preserve the battery for a total of 50 days — we’ve not had the machine for quite that long, so I’ll report in on that once the battery dies. Thus far we’ve seen this machine play video for 4 hours straight before dying, and with basic functions like typing and web browsing we’re seeing closer to 6.

Wrap-up

This machine is a great example of what the Ultrabook line is meant to be: relatively light, thin, and powerful enough to knock the netbook name out of the realm of reality. With the price on this particular setup being a bit more than the standard build, you’ll need to think about what you’re planning on using the machine for – if it’s home use for the internet and simple games exclusively, you’ll want the more basic Core i5 build. If you’re attempting to run some more impressive games and maybe a bit of the ol’ video processing, this i7 build is the one you want. Toss it in your backpack and be surprised at how little it ads to your daily weight, break it out at the coffee shop and impress the denizens of the generally Apple-heavy world of public browsing. Acer has come through with a winner here, folks, make no mistake about it.

The group reportedly took advantage of an Internet Explorer vulnerability that had been left unpatched by a Foxconn employee, pulling out sensitive information from the company’s servers and bundling it into a freely-available torrent. Other users were encouraged to access the servers using the disclosed passwords, which could reportedly be used to place fake orders with Foxconn under the names of its vendor partners like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Dell.

“This is Swagg Security, we aim to to reshape your perspectives, our perspectives, by the inducing of entertainment. A unique approach to spreading a unique philosophy which brings the sought after tranquility. In a way we are “hacktivist”, but in our own views we are Greyhats. We believe there is no reality in hacktivism, even with good intentions. We know those who claim to be “hacktivists” that inside of you, a suppressed part of you, enjoys playing a part in the anarchist event of hacking of an infrastructure. One which at the same time presents a challenge, upon completing reveals an almost unknown feeling of a menacing satisfaction. We encourage not to continue quelling such a natural emotion but to embrace it. Only when embracing what society has taught you to hinder, is when you realize your own identity” Swagg Security statement

Although Foxconn has been in the headlines recently around allegations of worker abuse, with staff said to be underpaid and subject to arbitrary and unfair disciplinary procedures, the hackers claim not to be working on some moral crusade. “Although we are considerably disappointed of the conditions of Foxconn,” the group said, “we are not hacking a corporation for such a reason.”

The security breach is the latest in an increasing number of tech attacks in recent months, with hackers broaching company servers in chase of chaos, private information or even extortion. Earlier this week, Symantec’s Norton Antivirus code, among other data, was released into the wild after attempts to coax a $50,000 payment from the company failed.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

This SSD 520 series from Intel is set to bring faster graphic renderings, data transfers, compiling, and even system boot-ups. As you know, a solid state drive has no movable parts, relying instead on silicon, NAND flash memory specifically, to bring to you a lower power, faster and more reliable solution. This SSD uses an LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor complete with an Intel co-defined and validated firmware release. The SSD 520 series from Intel will bring to you up to 80,000 maximum 4K random write Input-Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and up to 50,000 4K random read IOPS to speed through every day operations.

You’ll also be grabbing up to 550 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and up to 520MB/s sequential writes. The 520 series includes a 5 year warrantee and has been put through over 5,000 tests before it arrives on your doorstep. Michael Raam, vice president and general manager of LSI’s Flash Components Division, formed by LSI’s acquisition of SandForce notes the following:

“We worked closely with Intel to leverage their deep understanding of the NAND flash, ultimately providing a unique and optimized solution for client computing applications with the LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor. Working through Intel’s extensive validation process ensures the Intel 520 SSD will raise the bar in delivering top-tier performance and superior quality and reliability over the life of the drive.” – Raam

The SSD 520 series will come in a variety of prices and sizes, these all based on a 1,000-unit quantity each: 60GB for $149, 120GB at $229, 180GB at $369, 240GB at $509 and 480GB at $999. You’ll be paying something just a bit different when you’re in the consumer market, note that!

Although none of the machines are expected to be either as eye-catching or as well marketed as the top-tier ultrabooks from Dell, HP, Lenovo and others, what they will have in their favor is affordability. Intel is pushing for $599 to $649 machines, accounting for around 6- to 7-percent of the notebook market overall in 2012.

The new models are coming in Q2 2012, the sources say, as part of a 15m 2012 push for second-tier vendors as the ultrabook market takes off.

Meanwhile, Quanta Computer – believed to be manufacturing HP’s ultrabook for the company – has apparently bought its own CNC machines so that it can create unibody casings in-house. The investment is being seen as an attempt to cut manufacturing costs, reducing the need to outsource chassis production. Rival Wistron, though, is apparently looking to non-metal options, which would open the door to alternative color ultrabooks.

Oracle was attempting to use some sort of fraud claim to get out of the agreement to support Itanium processor and a California court has denied that bid. Judge James P. Kleinberg of the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County issued a 21 page ruling yesterday. In the ruling Kleinberg wrote:

“The alleged fraud did not prevent Oracle from participating in the negotiations or deprive Oracle of the opportunity to negotiate.”

Judge Kleinberg also unsealed a bunch of documents that were provided to the court by both HP and Oracle, which were previously sealed. HP was up in arms over Oracle’s decision to no longer offer support Itanium processor, because HP uses the processor in high-end servers. Oracle is one of the most popular database programs for large businesses, and no support for HP’s Itanium servers would’ve all but killed the line.

One of the core allegations in this case was that HP had deliberately not disclosed that it was paying Intel the alleged sum of $88 million to continue the Itanium chips lifespan. Oracle maintains if it had known about artificial expansion of the Itanium processor lifespan, it would not have agreed to develop software around Itanium platform. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this case.

[via PCWorld]

What is known is the prices, which units these CPUs are replacing, and the frequency, core number and thread number, and L3 Cache of each. You’ll find your current Core i5250 K, 2400 and 2320 being replaced by 2550K, 2450P, and 2380P respectively. They each remain quad-core, frequency 3.4, 3.2, and 3.1 down the list, and prices sit at $225, $195, and $177 as the power lessens. Prices have been reduced slightly in what we, again, expect is due to the GPU core being modified.

The Celeron models are similar in their changes, with the B710 being replaced with the B720, the 857 replaced by the 867, and prices ranging from $70 all the way up to $134. These units will use their low-voltage ways to sit in lower power machines and will be bringing you up to speed in the sub-superpower notebook category across the board. You can check out the full price list for everything in the Intel world in this pdf file straight from Intel, and it’s VR-Zone that says the point above on P might mean a GPU-less SoC, they too our source for this information.

[via VR-Zone]

Big companies in Silicon Valley have allegedly put in place an agreement that they would not poach each other’s workers. Back in 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs shot an e-mail off to Eric Schmidt of Google asking why one of Google’s recruiters was actively going after an Apple engineer. The e-mail came to light recently after a 2010 Justice Department probe looking into Google, Apple, Adobe Systems, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar over allegations that the companies have each agreed to refrain from poaching to others employees.

Investigation came after a lawsuit by was filed by five software engineers to accuse these companies working together to conspire to keep employee salaries low by negating competition from other companies that hire workers. The e-mail Jobs sent was from March 2007. In the e-mail response to a Google recruiters attempts to hire an Apple engineer, Jobs wrote, “I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this.” The e-mail went directly to Eric Schmidt among others. It’s worth noting that Schmidt was sitting on the Apple board at the time. Schmidt fired off his own e-mail to the Google staffing director that read, “Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening?”

Things didn’t go so well for the Google staffing person was attempting to recruit Apple engineer. Google’s staffing director sent back an e-mail to Schmidt saying in part, “[the person recruiting from Apple] will be terminated within the hour.” The e-mail content comes from an unredacted court filing was made public last week. The judge presiding over the case has indicated that it will move forward despite the technology firms attempting to get the case thrown from court. It appears that several damaging e-mails from the defendants have surfaced in the case, and it looks to me that the plaintiffs have a good chance of winning.

[via Retuers]

Exact details of the patents involved have not been given, nor has Intel said exactly what it will be doing with the new technology. It’s also unclear if any of the technologies around RealDVD, RealNetworks’ DVD ripping system, are included; Real was prevented from putting the app on sale after it was decided it fell foul of the DMCA.

“The acquisition also enhances our ability to continue to offer richer experiences and innovative solutions to end users across a wide spectrum of devices” Intel says, “including through Ultrabook devices, smartphones and digital media.”

“While Intel’s control of the brand ensures that Ultrabooks stand out from traditional notebooks, vendors face a balancing act in terms of product strategy” Juniper Research suggests. “Meeting Intel’s specification secures brand status and funding, but the step-change from notebooks means many of today’s Ultrabooks are too expensive for many consumers.”

In an attempt to corral pricing into some semblance of a shopper-acceptable ballpark, it’s expected that more OEMs will turn to cost-cutting trades like hybrid hard-drives. Rather than solely using flash storage, as Apple does in the MacBook Air, which is fast but expensive, a large proportion of Windows-based ultrabooks will instead pair traditional drives with a far smaller amount of solid-state memory, the latter used to speed boot and resume times while the former takes care of data storage.

The real victim, it’s suggested, will be netbooks: the budget ultraportables are expected to muster just a third of today’s volumes by 2016. CES 2012 certainly wasn’t short of ultrabooks though the most exciting ideas still come out of Intel than from its brand partners; meanwhile, Apple is expected to refresh the MacBook Air imminently.

An ExaFLOP/s capable computer – a quintillion computer operations per second – would be a hundred times faster than current supercomputers, Intel points out, and demand each possible source of latency and delay to be ironed out. To do this, rather than using switched networks as in ethernet connections, InfiniBand relies on switched fabric network topology, spreading traffic over a number of links simultaneously. There’s more on InfiniBand tech at Wikipedia.

QLogic says that shedding its InfiniBand business will allow it to concentrate on its other networking and interconnect specialisms, including “converged networking, enterprise Ethernet, and storage area networking products.” Intel has extended job offers to “a significant number” of QLogic employees from the acquired division.

So, you get a 93-percent full-sized keyboard and a multitouch trackpad, as well as a battery that’s apparently good for up to nine hours of runtime. Connectivity includes three USB 2.0 ports, VGA and audio in/out, along with an ethernet port, and there’s a microphone and stereo speakers along with the VGA-resolution webcam.

Wireless options include WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0+HS, and there’s the choice to add HSPA+ mobile broadband with GPS too. Storage is courtesy of a 320GB 5,400rpm hard-drive, though HP is happy to sell you a USB DVD burner as well.

A spill-resistant keyboard and motion-detecting hard-drive round out the key specs, while software is either Windows 7 or FreeDOS. Pricing for the HP Mini 1104 is from $399.

Industry sources claim that the three firms are all set to build machines based on the Intel Ivy Bridge platform and that platform brings with it support for Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt has been on MacBooks for a while now and Apple was the first of the tech firms to use the port. Gigabyte is said to be bringing mainboards to market that support Thunderbolt as well.

It’s interesting to note that Ivy Bridge will also support USB 3.0 natively. USB 3.0 has required a third party controller to function on mainboards. Supporting USB 3.0 is said to add in the area $20 to the cost of the machine. USB 3.0 is expected to come on mid-range and high-end ultrabooks with Thunderbolt reserved for mostly high-end offerings. The Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook we played with at CES already has Thunderbolt.

[via DigiTimes]

Considering that overclocking often involved feeding more power to the processor than Intel intended and using exotic cooling, an early death was likely for some processors. The Intel Performance Tuning Protection Plan allows the enthusiast to overclock that processor without fearing if they push too hard the only thing to do is get the wallet out and buy a new CPU.

Under the terms of the plan, the user can get one processor replacement with no questions asked from Intel customer support. This extra protection is in addition to the normal Intel 3-year warranty. A failure in normal use would fall under the normal warranty with a failure from overclocking under the tuning plan. The pricing depends on the processor you are using and ranges for $20 to $35, talk about cheap insurance. The plan is good on the following processors: Core i5-2500K, i7-2600K, i7-2700K, i7-3930L, and i7-3960X. Payments are made via PayPal directly at the Intel website.

The five buttons each tablet will need include power, volume up, volume down, rotation lock, and Windows key. The Windows key will have to be 10.5mm in diameter, but the manufacturer will be allowed to choose what shape it takes on. Another bit each tablet will need is an NFC “touch mark,” this being either a sticker or an embossed marking near to place where the tablet’s NFC chip, if it has one – this so that people can be sure they’re tapping the right bit to future NFC-capable sensors, of course.

Such gems as the following are also included:
1) Any bezel that surrounds the display area must not interfere with the user’s ability to interact with the edges of the display area.
2) Digitizer’s jitter is a maximum of 1 millimeter over 10 millimeters of travel.
3) Computer display devices can accurately render colors after being calibrated, to within certain colorimetric error tolerances.

Then there are things you’re going to love, like the classic CTRL+ALT+DEL changed to Power+Windows button. Other minimum requirements include:

Storage: capacity must have at least 10GB of free space after installation of the operating system
The system firmware must use UEFI, and have secure boot locked down for ARM tablets
Network: WLAN and BlueTooth 4.0 + LE (low energy)
Mobile broadband: If fitted, an assisted GPS radio is also required
NFC: A visual marking of its location on the outer body is required
Graphics: Direct 3D 10 device with WDDM 1.2 driver
Display: Must be at least 1366×768 pixels at a depth of 32bits
Touch Support: It must pass all tests offering at least five touch points
Camera: Must all be capable of at least 720p
Ambient light sensor: 1-30k LUX capable with dynamic range of 5-60K
Sensors: Magnetometer, accelerometer and gyroscope
Connectivity: At least one USB 2.0 controller and exposed USB 2.0 port on frame
Speakers

Then for those of you that love to furrow your brow, the fact that there’s a mandatory Secure Boot feature for ARM-based Windows 8 devices should give your face a workout. This prevents hackers from loading, for example, Android onto the hardware. Intel-based tablet will not be required to have the same lock.

You can grab PDF files of the full set of requirements straight from Microsoft if you want to be official about it, this link leading you also to requirements for Windows 8 System and Windows 8 Filter Driver Requirements.

There’s also a 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit display, and a backlit keyboard for those late-night gaming sessions. Samsung is readying both 2D and 3D models, and there’ll be both AMD and NVIDIA graphics options too.

A 5,900mAh battery probably can’t be expected to last all too long if you’re hammering the Series 7 for gaming purposes, but the onboard optical drive and that expansive display means it’ll probably be a solid multimedia notebook too. Samsung expects it to land at the equivalent of $2,228 for the 2D version and around $200 more for the 3D version in Korea, though US pricing is tipped to be from $1,799.

[via Sammyhub]

ASUS, Acer and HP are all tipped to be throwing in with AMD and building new ultrathins based on Trinity, though none of the manufacturers are confirming anything at present. Trinity was last shown off in June 2011 at the AMD Developer Fusion Summit 2011, as a preview of what the 32nm chip could do.

AMD gave a surprise preview of Trinity at CES last week, promoting the APUs’ performance and power improvements over existing Llano chips, as in the following demo video filmed by AnandTech.

Power consumption is expected to drop significantly, with AMD claiming a 17W Trinity is equal in capabilities to a current 35W Llano. CPU performance is up 25-percent, it’s suggested, and GPU performance doubled.

[Image via PCInpact]

According to a document titled Windows Hardware Certification Requirements, which Microsoft released last month, the company confirms that it is up to manufacturers as to whether Secure Boot is locked down or not. For x86-powered PCs, notebooks and tablets, OEMs are free to decide which way to leave the settings; however there is no choice for ARM-powered models:

“MANDATORY: Enable/Disable Secure Boot. On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup. A physically present user must be allowed to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup without possession of Pkpriv. Programmatic disabling of Secure Boot either during Boot Services or after exiting EFI Boot Services MUST NOT be possible. Disabling Secure MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems” Microsoft

“We are introducing capabilities that provide a no-compromise approach to security to customers that seek this out” Microsoft Ecosystem team member Tony Mangefeste wrote back in September, when Secure Boot issues were first identified, ”while at the same time full and complete control over the PC continues to be available.” The decision appears to be one that would prevent ARM hardware from being repurposed from running Windows 8 and instead coaxed into loading Linux-based platforms, such as Android, or, as The Verge suggests, dual-booting between them.

As for x86 machines, concerns have apparently been voiced from notebook vendors that Intel-based Windows 8 devices will have entry-level pricing considerably higher than ARM-based counterparts – either running Windows 8 or another OS – as neither Microsoft nor Intel are willing to subsidize software or hardware. Microsoft has refused to discount Windows 8, DigiTimes reports, and Intel won’t countenance Clover Trail-W price cuts for tablets, it’s said, as they each fear a knock-on effect on the gross margin of general PCs.

Although Samsung’s integration work is still underway, with no timescale expressed for its completion, when finished it should bring Tizen and bada developers and apps together. Tizen devices will be able to run software created using the bada SDK, Kang said, with existing apps requiring no modification; meanwhile both bada and Tizen developers will use the same SDK and APIs moving forward. The Linux core of the two platforms will also be harmonized.

However, while the two platforms will be drawn closely together, Samsung apparently intends to keep using them independently. bada will be used at the low-end, most likely single-core handsets, focusing on affordable smartphones and devices a step up from feature-phones, while Tizen will appear on more advanced devices. There’s also the possibility of non-phone devices running Tizen as well, though Kang is keen to point out that no explicit plans have been made.

Speculation that Samsung would open-source bada began last year, shortly before the company announced its support for the Tizen project. Tizen, a collaboration with Intel and others, sprung in part from the work Nokia had done on MeeGo before all but abandoning it in favor of Windows Phone. At launch, Tizen’s OS and SDK were each promised for release sometime before the end of March this year.

That timescale looks all the more achievable with the combined heft of bada and MeeGo developers involved; Samsung in particular has driven bada app development with cash prizes over the past 18 months. The Korean company has also discussed using bada on future smart TVs.

[via Liliputing]

The peak of success thus far for netbooks was basically the entire year of 2008, as Miller notes, but as the decline continues to run since then, single digits to low double digits as the past year progressed, the emerging market still has a lot of wanting to take advantage of. What Intel needs to do here is make the success found in the $199 price point of this past Christmas turn into a continued success through the next year. To make an affordable small, compact internet connected device and let people know why they would want or not want to own one:

“We don’t want people to be confused on ‘should I buy a netbook or should I buy a laptop.’” – Miller

The value still exists in the netbook as a secondary device, so says Intel.

“If you’re a consumer heading into Best Buy and you don’t know what you need, we want to have options for both.” – Miller

As tablets released over the past few weeks and even just this week have changed the landscape for tablets, so too does Intel plan on changing the mobile environment on the whole with not just changes to single specifications in hardware, but in the full package. John Wallace spoke on this, saying that it’s the details, but not just the details, all of the details together that matter most.

“There’s potential to differentiate with a unified story.” – Wallace

You bet – and we expect many more manufacturers than just Intel to announce their intent to push a full package to the public rather than just the next big single specification. A fabulous column you should all take a look at once you’re done reading the above is one written by Chris Davies and entitled Context, not cores, is the tablet industry’s challenge.

What Intel has expressed quite clearly this year at CES 2012 is that though the tablet market is still currently and essentially crushed by the one top seller, the market for the tablet form factor is still in its infancy. What’ll be happening in the next year to three years is that there will be a vast expansion into other sizes and shapes, but again and more importantly, with different abilities on their chips. The differentiation will be in the complete package, not just in the individual specifications that current devices still push hard.

Intel’s top minds see an opportunity in the very near future for Windows 8 to take a strong position in the market. In addition to this, their representation on the Lenovo smartphone we saw by the name of Racer-A is already making waves in the chip-sensitive world as it is the first to feature such a combo. As each year delivers a new process, 32 nanometers here in 2012, 22 nm in 2013, and 14 nm in 2014, Intel’s expansion through both smaller and more uniquely constructed SoCs will bring the mobile world to a whole new level of diverse.

“When we took over [development] in April we took a conscious decision to focus on Android,” said vice president of Intel’s architecture group Dave Whalen. “Windows, other operating systems – we recognize that there will be opportunities. It’s not a ‘no’, it’s just not now. When the time’s appropriate we’ll look at other OSs.”

Intel’s first smartphones will be launched by Lenovo in China and by Motorola elsewhere. We had a chance to see the Lenovo Racer-A reference design earlier at CES, which will be using Intel’s 1.6GHz dual-core Medifield SoC. The multi-year and multi-device deal with Motorola will see Android-based smartphones and potentially tablets with Intel chips launching later this year.

[via The Telegraph]

“[Intel] have taken some designs that were never meant for mobile phones and they’ve literally wrenched those designs and put them into a power-performance space which is roughly good enough for mobile phones” Warren East, CEO, ARM

To East, it’s ARM’s ability to coax high-definition multimedia and game-crunching power out of minimal battery charge that will keep it ahead of its considerably larger rival. “People want to do more things with their phones, but battery size remains constant” he suggests.

Intel’s smartphone chip plans have been a long time coming, and with more than one aborted attempt along the way. While the company has made its fortune from increasingly high-power desktop and laptop processors, the same strategies have not fared so well in mobile applications. There, the delicate balance between sucking through a smartphone-scale battery in a matter of hours and delivering the sort of performance users demand requires a far more frugal chip that, until now, Intel has been able to make.

The company believes it has the answer in Medfield, however, with a new dual-hyperthreading system – among other things – that help restore some of that power/thirst equilibrium. Lenovo has already shown off one design, the Racer-A, aka the K800, using the Z2460 and supposedly lasting all day, according to the manufacturer.

Lenovo Racer-A demo:

The Air stunned users and wallets in equal measure in its first generation, but after its 2010 redesign – and with its significantly reduced price tag – it quickly became the ultraportable to beat. What started as an underpowered and overpriced novelty developed into a legitimate mobile companion, with enough grunt to do some light photo and video editing while not over-stressing your rucksack.

Now, I’m not saying Apple got everything right with the MacBook Air. Battery life from the notebook struggles to achieve Apple’s lofty claims, in my experience, and the company’s refusal to adopt USB 3.0 – plumping instead for Thunderbolt – would be a lot easier to stomach if there were more than a couple of accessories around to actually use the port.

But one of the big things the Air has going for it is that it did the ultrabook thing first. Apple may not use the term, and Intel tends to get evasive when asked whether it considers the smallest MacBook to fall into the category, but it’s inevitably become the benchmark for PC rivals.

Unfortunately most of them appear to have fallen into the obvious trap: make a Windows-based Air. Slimline dimensions, tapered edges, chiclet keyboards… Apple didn’t invent any of them, but glance at most of the aluminum-bodied ultrabooks launched this past week and it’s tough not to mentally compare it to the Air’s fifteen month old design.

Thinking differently was tough to find. Dell’s XPS 13 may have been comparatively late to the ultrabook market, but it at least threw some carbon-fiber at the design and made a good argument for it being there. The company has been able to use decent strength Core i7 processors, Dell claims, as carbon-fiber is better at shedding heat than aluminum is.

Slick, samey hardware alone isn’t enough, however. Part of the Air’s appeal is that only Apple’s machines get OS X: if you want the software, you have to buy the hardware. Windows machines don’t have the same advantage, and right now they’re generally all taking the same route: make an Air clone of some description and shout as loudly as possible

I’d love to see more competition in the ultraportable segment, but creating copy’n'paste Apple clones isn’t the way to do it. Rather than aping the MacBook Air, PC vendors need to focus on finding their own unique identify. Give me a reason to really, really want your product, rather than offering me photofit Windows alternative in the hope I’m not enamored of OS X.

As is so often the case, the really unique designs were mere concepts – Intel’s own Nikiski, for instance, with its full-width transparent touchpad – at least trying something different, something dots Apple hasn’t yet joined up. Nikiski is interesting not so much for its eye-catching hardware, but for the use possibilities it opens up when you consider Intel’s other ultrabook technologies. For instance, how will day-long battery life and a visible-when-closed display work with Intel SmartConnect, which periodically wakes your notebook and refreshes your email, Twitter, Facebook and other messages?

Perhaps it’s expecting too much for manufacturers to address such questions today, though they’ve had years to rise to the challenge Apple represents. With fading PC sales – while MacBooks fly out of Apple Stores – time is running short to impress a gimmick-weary, cash-wary public. Based on what we’ve seen at CES this week, I’m still not convinced this latest litter of ultrabooks will be enough.

Convinced by Ultrabooks? Holding out for a MacBook Air instead? Let us know in the SlashGear poll:

[poll id="24"]

AT&T‘s cluster of LTE devices was perhaps the biggest single launch of the show, with the carrier hoping to flood our attention with more than a half-dozen 4G handsets. There are some stand-out phones in among the torrent, however: the HTC Titan II, for instance, packs a whopping 16-megapixel camera, while Nokia‘s much-anticipated Lumia 900 brings polycarbonate unibody style to the US and marks the start of the Finn’s North American re-entry.

Otherwise there’s the Pantech Burst and Samsung Exhilarate, both attempting to drag LTE to the entry-level, with a $50 apiece price tag. Sony ditched the Ericsson name and passé hardware with the Xperia ion, toting a 720p HD display and sizable 12-megapixel camera; both it and its European HSPA+ Xperia S pack NFC and the promise of ICS in Q2.

Finally, Samsung‘s Galaxy Note gets a new, AT&T LTE version, offering a compelling – if perhaps tricky to pocket – smartphone/tablet hybrid with useful digital ink input and a beautiful 1280 x 800 display. It’s a phone we’ve coveted in Europe and we’re curious to see how it does in the US.

Verizon had fewer devices than AT&T, but some eagerly awaited ones nonetheless. Motorola brought the DROID 4 to the party, an LTE-toting QWERTY Android slider, along with the DROID RAZR MAXX. The latter answers a common complaint of the original DROID RAZR of last year, meagre battery life on LTE, throwing a huge 3,300 mAh battery at the phone while still measuring just 8.9mm thick. Those looking for superlative displays have the LG Spectrum to look forward to, another LTE device but offering a 1280 x 720 IPS panel with iPhone 4S-besting pixel density.

T-Mobile USA had a much quieter show than either of the big boys, perhaps still licking its wounds and pondering the future now the AT&T acquisition has been ditched. The carrier had just one new device to announce, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, supporting HSPA+ and – as the name suggests – being another iteration on the Korean company’s familiar Galaxy S II.

Then there are the outliers and oddities. Lenovo opened the show with its S2, headed to China first with an encrypted kernel to keep your data secure and malware-free, while ViewSonic attempted to bridge the work and home worlds with its dual-SIM ViewPhone 3. Beyond their core conceit it proved tough to work up much enthusiasm around either device.

Easier to like has been the Huawei Ascend P1 S and P1, two phones that take dieting very seriously. The “S” prefix device is a mere 6.68mm thick, with what looks to be Galaxy S II “inspired” styling helping it take – for the moment at least – the title of world’s thinnest smartphone. Perhaps more interesting, they both run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, still something of a rarity (all of the previously mentioned handsets are still using Gingerbread).

ASUS‘ Padphone – back in its 2012 redux – is a lot chunkier than the Huawei, certainly, but arguably more useful. Like the Ascend phones it’s now running Ice Cream Sandwich, but of course the Padphone also gets a tablet chassis in which it can be docked for big-screen browsing and multimedia playback. ASUS reckons it’ll hit shelves in the spring, though still isn’t talking pricing.

Finally Intel, a company that has been talking about entering the smartphone market for several years, but is only now looking like it’s building any sort of momentum. The freshly announced Atom Z2460 Medfield processor, along with deals with Motorola and Lenovo, should result in some actual handset launches by the end of the year, each running Android, with talk of tablets also making an eventual appearance.

Lenovo stopped by to demonstrate its Racer-A Atom reference design, an impressive 4.5-inch smartphone with a 1280 x 720 display, 8-megapixel camera, HSPA+ and a 1.6GHz dual-core processor. There may be a few tweaks to the aesthetics, but for the moment this is likely to be one of the devices Lenovo brings to market in the second half of this year. We’ll have to wait until then to find out whether Intel’s long-standing battery issues have been ironed out with Medfield.

Tempted by any of these smartphones? Or are you waiting for Mobile World Congress next month, to see what HTC and others have in store for 2012? Let us know in the comments!

Lenovo and LG opened proceedings, unable in their excitement to even wait for the CES preview days to spill the beans on the Lenovo ThinkPad T430u and LG Super Ultrabook Z330/Z430. Lenovo has been pushing ultrathin notebooks for years now, but with the T430u it shaves just enough off to fit into Intel’s sub-20mm category.

It’s likely to appeal more to road warriors counting on their IT departments to furnish their computing kit, perhaps, unlike the more consumer-centric LG Z330 and LG Z430. They offer the full gamut of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and either 13.3- or 14-inch displays, and use a hybrid SSD/HDD setup to provide both rapid boot/resume times and capacious media storage.

So far so good, but LG’s machines were somewhat forgotten when Acer unveiled its waifish Aspire S5. A slimline mag-alloy chassis that tapers to a razor edge at the front, Acer’s machine has some neat design touches like the drop down full-width port panel on the back. Never one to shy away from spectacle, the whole process is motorized.

Acer in fact had more than one ultrabook to show, with the Aspire Timeline Ultra series stretching the category at the fringes. Larger displays and even integrated optical drives mean they’re not quite the ultrabook Intel intended, but perhaps better considered a hybrid of ultraportable and regular notebook.

HP hasn’t been shy about ultrabooks in the past, though it’s arguable whether the 14-inch HP ENVY 14 Spectre quite counts. Still, with a choice of Core i5 or i7 processors, both HDMI and Mini DisplayPort video outputs, Beats Audio and a sub-$1,400 starting price, there’s no shortage of things to like.

Samsung already had an ultrabook-a-like in its back catalog, and so the Samsung Series 9 merely refined the proposition in its second generation. Clad in an eye-catching “stone metal” finish, it’s under half an inch thick and short of 2.5lbs, yet still manages to pack backlit keys.

It’s joined by the Samsung Series 5, a 15-inch almost-ultrabook in the same manner as the Acer Timeline Ultra. The LED display is a particular stand-out feature, managing to look clear, vivid and crisp even in dodgy trade-show lighting, and its sub-$1,400 tag will undercut the Series 9 too.

So far so good, but Dell through a spanner in its rivals’ works with the late launch of the Dell XPS 13. The company’s first ultrabook – though a machine with ultraportable heritage in the shape of the Adamo, among others – the XPS 13 turns to carbon-fiber for part of its construction, allowing Dell to fit a hefty Core i7 processor inside without worrying about overheating. “It’s the world’s best ultrabook” Dell insisted to us.

Then there’s the ultrabook pipeline, and both Toshiba and Intel stepped up with possible products we could expect to see late in 2012. Toshiba‘s 14-inch prototype relied on Windows 8 for its appeal, though had a slickly curved aluminum casing so that you could still catch admiring glances in the coffee shop.

Intel, meanwhile, pushed the boat out with a sliding, tilting concept that packs a 12- to 13-inch display – potentially a touchscreen – with a full QWERTY ‘board and the flexibility to use it either flat when walking around or notebook-style on a desk. Intel is hoping its OEM partners decide to adopt the design for future models, probably when Windows 8 brings its finger-friendliness to market later in the year.

Most eye-catching, though, had to be Intel’s Nikiski concept, an ultrabook packing a transparent, full-width trackpad that could be used as a preview display when the notebook was closed. Sadly the likelihood of the Nikiski reaching the market is around about zero.

Of course there’s another big name in ultrabooks, even if the company itself isn’t calling its ultraportable that. Apple‘s MacBook Air arguably helped shape each and every one of the machines mentioned above, and stands as the notebook to beat in the extreme-ultraportable segment.

Last refreshed in July 2011, with new Core i5 and i7 processors along with Thunderbolt connectivity – still only matched by the ASUS Aspire S5 this week – rumors late last year suggested Apple was already looking to bring out an updated model sometime in Q1. That’s likely to set the cat among the pigeons once again.

Convinced by Ultrabooks? Standing by with credit card in hand? Let us know in the SlashGear poll:

[poll id="24"]

Motorola’s deal is for a “multi-year, multi-device strategic relationship” that will see Atom chips arrive in smartphones from the company before the year is out. They’ll be Android-based, and the precursor to potential tablets using the Z2460 or other Medfield chips.

Lenovo Racer-A Intel smartphone reference design hands-on:

A similar arrangement has been made with Lenovo, and the first reference design certainly doesn’t stint on specs. The handset has a 4.5-inch 720p multitouch display, an 8-megapixel main camera and 5-megapixel front camera, along with HSPA+, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Of course the Motorola Mobility deal is particularly interesting, because Google is in the process of acquiring the smartphone and tablet manufacturer. Assuming that deal goes through, it will give Intel a direct line to Google and the Android project, hopefully accelerating work on Android-on-x86.

More on the Lenovo Intel smartphone in our full hands-on.

In a way, you can see will.i.am’s point – or at least the point he’s perhaps trying to make. The ghetto blaster used to be a communal point for music lovers, with home-crafted mixtapes used to share new tracks and new forms of musical style. With the transition of music creation to computers – “now you make it on the computer and listen to it on the computer” the Black Eyed Peas artist said – now people can not only get together to listen but to create tracks in the first place.

will.i.am’s segment on stage ended with a brief clip of his next track – something he says was created, at least in part, on an Intel-powered ultrabook – and some perhaps confused applause from the attendant geeks.

On more solid ground, perhaps, check out our hands-on with Dell’s first entrant to the ultrabook market, the XPS 13, as well as HP’s ENVY 14 Spectre, Samsung’s second-gen Series 9, LG’s “Super” Ultrabook Z330 and more in our ultrabook hub. The slimline ultraportables certainly seem to be one of the key trends of CES 2012 so far.

The HP Spectr was the next bit of subject matter, the device working with Gorilla Glass in a whole new way, both inside and outside, with a high definition display and a powerful set of innards for a media fabulous experience. Beats Audio is of course integrated, complete with the red light, and performance and aesthetics sit at the head of the release. HP Folio 13 was next, with 9 hours of battery life and a 13-inch screen along with a thin overall chassis size made for an everyone-friendly experience. The third laptop you see on the table in the video is the HP Elitebook 2760p, another notebook which, as your humble narrator’s experience with the HP Elite line will tell you, is no joke when it comes to being hearty and powerful.

Have a peek at the interview video above and check out Chee’s Twitter feed at @AnyadeRogue. We presented Chee with one of our fabulously fashionable SlashGear messenger bags, of course, to send her back off into the world of fashion and extravagance. Have a peek at the rest of our Insider Talks from this event through our [CES Live portal] or our portal for Insider Talk for just the talks – and stick around the rest of the week for the rest of our CES 2012 coverage!

The XPS 13 isn’t Dell’s first ultraportable notebook but, as Tim Peters – CSMB Client Business Strategy and Planning at Dell, pointed out to us, previous models have had more than their share of compromises. “Adamo… beautiful thin, but no substance. Two thousand dollars! We had XPS which we had to crowbar in the technology, very chunky.”

“We looked at XPS and a key trend of consumerization of IT … You had a consumer that wanted aesthetic appeal, premium design, craftsmanship and a lightweight design, and Apple’s MacBook Air came and in really hit that hard. They always wanted the instant-on, accessible data and location-aware of a device like a tablet. Then they also wanted horsepower and substance: I don’t want to compromise on taking a Core i3 only, I want something real to be productive. And, I’d like to be able to use this as my personal device, and the only way an IT manager would allow that to happen is that if it’s data-secure.”

The display is a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 panel running at 300-nits, and covered in a sheet of edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass, powered by Intel HD 3000 graphics. Above is a 1.3-megapixel webcam and dual-array digital microphone. Connectivity includes WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, a single USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, mini DisplayPort and a headset jack. Unlike some rival ultrabooks, Dell has managed to squeeze in a full-sized backlit keyboard.

“We started our development a year and half ago,” Peters explained, “it’s taken us a lot of time – in fact we’re the last ones to come out with an ultrabook – because we were crafting something a level above in terms of innovation.” Although Dell obviously had other ultrabooks in mind when it designed the XPS 13, Apple’s MacBook Air has obviously also been a consideration. The new Dell’s display actually offers a similar viewing area to that of the 13-inch Air, but in a 15-percent smaller device.

Rather than solely rely on aluminum, like Apple, HP and others, Dell turned to carbon-fiber for the XPS 13′s base. “Carbon-fiber has two functional performance benefits,” the company says, “it dissipates the heat better – it’s cooler on the lap and in the hands – and it’s lighter.” That improvement in heat management has meant Dell can slot in up to Core i7 chips without worrying about overheating. In fact, Dell mentioned that the company’s engineers are actually working on a fanless version, though there’s no telling when that might arrive.

Hands-on, it feels impressively light and thin. The keyboard is nicely spaced and the keys themselves have reasonable travel given the limits of the keytray. There are plenty of neat details, like the battery gage on the side, while Dell tells us that the machined aluminum lid saves even more weight compared to some rival’s punched-aluminum production. The speakers are embedded underneath the keyboard, creating a surprisingly loud and clear soundstage, though unsurprisingly they lack some bass.

LIke other ultrabooks, the XPS 13 has Intel Rapid Start for boot times of around 5s, and instant-on resume from standby. However, Dell also implemented Intel SmartConnect, which periodically wakes the ultrabook to check calendar, email, social networking accounts and other data so that you’re up to date as soon as you open the lid. There’s also location-awareness, setting up apps for nearby restaurants, ATMs and other POIs with your current position.

Enterprise customers get Dell’s usual array of custom imaging and BIOS settings, along with asset tagging and BitLocker data encryption with TPM. There’s also ProSupport, with Dell Command Center support for speedy repairs and replacements. As for all the labels and stickers most Windows laptops are plastered in, on the new XPS they’re hidden away out of sight.

Dell expects the Core i5 version of the XPS 13 – with 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD – to start at under $1,000 when the ultrabook ships in February. Final pricing will be decided just prior to launch.

“It’s the world’s best ultrabook” Peters concluded, “the smallest, the most powerful, the most aesthetically pleasing, the best to touch, the best at being enterprise-ready… the best of any product out there.” We’ll have to wait until we can put the XPS 13 through its paces in the full SlashGear review to find out whether we feel the same.

Because it’s a Windows system, all regular PC games are supported and no special optimization is required. With accelerometers and an extra-sensitive multitouch screen, though, tablet-specific titles can also be played, giving mobile gamers the best of both worlds. Razer expects developers to tailor titles just to suit the combination of hardware on offer.

“The user interface we have designed for Project Fiona allows all existing PC games to be played right out of the box and also provides game developers new opportunities as they develop next-gen games on a highly-intuitive platform” Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan said of the slate. ”Both developers and gamers are going to love the new user interface that combines the best of a gamepad, multi-touch screen and accelerometers for an all-new gaming experience on-the-go.

Developer units will be available “soon” with Razer suggesting that those interested in porting a significant title to Project Fiona should get in touch.

Like all of the laptops conforming to Intel’s Ultrabook specifications, the Xnote Z330 is thin, light and big on metalic personality. It’s got a more squared-off design than most Ultrabooks, which go with front and rear tapers to appear even skinnier. The lid has an ofset circular texture, not unlike the Azus Zenbook models. A chromed-out LG logo adorns one corner. The 15.7mm profile is a beauty.

On the inside you’re greeted with the standard screen, chicklet keyboard and all-in-one trackpad. (Please, somebody make an ultrabook with real mouse buttons. Please?) The trackpad hangs a little to the left to center on the space bar, and its comparatively large size should be good for those who want precise cursor control. The keyboard itself feels serviceable if not amazing.

On the left side you get a single USB 3.0 port nestled between the power jack and some tiny exhaust vents. Opposite that you’ll find a tiny MicroSD card slot (no standard SD slot is present) an audio-out port and an HDMI port. Front and back are bare, as with most of this category. The screen is the same 1366×768 panel we’ve come to expect from 13-inch laptops in general, and ultrabooks in particular. It’s decent, and shows considerably less glare than other machines at the event.

Inside you get an SSD hard drive and a low-voltage Core i3, i5 or i7 processor, though obviously we couldn’t put it through its paces. The Xnote has a larger brother, the absent 14-inch Z430, which features dentical specs aside from the screen. The laptops launch in the first quarter of this year.

A Lenovo Sandybridge ultrabook boosted its CPU output to 87% of the performance of a standard voltage CPU, while compressing and emailing a collection of 200 photos. A CPU-based graphics demonstration showed off an Ivybridge laptop computing amazing graphics feats on integrated hardware, including the destruction of a virtual wooden bridge, calculating the position of thousands of logs and planks with extremely minimal slowdown.Each piece of debris was calculated and rendered at all points during the demo, which used only Intel’s previously uninspiring graphics processors. A troll graphics demo showed off animation and detail that’s about on par with current game consoles.

A DirectX11 demo of Formula 1 2011 was impressive – it looks like you can run a pretty solid framerate in just standard Ivybridge hardware. Of course, these are demos on demo hardware. But the next generation of Ultrabooks look like they can do some respectable gaming. You won’t beat out the latest AMD or Nvidia cards, but current-generation gaming may start to become a more tangible reality in the near future. The demonstrator teased significant performance gains, to be specified later at CES.

The solid state drive is thinner, the LED backlit display is 2 millimeters more compact, and they’ve managed to integrate the CPU straight into the board to shave off excess thickness. Previously, Ultrabook were only available at 13″, now they plan on expanding to 14″ and 15″ models for the future. Again, we should start to see mass production of these in April.

Intel is setting manufacturers up to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air, and so far with flying colors. They want the average person to enjoy the Ultrabook experience. For this reason, they will make it economically feasible to purchase one without completely emptying your savings. The first generation was going for $999, and they specifically said it would be cheaper. However, they didn’t give an exact price – lets hope it’s in the $500 range.

The design on display is fully functional, and Intel hopes that its OEM partners will utilize it to explore more options for making “laptops” smaller and lighter. Specifications weren’t available, but it looks like a 12 or 13 inch display, and the keyboard section accomodates a nearly full-sizek keyboard for comfortable typing. Useers can also hold it tablet-style and thumb type.

The whole concept device looks and feels a lot like the Asus Eee Pad Slider, which uses a similar mechanism. It isn’t significantly smaller or lighter than other ultrabooks on display, so the only real advantage is the tablet-style form factor, which may become more popular as Windows 8 and its touch-friendly features arrive. Look for more interesting designs beyond the standard clamshell to appear in the next 6-12 months.

Prior to the event, they let random individuals try out the touchscreen technology and even took a few testimonials. One person, Veronica, stated “I like it better… It’s more fun, it’s a new thing. It’s also easier, more immediate, modern… Super fast”. The important change will obviously be ‘speed to action’. Maneuvering to do some things over a touchscreen is just easier, so it’s really only going to improve the user’s experience.

Next up, they described users will be able to vocally control their laptops at very quick rates. The speech activation doesn’t go through the cloud like most other voice recognition clients – it is built right into the device. Even with an accent, you can teach it to understand you. It will learn your voice over time and can be set to talk back to you. Siri was only the beginning.

Yesterday we saw some of the first fruits of that development, Acer’s Aspire Timeline Ultra 14 and 15 models. The 15-inch version even managed to include a full number pad on the keyboard. Both laptops manage to cram a standard DVD drive into the bodies as well. Intel says that these larger and more comfortable models will make up a significant percentage of ultrabooks manufactured this year.

The company also demonstrated a secure wireless payment system using Near Field Communication. NFC is something we’re used to seeing on smartphones, but a simple Master Card purchase was made with a chip embedded in the card and a receiver in a the palm rest of a prototype. It’s hard to see what kind of utility you could get out of this that current smartphones couldn’t do just as well, but the demonstration was impressive nonetheless.

The Windows 7-based (not Windows 8) hardware uses an almost entirely trasparent trackpad, running all along the bottom half of the ultrabook beneath the keyboard. When closed, you can see the window you were just using shrink to fit the now cropped area of the LCD. You can also activate a new touch-based interface that looks almost identical tro Windows 8 (but again, it isn’t.) The trackpad itself is touch-senitive, making the entire unit transform into essentially a tablet with a huge bezel when closed. The top lid is also semi-transparent, but a representative told us that it was a manufacturing defect.

The aplication for this design is limited, though I could see some utility if you managed to somehow integrate keyboard into the trasparency. Asus tried something similar a few years ago with small LCD screens integrated into the top of the screen lid. The idea is novel, and I’d love to see what some enterprising OEMs can do with the technology on display.

The Nikiski just an Intel concept, so you won’t be seeing it (or even a laptop based on its design) any time soon. We’ll have a video hands-on later in the day.

UPDATE: check out our hands-on video below!

Other connectivity on the slate includes WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI and VGA, and Gigabyte has designed a matching USB keyboard and carry-case. An optical trackpad can be found in the bezel, along with a 1.3-megapixel webcam. The dock also has a number of extra ports.

As for the Gigabyte T1006M, it’s a return to the convertible netbook days with a 10.1-inch capacitive multitouch display running at 1366 x 768. Connectivity includes USB 3.0, just as with the slate, and there’s integrated 3.5G WWAN. Gigabyte is making some boasts about the lengthy battery life from the 6-cell battery, though there’s no actual numbers to be found.

No word on pricing or availability at this stage.

There’s also liquid cooling, and if you’re feeling particularly flush you can pair up the Radeon HD 7970 with up to three of its friends, since quad CrossFireX setups are supported. A multitude of SSD and HDD options are on offer, including a capacious (and painfully expensive) 600GB Intel 320 Series SSD and 512GB Crucial M4 SATA 6G.

Blu-ray, various case colors and finishes and factory overclocking all allow you to customize each MAINGEAR system to suit your particular taste and budget. Both the SHIFT and the F131 are available to order – with the Radeon HD 7970 – from today.