Asus is reportedly working on Windows 8 laptops that are equipped with Microsoft’s Kinect technology. The Daily recently reported that it was able to “check out” two different prototype laptops that “appeared” to be made by Asus. The Kinect sensor was built into the area where a notebook’s camera would typically reside, and The Daily also noted a set of LEDs below the screen. Microsoft reportedly confirmed that the notebooks were Kinect-enabled prototypes. As The Daily points out, a Kinect-enabled notebook could allow a user to interact with Windows 8 or play games using motion controls, much like Xbox 360 Kinect users are able to do now. It is unclear when, or even if, the notebooks will ever be released.

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Acer, Asus and Lenovo will reportedly begin selling ultrabooks equipped with Intel’s fast and versatile Thunderbolt I/O port, which combines DisplayPort and PCI Express, during the second quarter of 2012. DigiTimes said mostly high-end computers will adopt Thunderbolt this year since it now costs more than $20 to add Thunderbolt connectivity to a computer. Apple was one of the first companies to adopt Thunderbolt and it currently equips a number of its computers and displays with the technology. A recent patent filing also suggested Apple may begin using Thunderbolt in iOS devices, too.

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AMD is reportedly planning to undercut Intel by offering cheaper ultrabook components later this year. The notebooks are expected to cost between $700 and $999, which is a good deal cheaper than the $999-$1,200 price tag that many ultrabooks carry now. DigiTimes notes that AMD’s technology will not add any new innovative functions but will instead be focused on delivering consumers thin and light devices at a much more wallet-friendly price. The first round of AMD-powered ultrabooks is expected to hit the market in June.Read

HP recently circulated a short video of a new ultra-thin notebook that is purportedly its upcoming HP Envy Spectre ultrabook. While there aren’t any specs discussed in the video, we’re definitely impressed by what appears to be a very sleek design. HP’s first ultrabook, the Folio 13, was unveiled in November and it offers the latest Intel Core processors, a 128GB SSD and more for a relatively affordable $900 price point. The Consumer Electronics Show is just around the corner so hopefully we’ll hear a bit more about the Spectre next week. The clip follows after the break.

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Following the early successes of its of 11-inch and 13-inch ultrabooks, Acer has reportedly decided to build a brand new 15-inch ultrabook that may dramatically undercut the price of Apple’s rumored 15-inch MacBook Air. DigiTimes said Wednesday that Acer has already contracted Pegratron to build the new computer, and that the device could be priced as low as $699 — $300 cheaper than the entry-level 11-inch MacBook Air. The latest rumors suggest that Apple could be prepared to deliver its 15-inch MacBook Air to the market as soon as the first quarter next year and that the device is already in the early stages of production. It is unclear when Acer’s new ultrabook will launch.

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Are PC makers starting to give up on tablets? Manufacturers Asus and Acer are shifting focus to Intel-powered ultrabooks instead of tablets to improve gross margins, DigiTimes said on Tuesday. The site’s report suggests that the notebook market may soon begin to rebound after declining in 2011. Both firms are seemingly drawn to the wider margins achieved on sales of notebook computers, and are also gravitating away from developing low-cost netbooks. Asus and Acer aren’t alone; other reports have suggested that Dell and HP may also abandon the tablet market next year despite rumors both would launch Windows 8 tablets during the third quarter. In addition, Asus and Acer are eyeing opportunities in emerging markets such as China, Indonesia and India as opposed to the United States and Europe, where the firms typically spend the most effort trying to sell devices. Asus has previously denied reports that it might abandon Android tablets.

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Last year more than 100 tablets were unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show and this year it appears the focus could shift to Intel-powered ultrabooks. Demand for ultrabooks — devices defined as powerful thin and light notebooks with long-lasting battery life — is expected to begin to heat up following the holidays and January’s Consumer Electronics Show. More than 50 new ultrabook models will be displayed during CES and the category is expected to be one of the hottest consumer electronic segments on the show floor, Taiwan Economic News said Tuesday, citing insights from a show organizer. Intel, which invested $300 million in the utltrabook platform, also said that there will be more than 60 different ultrabook models available during 2012, and the chip maker’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processors will power many of them. Initial reports suggested that ultrabooks are off to a slow start, with just 50,000 units shipped so far from Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba combined. Additionally, weak sales of the first models from Asus and Acer forced both firms to scale back production by as much as 40%, another report suggested.

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Laptops running Microsoft’s Windows operating system currently utilize x86 processors, but that’s all about to change in mid-2013 when Windows 8 notebooks powered by ARM processors may hit the market. It could happen sooner, of course; Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs recently said that Windows 8 devices powered by his company’s ARM-based Snapdragon processors would hit the market in 2012. The Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices may only be tablets at first, however, and DigiTimes said Tuesday the first ARM-based notebooks from ASUS and Lenovo will begin to hit the market in June of 2013. Read on for more.

DigiTimes‘ sources said that software support will be the biggest barrier to entry for many manufacturers, but Jacobs recently suggested application support won’t be much of an issue. “For the apps that you really care about, I don’t see it as a significant growth inhibitor in terms of ARM vs. Windows,” Jacobs said earlier this month.

While ARM is said to currently offer a better power efficiency to price ratio than Intel’s processors, the company is expected to face stiff competition from Intel’s new 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, which are expected to be more power efficient than the company’s previous-generation chips.

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Facebook settled a privacy lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission on Friday and agreed to submit independent audits for the next 20 years. The FTC had accused the social network of being deceptive in its privacy practices, Reuters explained. ”Facebook’s innovation does not have to come at the expense of consumer privacy,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. Facebook will create two positions dedicated to privacy, including a chief privacy officer. In addition, Reuters said the social network must be transparent about what it does with personal user data in the future and it must receive user permission before changing how it shares private user data. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he “is committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy.”

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HP unveiled its first Ultrabook on Wednesday, the Folio 13. The laptop packs a 13.3-inch display, 9 hours of battery life, a 128GB SSD, USB 3.0, an Ethernet jack, an HP TrueVision HD webcam, and Windows 7 in a small 3.3-pound unit that measures just 18mm thick. The notebook, no doubt created to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air, will be targeted at business users and can be outfitted with one of Intel’s latest Core processors, although specific chip speeds were not identified by HP. The Folio 13 will make its debut on December 7th for $899.99. HP also announced several new ENVY notebooks, including the HP ENVY 15, the ENVY 17 and the ENVY 17 3D, and two new Pavilion dm4 models, including a special Beats Edition with a black and red design and a signature Beats logo on the lid. The full press release from HP follows after the break.

HP Unveils Its First Business Ultrabook, Offering Industry’s Best Battery Life

HP Folio¹³ designed to bridge gap between professional and personal life

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 16, 2011

HP today introduced its first business Ultrabook™, which features a thin and light design, strong security options and a responsive solid-state hard drive for the ultimate mobile experience.

The HP Folio¹³ also delivers up to 9 hours⁽¹⁾ of battery life, the highest performance available among Ultrabook devices currently on the market.

With the battery life to get them through the workday, users are no longer saddled with carrying power adapters to charge their notebook PCs. Plus, a wide array of ports, including Ethernet, eliminates the need to carry dongles. Mobile professionals can now stay productive and get through their entire business day – from home to business and back home – with only the HP Folio¹³.

“This category of product breaks new ground and will be a likely choice for businesses to offer to employees looking for a more consumer-centric experience,” said Crawford Del Prete, executive vice president, Worldwide Research Products, and chief research officer, IDC. “We expect Ultrabooks will re-ignite interest in the small form factor PC category, and by 2015 expect 95 million Ultrabooks will be shipping worldwide annually.”

Measuring less than 18 millimeters thin and using an ultraslim 13.3-inch diagonal high-definition (HD)⁽²⁾ BrightView display, the HP Folio¹³ weighs just 3.3 pounds.⁽³⁾ It combines the cool industrial design found on consumer products with the security and usability business users demand.

Powered by the latest Intel® Core™ processors,⁽⁴⁾ the HP Folio¹³ also includes Intel Rapid Start Technology, which helps save time by getting users systems up and running fast.

The HP Folio¹³ includes a backlit keyboard for mobile users who work in low-light conditions. A full array of ports, including RJ-45 and USB 3.0, allows users greater flexibility to connect to the information they need. The HP Folio¹³ also includes a solid-state drive (SSD) with 128 gigabytes (GB)⁽⁵⁾ of storage for fast response times and increased reliability.

One model will include a TPM Embedded Security Chip that protects data in email as well as information on the hard drive for security-conscious users.⁽⁶⁾

The HP Folio¹³ features HP CoolSense technology, which uses advanced hardware and intelligent software for a noticeably cooler notebook. The notebook also includes an HP ImagePad for highly accurate, advanced multitouch gesture support.

Additional features include an HP TrueVision HD Webcam⁽²⁾ for brighter, cleaner HD images, and Dolby Advanced Audio.

The HP Folio¹³ also can be configured with a range of Microsoft Windows® 7 operating systems, including Windows 7 Professional. A three-year limited warranty is available through an optional HP Care Pack.

Users who need a desktop-like environment or additional audio, video, network and USB connectivity can connect the HP Folio¹³ to the optional HP USB 2.0 dock.

Pricing and availability

The HP Folio¹³ is expected to be available on Dec. 7 with a starting price of $899.99.⁽⁷⁾

Additional information is available at www.hp.com/personal and http://shopping.hp.com/go/newfromhp.

HP also introduced new HP ENVY and HP Pavilion dm4 notebook PCs. More information is available at www.hp.com/go/newsroom.

Fearing the notebook market will not bounce back during the fourth quarter, Intel’s Ultrabook partners Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba will initially ship fewer than 50,000 units of the new thin and light notebooks DigiTimes reported on Tuesday. Intel, which will invest $300 million in Ultrabooks during the next three to four years, will also hold a conference on September 14th in an effort to attract new partners to the platform. The new notebooks are manufactured by Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics, and are expected to ship in September for launches in October. Sources speaking to DigiTimes also suggested that the notebook market may not bounce back enough for Intel to achieve its goal of owning 40% of the notebook market with its Ultrabook devices.

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Asus will launch as many as six Ultrabooks in October, Asus chairman Jonney Shih said on Monday. The notebooks will offer screen sizes between 11.6-inches and 13.3-inches. Intel detailed its plans to introduce a new category of notebooks, which it dubbed “Ultrabooks” in May. The chip maker hopes the new category will dominate 40% of the consumer notebook market by the end of 2012 and says the devices will combine the performance of today’s laptops with a tablet-like experience. Earlier reports suggested that mass production of Ultrabooks will begin in September and Intel recently invested $300 million in an effort to speed up the process of creating the devices. The first such device to hit the market is largely expected to be the ASUS UX21. Acer, Asus and Lenovo have all detailed plans to launch sub-$1,000 Ultrabooks during the fourth quarter but Shih said the six from Asus will be priced between $900 and $2,000.

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Apple has not been able to provide “significant stock” of its new 13-inch MacBook Air notebooks to its indirect reseller channels, including Amazon and Best Buy, AppleInsider reported on Tuesday. Best Buy’s website says it is sold out online while Amazon is currently selling the 128GB and 256GB models for $250 more than the computer’s MSRP. Apple’s web store currently says the computer will ship within 24 hours of purchase and AppleInsider’s checks with 10 stores around the United States revealed that the Cuptertino-based company has had relatively no issues keeping the device in stock in its own retail channels. Only one Los Angeles Apple Store said it was sold out the 13-inch 128GB model. Apple revealed its mid-2011 MacBook Air family on July 20th and the computers were upgraded with Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors and a Thunderbolt I/O port.

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Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry sent an investor note out on Wednesday warning that a weak back-to-school season caused last weekend’s Mac sales to slump between 35% and 40% from the weekend of July 23rd. It was “probably one of the slowest weekends for Mac sales,” Chowdhry said, suggesting that higher gas prices could be responsible for the decline. Chowdhry surveyed four different university book stores for his data, which doesn’t sound like a large enough sample pool to us, and employees in the stores said slower sales were likely due to summer break. Chowdhry thinks Apple could attract more customers by offering $100 refunds in the form of cash instead of in App Store gift cards. Not all analysts agree, of course: according to CultofMac, UBS analyst Maynard Um recently reported that the Mac “continues to be the most popular among consumers and students heading back to school.”

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Apple has yet to release a MacBook with an integrated 3G modem, but that doesn’t mean the company hasn’t toyed with the idea. A 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced on eBay with a built-in 3G antenna and a SIM-card slot. The seller says he or she originally purchased the 3G-capable MacBook Pro “for parts,” from a former Apple engineer and said “it was immediately clear this was no normal MacBook Pro.” The machine’s SIM card slot is still recognized by OS X 10.6.8 Leopard but the seller has been unable to get the data connection working properly, and noted that “it’s entirely possible it never worked.” The high bid for the one-of-a-kind MacBook Pro was $11,211.11 at the time of this writing. Read on for a few more images.

[Via MacRumors]

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