According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Dell is ready to readdress the luxury notebook market with a new ultra-thin offering to take on Apple’s MacBook Air. Dell launched its sleek Adamo line in March 2009 and its first model was an underpowered, over-designed offering that started at $2,000. Dell would later introduce less expensive Adamo laptops but consumers still wouldn’t bite, and the Adamo line was killed off in early 2011. On Tuesday, Dell will unveil its latest attempt to capture the hearts, minds and credit card numbers of prospective MacBook Air buyers with the slender XPS 15z. The new laptop will sport a price tag that starts at $999, and while Apple’s MacBook Air starts at $999 as well, that sum will only get you an 11-inch Air while Dell’s new notebook will apparently be the thinnest 15-inch laptop on the planet. Hit the break for a teaser video Dell ran earlier this month.

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A few things come to mind when we see a computer thinner than most mobile phones, including the iPhone. For instance, what could this thing possibly be packing besides a screen and a keyboard? At just 9.99mm thin, the Dell Adamo XPS sets the new standard for thinness in the notebook world, but quite frankly we hope this doesn’t become a new trend. There aren’t too many details on the new computer just yet – only that it’s ridiculously thin. And silver. And Sony’s X Series is right around the corner. What do you guys think, is your Macbook Air feeling a little too fat now?

[Via Gizmodo]

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Although the release of Dell’s first laptop in the Adamo line isn’t a huge shock thanks to the little tidbit we got earlier, at least we can now say it’s official. Dell has just announced its new dream machine — but it’s going to cost a pretty penny. For $1,999, you get a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and a 128GB solid state drive. While you can easily find a decent notebook that packs far more punch than this Adamo model for a fraction of the price, it sure as hell won’t look anywhere near as sexy. The build quality should also be top-notch due to the fact that its chassis is milled and sculpted from a single sheet of aluminum (hmm, a trend that seems to be catching on). Hop to it if you’ve been holding out for one of these because pre-orders start today and deliveries begin March 26. Oh, and don’t forget to hit the jump for a video and the full press release.

ROUND ROCK, Texas, March 17, 2009 – Style-minded people who place a premium on precision craftsmanship and design can now add Adamo to their list of must-have items for 2009. Dell today unveiled the world’s thinnest laptop as a kick off to the new Adamo by Dell brand.

Adamo, derived from the Latin word meaning “to fall in love,” will serve as a flagship in a line of products created to disrupt the personal computing space with the combination of new design, aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies.

The News:

Adamo is the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design and features:

• A chassis milled from a single piece of aluminum featuring precision detailing and a scalloped backlit keyboard
• Striking high definition edge-to-edge glass display
• Fully connected with WiFi, Bluetooth(tm) and optional integrated mobile broadband* and full complement of connectivity ports with no compromises
• Cool, quiet and robust solid state drives
• Available in Onyx and Pearl colors with a broad range of complementary accessories
• Price starting at $1999

Quotes:

“Great design needs to be timeless and evoke emotion in people”, said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president of Dell’s consumer products. “While a premium computing experience was assumed for Adamo, the intent was for people to see, touch and explore Adamo and be rewarded by the select materials and craftsmanship you would expect in a fine watch.”

“Dell continues to signal a commitment to design and personalization across its entire product line and has made significant strides forward in the past year,” said Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group. “The Adamo laptop is a showcase for this commitment and a flagship product that will draw buyers to the brand.”

People who choose Adamo will be offered a unique color matched collection of Adamo by Dell branded peripherals and accessories including, in the U.S. an exclusive line of bags from TUMI. Choices will include:

• External storage option with 250GB** or 500GB** external hard drive.
• External DVD+/-RW or Blu-ray disc drive.
• 8GB** USB drive.
• Connectors and cables including DisplayPort to HDMI, DVI, and VGA.
• Adamo Premium Service (US Only):
• 24/7 access to Dell’s best trained technicians
• Consistent communication with a dedicated personal team

The Adamo by Dell brand is being supported by innovative and new approaches to marketing and promotion for Dell. Designed to challenge people’s perceptions of what a computer is, the Adamo by Dell brand was inspired by fashion, luxury brands and timeless design.

Dell has looked beyond traditional approaches to reaching computer shoppers and launched a provocative campaign featuring:

• A stylish worldwide print campaign shot by acclaimed British-based photographer Nadav Kandar and featuring high-fashion models that reinforces the “fall in love” positioning. Kander, whose work is celebrated in galleries worldwide, also shot the moving portfolio, “Obama’s People,” which appeared in The New York Times Magazine earlier this year.
• AdamoByDell.com , the centerpiece of the campaign and a highly stylized site where viewers can learn about Adamo, register for updates and, beginning today, place orders. Since its launch last month, AdamoByDell.com has attracted nearly 800,000 unique visitors from around the world and more than 1 million page views.
• Artful packaging in which the product arrives “floating” in a clear box with minimal clutter – a beautiful experience for a sophisticated product.
• Product Specifications:
• Intel® Core 2 Duo processors with Intel® Centrino ® technology
• DDR3 system memory
• 13.4-inch 16:9 HD display
• Draft-Wireless N
• High-performance solid state drives standard
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Mobile Broadband* option
• Up to 5+ hours of battery life (preliminary)***
• 2 USB ports, 1 USB/eSATA combo port, Display Port, RJ-45 port
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit

Available for pre-order today at www.adamobydell.com and shipping worldwide starting March 26, 2009, Adamo will be available online for purchase in 24 countries including U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, U.K. France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, ANZ, China, Honk Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia/Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia.

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A sponsored advertisement on Google’s Ireland website may have inadvertently leaked the release date for the much hyped Dell Adamo. The sponsored link for Dell Adamo promises that we can “Discover the love story on 17/3″ and sends the user to Dell’s Adamo splash page. Sure this could be another slick marketing ploy but it could mean we’re all in for a treat tomorrow — a very expensive treat. We must admit that a St. Patrick’s Day launch revealed by an Irish website sounds delightfully ironic, doesn’t it? Maybe Dell will even launch a special model in green to go along with all the green beer that will be flowing. No? Ok, probably not.

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There is still a massive shroud of mystery surrounding the upcoming Adamo line of high-end laptops by Dell. The scrappy Texas start up-turned PC giant semi-announced the line last month at CES, showing off a sexy black laptop, saying essentially nothing about it and allowing no one to turn it on. Smooth. Dell just updated its Adamo microsite to include a new Flash layout with links to a bunch of coverage Adamo has received thus far (and one link to a video that has nothing to do with the Adamo), along with a whimsical intro and a few fields where you can sign up for future info. There is still very little known about Dell’s luxury line of inevitably overpriced laptops but from the looks of things we may soon be in store for a new round of details. For the time being however, basic specs, metal cases, spun metal trackpads, backlit keys, high quality materials and luxury-level price tags are the only details you can take to the bank.

Thanks, Rupam and J.C.!

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Dell chose the final weekday of CES 2009 to take the wraps off its rumor-riddled Adamo premium notebook, but took a very odd approach when doing so. During a press event a short while ago, Dell made a few announcements as media attendees awaited news of the Adamo. When the time finally came, Dell revealed that Adamo is in fact its new luxury line as opposed to a single model and displayed an unbelievably sexy notebook that represents the first in the Adamo series. The problem? The company revealed absolutely nothing about it. It’s sleek, it’s dark, it looks gorgeous and that’s just about all she wrote. Even during the short hands-on time after the event, no one was permitted to boot the device or really do anything short of snapping a few shots besides Engadget. So all we know for sure is that we’re looking at display of approximately 13″, 3 USB ports and an eSATA jack. Also, it’s definitely not thinner than the MacBook Air as had been speculated, though we don’t carry our laptop around in a manila envelope so a tiny bit of bulk is hardly an issue. The rest remains a mystery – no word on pricing, the processor, available configurations or anything else. The Adamo model shown off at the Dell press event will be made available some time in 1H 2009. Are we excited? Thanks to a stunning lack of information, we really have no idea.

Hit the jump for more pics.

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The Adamo made another round of appearances throughout the blogosphere over the past 20 hours or so, sparked by a new article run by the New York Times’ Bits blog. As it turns out, the Times’ confirmation that the Adamo would end up being a MacBook Air competitor was built on the false premise that Dell had confirmed a blurb originally posted about the Adamo on UptownLife.net. A quote from the UptownLife post that has since been pulled from the site:

Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air. At press time, the company was keeping the product tightly under wraps, but PC users rejoice – word on the street is that something cool is coming your way.

The post was accompanied by a supposed Dell advertisement that has been pulled from the site as well. As excited as we all got that Dell had confirmed its MacBook Air rival, the Bits post was updated just over an hour later with the news that Dell had actually only confirmed the image seen in the ad and not the accompanying text. Despite Dell’s hesitance to shed any light on its Adamo for the time being, it’s becoming pretty safe to assume that initial reports of an ultra-thin Dell laptop are accurate. Dell had recently leaked details on accessories for an “Adamo Thirteen” – a 13-inch screen sounds about right – and there are just too many reports coming from various reliable sources to ignore. Don’t worry PC fans; CES is almost here and we can all expect Dell to show up, Adamo in hand.

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It appears as if Dell is trying to change its image from boxy and plain to sleek and sexy. Engadget got a hold of some photos of the leather-clad Studio XPS 13 laptop and it is a knock out. If the external photos don’t impress you the internals should as the Studio XPS 13 will come loaded with the latest Intel Montevina chipset, hybrid SLI graphics, slot-loading Blu-ray drive with HDMI, integrated Mobile broadband, edge-to-edge glass display with optional RGB LED backlighting, illuminated keyboard, capacitive multimedia buttons, integrated Gigabit networking, SATA/USB combo slot, webcam and a biometric fingerprint reader.  Still think it is just the same old Dell with a little bit of leather on top? Then you best hold onto your hats because Dell has another beauty, codenamed Adamo, in store for us in 2009. We fist told you about it earlier this morning but the boys at Engadget have managed to dig up some more rumors on what could be one of the sexiest laptops of 2009. Adamo, according to their sources, will be the introduced as the “world’s thinnest laptop”, presumably dethroning the MacBook Air. Adamo will have a black and silver color scheme similar to the XPS 13 but with a different overall design. It was expected to be released in Q4 2008 but has been pushed back until February 2009 at the earliest. No pictures of Adamo yet but you can drool over a few more shots of the XPS 13 after the jump.

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But most telling of all might have been the reaction of Michael Tatelman, Dell’s vice president in charge of consumer sales and marketing, to my question about whether or not Dell had an Air-like product in store. Mr. Tatelman’s mouth gaped open and his eyes darted away from my face.

We’re not going to put too much stock in that, but it’s definitely a possibility and we’re not saying it should be ruled out entirely. Dell is looking to break from its current image and unleash something new to give the brand a little shake-up. Analysts have this to say about a possible MacBook Air competitor from Dell:

“One of the things they could do real differently from Apple would be cheap,” said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, an analyst firm. “They could shave $400 off the MacBook Air price pretty easily.”

Analysts – what would the world be without them? Either way, Dell is taking on a pretty momentous task and we’re hoping it brings the goods. Someone needs to step up in the PC world, right? When’s the last time there was so much hype around a Dell, Sony or HP computer? Are you listening, guys?

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