As you can see from the pic above, Intel plans to share a new Ultrabook specification roadmap at the newest Computex in Taipei this year. In order for a device to be considered an "Ultrabook" it will have to meet the new specifications standard. The two biggest changes to the new spec list will require the device to use USB 3.0 and/or Thunderbolt data transfer connectors. Here's a quote with a few more details,

Intel also wants security built-in, rather than optional, as well as guarantees that a system is quick and responsive when it's fully awake. Not that this would be terribly hard with the low-voltage Ivy Bridge processors launching at the same time, mind you.

Just to reinforce the importance of it all, Intel is noting that the flood of Ultrabooks is about to pick up in a big way as the category hits the mainstream. We were promised 75 Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks this year in a presentation back at CES; that number's now up to 110, 30 of which will be Windows 8-friendly touchscreen models and another 10 opting for the convertible tablet route.

Source: Engadget

Intel just shared a press release indicating that there are 75 new Ultrabooks coming down the pipe to consumers in the near future. Additionally most of these new super-laptops will be coming with third-gen 2500 and 4000 HD graphics chips using their new 22nm process. Here's a full press release below:

Intel Developer Forum: 'Collaborative Innovation' Key to Growth for Intel and Chinese Markets
Posted by IntelPR on Apr 10, 2012 7:22:48 PM

New Technologies and Joint Lab Announcements to Advance More Secure, Connected Computing Experiences from Devices to the Cloud

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Intel® Core™ processors with Intel® Small Business Advantage (Intel® SBA) are now available, providing additional tools for PCs to help small businesses increase security and productivity.
Coming this quarter, Intel® HD Graphics 2500/4000 provides amazing 3-D graphics, further enhancing the resolution and visual detail of mainstream games and more.
New, lab-to-lab collaborations with Intel Labs China, Lenovo* address the challenges in the mobile Internet area and China Mobile Research Institute* to apply Intel® architecture to wireless base stations to power the next-generation mobile network infrastructure.


INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, Beijing, April 11, 2012 – Throughout Intel Corporation's developer forum that starts today, company executives emphasized the importance of collaborating with China's government and industry to help create new business and innovation opportunities for Intel and its 14 million developers worldwide. The management team detailed its vision of how such collaborations could potentially spawn the next-generation of advances in business, consumer electronics and many more industries around the globe.

"The impact of major global trends, such as the rapidly growing middle class as well as the explosive growth of connected, mobile Internet and cloud computing traffic, is playing out ten-fold in China," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel

... [Read More]

Lenovo just issued a press statement sharing the pricing of their soon-to-be-released ultrabook, the IdeaPad Yoga. They released the pricing for two models. The base model will run you £1,200 ($1,900), while the core i7 version will cost £1,500 ($2,380). Here's the full press release:

Lenovo unveils exclusive UK showing of world's slimmest full HD All-in-One


Lenovo brings stunning design, new innovation and forward looking technology to new range

Birmingham NEC, UK, 10th April, 2012 – Lenovo, the world's second largest PC maker, is showcasing for the first time in the UK a whole range of desktops, laptops and All-in-ones at its stand D70 at the Gadget Show live at the Birmingham NEC.


The IdeaCentre A720 All-in-One takes touch experience in the home to the next level – the industry's slimmest 27 inch screen features an innovative screen hinge that allows a more widely adjustable angle from -5 degrees to 90 degrees that allows for a more comfortable use in any position. The A720 is an ultra-stylish and fun addition for the modern home entertainment centre with integrated entertainment features such as room-shaking Dolby Home Theatre V4 audio and Lenovo High-Sense Webcam and Lenovo IdeaTouch. It combines all this with a frameless display that supports 10-point multi-touch capabilities for a greatly enhanced multi-user experience.



IdeaPad U310 and U410 - Ultra Laptops for Style and Performance

Lenovo is also expanding its Ultrabook portfolio with the IdeaPad U310 and U410. These thin and light performance laptops include other smart elements such as Lenovo Smart Update, automatically updating your mailbox, instant messaging and social media messages even in sleep mode, with up to eight of hours of battery life.

The industry's first multi-mode notebook with a 360 degree flip-and-fold design comes in the form of the IdeaPad YOGA that gives consumers four-in-one personal computing, with four separate usage modes in one PC. Combining

... [Read More]

Very soon, we will see a massive advertising campaign from Intel designed to do one thing... revive the PC industry using the new Ultrabooks as the avatar of that ascension. Supposedly, Intel plans to spend, literally "hundreds of millions" of dollars on a new spaghetti western-style ad format. The theme of this new campaign is designed to make consumers believe that anything but an Ultrabook is too "old fashioned." This will reportedly be the biggest campaign from Intel in 10 years, and they have dubbed it, "A New Era of Computing".

Above is one of the first videos of that new ad campaign. What do you guys think? Will this campaign help convince consumers to part with their hard earned dollars for a PC again?

Source: DailyTech

Folks in the UK are going to see affordable Ultrabooks a bit before everyone else apparently. The company Novatech just shared the pricing and availability dates for their new inexpensive line of Ultrabooks, the "nFinity Series." The first of these tablets will ship directly from Novatech on April 10th. They have several units available, with various features and prices. All the models come with a 14-inch screen with a 1366x768 resolution. Their chassis will be 18mm thin, and will come with HDMI, VGA and 3 USB 2.0 Ports. Here's a summary of their base model and top model:

• The base model includes a dual-core Core i3 2367 processor clocked at 1.4Ghz, 64GB of SSD storage, and 2GB of RAM, but no OS. It costs a mere £429.98 (~$683), or you can get it with Windows 7 for £90 (~$143) more.
• The top model, meanwhile, includes a Core i7 2637 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. This also contains no operating system. It sells for but the £699.98 (~$1,112), and again you can get it with Windows 7 for £90 (~$143) more.

These Ultrabooks are an incredible value when you compare them to some of the more well-known brands like Samsung and ASUS. These prices are dramatically cheaper for even higher-end specs than some of the other options. Sound off what you think in the forums.

Don't forget to discuss more about the Novatech nFinity Ultrabooks at our dedicated section: nFinity.

Source: SlashGear and NovaTech