Johannesburg, 31 Aug 2012
Windows 8 is inspiring hardware manufacturers to blur the lines between tablets, ultrabooks and laptops.
At the IFA Berlin consumer electronics show, Toshiba, Asus and Dell this week unveiled some of their new Windows 8 devices that will go on sale in October with the official launch of Windows 8 to the public.
Toshiba's Satellite U925t Ultrabook convertible has a 12.5-inch HD touch-screen display that can slide over the keyboard to function as a tablet. The ultrabook runs on a third-generation Intel Core i5 processor, features two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, front- and rear-facing cameras and a 128GB solid state drive. The Satellite U925t is expected to cost just over $1 000, but pricing is yet to be confirmed by Toshiba.
Asus has unveiled a Windows 8 Vivo Tab and Vivo Tab RT - both designed with removable qwerty keyboards and are optimised for use with a stylus. The Vivo Tab RT features a 10.1-inch display and is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 12-core GPU with 2GB RAM and 32GB on-board storage.
The Vivo Tab has an 11.6-inch display and is powered by an Intel Atom processor supported by 2GB RAM and 64GB on-board storage. The keyboard dock for both the Vivo Tab and Vivo Tab RT has two USB ports and a second battery for extended use. Pricing for the tabs is yet to be revealed.
A more ambitious design concept by Asus is seen in the Taichi ultrabook, which features a double-sided display. The one side is a standard laptop display, while the other outward-facing screen features a multi-touch, stylus-supported screen. The two screens reportedly function independently of each other, allowing for the device to be used by two users simultaneously - something which Asus hopes will inspire innovative new applications. Detailed specifications are yet to be released.
From Dell, the XPS Duo 12 features a design concept previously seen in the Inspiron Duo - a netbook that can be used as a tablet. While the Inspiron Duo was praised for its design, it was criticised for having the limiting capabilities of a netbook - the XPS Duo 12 addresses these concerns by bringing ultrabook specifications to the table.
The screen of the XPS Duo 12 can swivel within its frame, latching into place via magnets. This allows for the screen to be flipped around and closed on top of the keyboard to create a tablet. It is expected to ship with the full version of Windows 8 (not the ARM-based version designed specifically for tablets). Pricing and detailed specs are yet to be revealed.
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