As reported previously, there will be new ASUS Zenbook Ultrabooks with Full HD displays soon. The previously reported news has been confirmed by The Verge who have picked up a full spec sheet for the new ASUS UX31A and UX21A models that will launch when Ivy Bridge goes into production.
The Verge is also confirming the backlit keyboard but adding information on various screen options that range from matte to gloss with different brightness ratings. I can’t imagine that all the variants (including 2GB and 4GB RAM versions and three Ivy Bridge CPU versions) will all make it to productions but it’s great to see that ASUS are attempting to raise the bar. There’s also a switch to an Intel WiFi module that supports Wireless Display. Let’s hope it’s a high-end Centrino module although to be honest, the UX21 and UX31 already have good quality Qualcomm Atheros WiFi modules.
At the Acer press event at CeBIT today we heard about the S5, the levitating Ultrabook!
It’s still the ‘thinnest in the world’ and still 15mm thick but we did manage to confirm some specs and get a little look at the device manager.
At the moment it’s being marketed as a 2nd-gen Core Ultrabook but it’s clear that unless Intel have some more, major delays on Ivy Bridge production that it will launch as a 2nd-generation Ultrabook with 3rd-generation Core CPU.
More images, along with the hands-on video, below. DOn’t forget to check the related posts below for information from CES.
We stumbled across a new Ultrabook on Day 0 (set-up day) of CeBIT in Germany.
This is the Gigabyte U2442 U/V Ultra Pro Book from gigabyte that’s launching at CeBIT this week. Based on the fact that it was taken off the booth after we took the pics and video, below, it looks like it’s not happening today!
There are some very interesting specs to consider here.
So what do we want to find out about the Acer S5 Ultrabook? Acer launched it at CES in January where we got our first hands-on and this week Acer are showing it off at CeBIT. We’re there too and looking forward to another rendezvous.
According to the CeBIT exhibitors list, Acer will be showing the ‘thinnest Ultrabook in the world’ with Acer Green Instant On, Acer Always Connect, the MagicFlip port panel and Thunderbolt port.
If you thought that tracking processors, clockrates and TDP figures was hard last year, just wait until later this year when ‘programmable TDP’ CPUs hit Ultrabooks. It looks like we’ll have to make a change to our product database to accommodate this new idea in multi-use CPUs.
The Fujitsu Ultrabook photos we brought to you in Nov will soon be real. Fujitsu have revealed a roadmap that shows two Ultrabooks being launched in May.
I suspected that the Acer S5 shown at CES was going to be an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook as it fits with the Q2 timescale, previous leak and hidden CPU information on the demo we saw at CES. it looks like another tech site saw the possibility that the S5 is based on Ivy Bridge too and took the chance to benchmark it. CPU figures are slightly better than on Sandy Bridge but the GPU figures show a marked improvement.
At a Toshiba Press event this evening we got a glimpse of the 14” laptop that will be the next Toshiba (USA) Satellite Ultrabook (not high-end Portege brand as the Z835 is in the USA.) At ‘under 4lb’ it’s not the ultra-light that the Z830/Z835 is but you’re looking at a device that will be cheaper than the Z830 and will be targeted at a more mainstream customer. We even caught a brief glimpse of Windows 8 running on it.
