Photo: Intel

With Apple posting bumper revenue and profit figures due in large part to strong sales of the iPad tablet PC, it casts an interesting light on the long-term financial viability of the laptop. Intel, who also posted record-breaking sales figures, says that the venerable laptop and their incoming ‘ultrabooks’ will exist for a long time still, irrespective of how viable the tablet PC becomes.

Laptops here for the long haul

Intel senior vice-president Tom Kilroy says that his company’s dominance will remain unchanged, even if mobile devices continue to do well – an area where ARM is currently wiping the floor with Intel.

He claims that his company’s incoming product will change the computing landscape again. ‘Ultrabooks are a new way of thinking about computers,’ he claims. He added that ‘What that means is being able to do everything you need to do, on the move, in a package that is small and light and has a pretty decent battery life too.’ That may sound a lot like the original promise of the netbook, but underneath the marketing speak Intel really is trying to kick start a new category of devices.

Okay, why do we want this?

Why kick start a new category of devices, though? Kilroy says: ‘We’ve seen huge levels of demand from manufacturers around the world, and that’s because tablets and mobile phones, while great devices, are not the same as a fully-fledged laptop.’

He added that ‘demand for traditional computers with keyboards’ will not slow anytime soon because ‘people want to create things and most touchscreen devices are not best-suited for writing long documents or building long presentations or all those key tasks.’

Hybrid

When word of the Intel ultrabook device category first began spreading, we understood it as the company creating a device that ‘will include the best features from tablet PCs in addition to traditional laptop functionality, in the hopes of perfecting the hybrid device many have tried to before.’

We’ll see if this vision of the Intel ultrabook device category does indeed come to fruition. If it does not, and ARM continues to dominate mobile devices like tablet PCs at the expense of Intel, we could legitimately see a new heavyweight competitor in the processing industry.

Photo: MattsMacintosh / Flickr

During an iPad press event, Apple said that the world of computing is in a ‘post-PC era’. By that the company meant that the way we approach computing won’t be tethered to a desktop PC – or laptop even – with a new generation of mobile devices like the tablet PC and contemporary smartphone. If we concede that we are, in fact, in a post-PC era, the big question is ‘how will that era look, or work?’

It will be predominantly multiplatform.

Changing times

Horace Dediu of Asymco, wrote a blog post titled ‘The post-PC era will be a multi-platform era’, wherein he argued that developers should continue developing for Windows Phone 7 handsets even if it is far off iOS and Google Android’s pace at present. After pointing out that, in the one-OS dominant PC era, where developing for anything but the leading platforms – Windows being the predominate example – one has to take a multiplatform approach with mobile OS platforms.

He wrote: ‘The post-PC era is characterized by an explosion of ideas and application of new talent to software. It’s an era of immediate gratification and painless, one click distribution. App production is a cottage industry, not something entrusted to only a few experts or those who can raise venture capital. It allows the small to distribute widely and get a shot at stardom.’ He adds that ‘The result is an explosion of apps: well over half a million new apps have been built in three years on three platforms that did not exist three years ago.’

The small can survive

He would later conclude that ‘the very reasons which are driving developers to spread their bets across all and any new platforms should indicate the potential for new platforms and the sustainability of small platforms.’ And for our money, he has it spot on. The reason we’re excited about Windows Phone 7, iOS, Android, webOS and even Meego all at once is they promise something that wasn’t afforded in the Wintel era – choice.
Yes, outright leaders will emerge eventually, but the post-PC era will be lucrative for multiple mobile OS platforms. Who those winners will eventually be is, though it may seem otherwise, not yet decided.

Photo: sam_churchill / Flickr

Intel has unveiled a new laptop category called the ‘Ultrabook’. The tech titan says the new device category will include the best features from tablet PCs, hopefully perfecting the hybrid device many have tried to before. It appears this is how the silicon giant will find a foothold in the fast-growing mobile devices category it has struggled to make its mark on.

Quite pricey

At the upcoming Computext technology exhibition held in Taipei, Asus is widely expected to show its first PC in the Ultrabook category. What might put consumers off the admittedly interesting device category is the price tag – Intel says they will ‘cost under $1,000’ (£610) when they’re released this Christmas. The problem with that pricing range is it will likely be closer to $1,000 than not, which is somewhat concerning if so.

40 per cent consumer market share

Tom Kilroy, who is a senior VP with Intel, said he expected that the lightweight, svelte, yet high-performance Ultrabook laptops will account for 40 per cent of consumer laptop sales by the end of 2012.

He confidently said: ‘We’re shooting for ultra responsive. You’ll have always-on, always-connected, much more responsive devices, similar to what you would see with a tablet today such as an iPad.’ He did promise that the device’s average price will tend towards $600 (around £360) soon after release.

Not so sure about this

For Intel, this big roll of the dice in the tablet PCs category comes during a tense period for the company. Accustomed to being the dominant player in computer processing technology, the company was caught unawares by the rapid rise of mobile devices like smartphones and tablet PCs, and finds itself a distant second to British processing company ARM Holdings. Whether the Ultrabook laptop category will be Intel’s saving grace remains to be seen.

Photo: HP

Just as I began thinking all was well in the tech world since we’d gone a lengthy period without a large scale product recall, Hewlett-Packard goes and breaks the trend. ITNews reported an HP recall for 162,000 lithium-ion batteries upon discovering a product model series which was missed in their big recall last year.

Product safety

The batteries, which shipped worldwide between July 2007 and May 2008 – ages ago in PC terms – ‘can overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers,’ warned the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. That’s not the only model series discovered, with the new model series including the HP Compaq 6520s and of HP’s many Pavilion series.

The HP recall will total 162,600 lithium-ion batteries under both the HP and Compaq brands. This alone is more than the 54,000 units recalled in 2010 and 70,000 units recalled in 2011 combined. At the time, the recalled laptops were from HP Pavilions, Compaq Presarios and other HP and Compaq notebooks. The list is sprawling, though, so you should check the affected series of laptops on HP’s site if you fear your computer might be at risk, too.

Immediate safety precautions

As an immediate safety precaution, the safety commission advises you immediately remove batteries from your notebook and contact HP’s customer care. They also advise you double-check your computer was not on the affected list, even if you were previously told you were safe.

Stress, stress

Hewlett-Packard failed to explain how they missed this whole series and were forced to issue the latest HP recall, but the company did say: ‘further investigations with our suppliers that identified additional battery packs, including certain battery packs used in one additional commercial product model series.’

At the volume these companies produce at, the occasional recall of faulty technology is inevitable. The problem is it doesn’t make it okay, nor does it inspire much consumer confidence. Buy laptops with care, and always cross-reference that company’s track record.

Photo: Samsung

On the heels of news that Samsung PCs may have all come pre-installed with keylogger software on them, many began wondering whether the Korean company’s biggest release in recent times – the Samsung Series 9 laptop – had the software installed, too. Tests were run, and results found that the ultraslim laptop was in the clear.

Tested and clean

PCWorld had a 13-inch Samsung Series 9 ultraslim laptop on hand, as they had used it for testing and reviewing. On the heels of these damning investigations, the publication ran what it calls a ‘rigorous malware scan’ to see if the allegations applied to the ultraslim laptop. The security software turned up nothing.

The procedure

The laptop scanned was identical to the retail units any consumer would get. The scanning involved unboxing the laptop, backing up the hard drive, and installing and running a copy of Norton Internet Security 2011 security software. The security software, which had all the most recent security updates and virus definitions, showed that the Samsung Series 9 laptop was clean.

In all their thoroughness, PC World even scanned the registry searching for keys that StarLogger would usually leave behind, and found nothing.

And the lesson here is?

While consumer electronics giant Samsung will be under a burning microscope over the coming weeks, if you planned on purchasing the Samsung Series 9 ultraslim laptop, you are safe.

That’s the first lesson. The second lesson learnt is to never trust a computer, even if it’s fresh out of the box and you believe you’ve never exposed it to malicious software of any kind. Always – and this means always – buy security software, and do frequent scans. Sure it’s a schlep, and a tedious exercise, but the risk of having someone steal private information like your credit card details is too high to chance.

Photo: DieZBW / Flickr

It’s easy for tech journalists to theorize whether a certain device category is here to stay or is just a fad – in many ways it’s a big part of our jobs. However, when an executive from a company that should be a big player in the field does the same, we sit up and listen. That’s exactly what high-ranking Microsoft exec Craig Mundie has just done, saying tablets might not be here for the long haul.

Coming from the top down

Mundie, who reports directly to Steve Ballmer as global chief research and strategy officer of Microsoft, said tablet PCs (and by extension Windows tablet PCs) might be no more than a flash in the pan. Speaking at a lunch in Sydney hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, he said he was unsure whether tablets would ‘remain with us or not.’

Smartphone the computer, laptop the desktop, tablet the nothing?

Mundie echoed many people’s sentiment in saying that he believes that the smartphone ‘will become your most personal computer’, while the laptop would be a ‘portable desk’. This, by his reasoning, could leave little room for the tablet PC to thrive in the long run.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported Mundie saying: ‘I think there’s an important distinction – and frankly one we didn’t jump on at Microsoft fast enough – between mobile and portable.’ He continued, saying: ‘Mobile is something that you want to use while you’re moving, and portable is something that you move and then use.’

The problem is, tablets don’t sit comfortably in either of these distinctions. He says: ‘These are going to bump into one another a little bit and so today you can see tablets and pads and other things that are starting to live in the space in between. Personally I don’t know whether that space will be a persistent one or not.’

Sound reasoning

Mundie’s reasoning is certainly sound, and it is a problem that has often been raised regarding Windows tablet PCs and those made by others – they’re not quite as portable as smartphones, nor as versatile in use as laptops. Still, even with those concerns, people are snapping them up in huge numbers. The problem for Microsoft, at this point, is that people aren’t buying them from the Windows maker, but rather buying them from long-term competitor Apple.

Moreover, it seems like the next major play for Windows tablet PCs are still some way away. It’s certainly a difficult position to be in.

Photo: ^CiViLoN^ / Flickr

Reports this weekend say Sony is the latest of a string of high profile companies planning on getting a foothold in the ultra-slim laptop category. The company is developing a hybrid laptop that has been given the unfortunate ‘Macbook Air Killer’ title.

The double whammy

Sony Insider says that the Japanese titan is developing an ultra-slim hybrid portable, which converts to a desktop replacement when docked, as well as a Sony Chrome OS netbook. And, apparently, they’re both slated to arrive this summer (US).

The Vaio Hybrid PC

The Vaio Hybrid PC is two-parted in that the core will be the ultra-thin notebook, which will reportedly ship with an Intel i7 processor, an SSD drive, Intel’s Lightpeak technology, HDMI output with support for 3D, 8 to 16 hours of battery life, no optical drive and a weight of just 2.5 pounds.

Part two is a component that transforms the Vaio Hybrid PC into a desktop replacement. Essentially you’re getting a 1.5 pound docking unit, which combines a graphic processor, a Blu-ray writer and reader. Output includes HDMI, VGA, a USB port and an Ethernet port.

Chrome netbook

The Sony Chrome netbook will, supposedly, have specs that are more in line with a tablet PC then present day high-end netbooks. It’s rumoured to have an 11.6-inch display, sporting a resolution of 1366×768. It will also have 1GB of RAM, as well as 16GB of card-based storage. The Chrome OS netbook will have 8 hours of battery life, is only 1-inch thick, and weighs in at 2.2 pounds.

Shake the connection fight for your life

While the Vaio Hybrid PC would do well to shake the Macbook Air Killer billing, the Sony Chrome OS netbook has a far more difficult task to overcome. The excitement for Google’s new mobile OS platform has tapered somewhat. Whether it will be the kick the netbooks category needs or a device dead on arrival due to its own sibling, Android, remains to be seen.

Photo: Samsung

The Samsung Series 9 laptop, the world’s latest Macbook Air Killer, is ready to ship. While it’s an ultra sleek proposition likely to get a rabid following, its pricing might lead to it struggling in unseating Apple.

Ultra-slim is ultra chic

Right now ultra-slim laptops are all the rage, and the Samsung Series 9 laptop first unveiled at CES 2011 immediately grabbed a great deal of mindshare.

The 13-inch head-turning beauty measures in at a slick 0.64-inches thick, and it weighs just shy of 3 pounds. It comes with 128GB SSD memory, and with a respectable 4GB of RAM.

The ultra-slim Samsung Series 9 laptop also comes in an 11-inch version, scheduled to arrive in April. It ships with 2GB RAM, and 64GB SSD memory.

The Macbook Air comparison

Unfortunately for Samsung, there’s no way for the company to escape the unfortunate Macbook Air killer billing, and on this it’s hard to say the company fares too well.

The most immediate comparison is with respect to pricing. Where Apple’s 13-inch Air costs $1,599 with 256GB flash storage or $1,299 with 128GB flash, the Samsung Series 9 laptop starts at $1,649 if you buy the Windows 7 Home Premium version, or $1,699 if you purchase the Windows 7 Professional addition. That’s a big price difference, especially given Apple’s reputation for always being the ‘premium, expensive’ brand.

Apple versus Samsung

What’s most interesting to me about the Samsung Series 9 – the Macbook Air Killer apparent – is it’s another area where Apple and Samsung are squaring off. We’ve been predicting that 2011 would be the year these two titans would finally go tooth and nail at each other, and it is already happening in the smartphones game. It will be interesting to see if it happens with tablet PCs and ultra-slim laptops, too.

Photo: Dan_H / Flickr

In the wake of the official death of the Dell Atamo, there’s a rumour spreading that Acer, Asustek and Lenovo are prepping ultra-thin notebooks of their own. With the source being the often-right DigiTimes, this rumour is worth taking note of, even if it is somewhat overshadowed by all the happenings at MWC.

Hitting the treadmill for Q2 2011

Digitimes reports that the slim-sized notebook, vying for a piece of the new Macbook Air pie, will start being rolled out in the second quarter of 2011. Supposedly the computer vendors are aiming to make comparatively performing products at more competitive prices than that of Apple’s offering, according to the publication’s sources.

Acer will use Q2 to launch its next generation of Timeline notebooks, with development being outsourced to Wistron. For their part, Asustek will launch its U-series slim laptop models available in 13-inch and 14-inch sizes. These computers will also be outsourced, with Pegatron Technology tasked with manufacturing them.

The Lenovo ideaPad line is supposedly the launch pad the Chinese computer manufacturer will use for its assault on the ultra-slim laptop market. The line is scheduled for Q3, with Pegatron once again being the production partner.

How will these be priced?

While information is scarce on the individual specs of these incoming ultra-slim laptop lines, there is some speculation on pricing. Apparently all three vendors will price their offerings under $1,000 (£623), in an attempt to avoid the fate the Dell Adamo lineup had, which was priced at a painful $2,000 at launch.

Incidentally, these three manufacturers aren’t the first to compete against the new Macbook Air. Samsung was one of the earliest to respond, announcing their Series 9 laptop at CES 2011 last month. Being fond of the new Macbook Air, we’re curious to see how these Windows-based ultra-slim laptop offerings fare.

Photo: Samsung

We’re only a day in, and I already feel like CES 2011 is superior to last year’s lackluster show. Korean consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung is doing its part in making the show, announcing various products, ranging from tablet PCs to 3D TVs and beyond. The Intel Sandy Bridge powered Samsung Series 9 laptop that has magically been kept under wraps until now is easily one of the more exciting reveals. Oh, and it also escalates up the Samsung Apple rivalry.

Macbook Air killer

Sadly for it, the Samsung Series 9 laptop has been given the unfortunate moniker of being the ‘Macbook Air Killer’. We aren’t suggesting it’s unfortunate because we think it’s unable to match or outdo Apple’s slim notebook, but rather because, given its design and specs alone, this computer deserves to stand on its own merit. Nevertheless, given Apple’s high profile, it’s impossible to not be compared to it these days when a company releases a product in the same category.

The similarities

Why then has it been dubbed a Macbook Air killer? Primarily because it shares a lot of the Air’s feature. It has a super slim .64-inch profile, where the Air ranges from .11 to .68-inches. They both weigh 2.9 pounds (1.73kg). Both feature 13.3-inch displays with resolutions of 1366×768 and both omit optical drives, and use SSD for storage. They’re also both insanely sexy, with the black brushed metal look of the Samsung Series 9 laptop contrasting well against the aluminium look of the new Macbook Air.

The difference maker

The big, big, big difference maker is in processor differences. Where the new Macbook Air has the dated 1.86GHz core 2 duo for a processor, the Samsung Series 9 leaps two generations ahead of that with its Intel Sandy Bridge 1.4Ghz i5 processor. While we’ve yet to have a proper hands-on to see how well it performs, on paper this particular Samsung Apple showdown is a no contest with Samsung’s machine runs circles around Apple’s.

Pricing and availability

It ships in February, with the entry-level model of Samsung’s new laptop costing a painful $1,599 (about £1,030), which is $300 more expensive than Apple’s entry-level 13.3-inch new Macbook Air.

Were we right?

What was it we said about Samsung having a right go at Apple in 2011? Given how much of Samsung’s components Apple uses, the companies are what can only be called frenemies, but for a side-by-side pound-for-pound comparison, no other hardware manufacturer matches up to Apple the way Samsung currently does. This Samsung Apple rivalry will be one to watch in 2010, and as soon as we get a hold of the Series 9 laptop, we’ll have a review up for you.