The recent success of tablet computers such as the Motorola Xoom and Apple iPad have ushered in a new era of mobile computing. These devices, however, generally like the power and familiar feel of netbook or latop computer.
The recent success of tablet computers such as the Motorola Xoom and Apple iPad have ushered in a new era of mobile computing. These devices, however, generally like the power and familiar feel of netbook or latop computer. Beginning late this year, a new generation of laptops will begin to appear that are desgined to compete with the growing tablet market.
These ultra-thin "Ultrabooks," priced within the sub-$1,000 range, will be powered by Intel's new Ivy Bridge chipset, the first to use the incredibly narrow 22-nanometer etching process. Finer etching allows Intel to pack in more transistors per aea, which translates into greater efficiency, more processing power and, ultimately, slimmer computers. This is good news for the latop and netbook industry, which has lost some ground to their new tablet rivals. Consumers are certainly demanding ever-more powerful and portable electronic devices that can fullfill most (if not all) of thier computing needs.
Following in the footsteps of the super-thin MacBook Air, the next generation of ultrabooks has begun to arrive with the recent release of the Asus UX21. The ultrabook has a 11.6-inch display, is 1.2 inches thick, and weighs about 2.4 pounds. The iPad 2, for comparison, has a 9.7 inch display and weighs about 1.3 pounds. The Asus UX21, however, is powered by Intel's core i5 processor with Sandy Bridge architecture. When the Ivy Bridge generation ultrabooks come out later this year, we can expect the thickness and weight of these devices to come down.
No doubt a few ports, common on netbooks and laptops today, will have to be eliminated for ultrabooks to reach the sub-1 inch threshold. Many ports, such as VGA, and memory card readers, however, are already "legacy" hardware as they have been replaced by newer technology such as usb 3.0, hdmi, and cloud-computing.
Looking even further into the future, a third generation of ultrabooks is expected to be released in 2013 based on Intel's "Haswell" processors. With more powerful, more energy efficient and cooler-running processors, ultrabooks will continue to become thinner and increasingly tablet-like. At under two pounds, ultrabooks should be able to compete well with tablet computers like the iPad 2. The rise of the ultrabook will be great news for those who need the power of a laptop, but want the portability of a tablet.
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