Intel is using the yearly Computex Taipei exhibition in Taiwan as a platform to pitch a new category of laptops. Dubbed Ultrabooks, these devices are supposed to have three distinct features: they are thinner (less than 20mm/0.8 inches) and lighter than most existing laptops, and they should be priced below $ 1,000 in order to become mainstream.
Intel VP Sean Maloney says Ultrabooks have “tablet-like features” and boast “best-in-class performance, improved responsiveness and security in thin, elegant form factors”.
This all sounds a lot like the iPad and the MacBook Air, if you ask me.
But Intel doesn’t want to lose time: after rolling out a first wave of Ultrabooks with Sandy Bridge processors on board, the plan is to sell models with next-generation “Ivy Bridge” processors starting in the first half of next year. Intel is also speaking of an Ivy Bridge successor codenamed “Haswell” to be used in Ultrabooks from 2013 onward, claiming Haswell “will reduce microprocessor power to half of today’s design point”.
By the end of 2012, Maloney expects a whopping 40% of all consumer laptops worldwide to comply with the Ultrabook specification. The first Ultrabook, the Asus UX21 (pictured above), is currently slated for release this winter.
I’m not really sure this research is as revealing as it seems to be. Take a look at the above diagram. The take-away is that since the introduction of the iPad, the Kindle’s share of the e-reader market has dropped from 68% to 40%. This suggests that sales of the Kindle are dropping, or that Amazon is losing ground to Apple. But the simple nature of the study by ChangeWave suggests a different conclusion.
Think about it. The iPad comes out, and millions have sold. Percentage is zero-sum; a new competitor on the market will almost always decrease the points owned by the market leader, but that doesn’t mean that people are buying it instead of the market leader. The Kindle is selling like crazy, and so is the iPad; it’s become, as Ars Technica puts it, a two-horse race for now.
As we so often have to point out, the differences between the Kindle and the iPad are enormous. Comparing the two is a foolish game, as they exist in and appeal to different markets. Very few people said to themselves “the Kindle is a nice device, but I think I’ll spend the extra $ 400 and get an iPad.” They don’t compete the way the Kindle and the Nook or Kobo compete. And within the Kindle’s real realm of competition, they reign supreme.
The iPad has simply added to the total number of people who identify as owning an e-reader, and because of its immense success (which I am in no way trying to deny), it has skewed the numbers.
…items? A friend has been using a Kensington Portable Power Pack for Mobile Devices to recharge his iPhone while in the woods.
I just bought a Brunton Inspire Portable Power Device but do not understand where to add it to the site.
Similar products could use a Portable Battery/Charger category like:
Duracell Instant USB Charger with Lithium…
gdgt – new in gadgets
