The Acer M5 Timeline U has always been something of a price-setter in the Ultrabook field so it’s no surprise to see a touchscreen enabled version launching at a $799 entry-level price. In addition, Acer will be offering the interesting Ultrabook-alternative V5 notebook in 14 or 15 inch sizes with a touchscreen.
Acer V5 (left ) and M5 Ultrabook with touchscreen
Toshiba Europe were kind enough to give us some time with their new Windows 8 Ultrabooks. You may have read about the new models here on Ultrabooknews but this time we’ve had the chance to get hands-on. The Toshiba Satellite U840 is the entry-level Windows 8 Ultrabook and the Satellite U920t the high-end slider + touch convertible.
Toshiba Satellite U940 and Toshiba Satellite U920t. Hands-on Videos below.
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Good morning from Bonn, Germany!
I’ve been so busy with the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge over the last 2 days that a few news items have slipped through unattended. Ben is working on TWO Ultrabook reviews too so we’ll let him get on with that - he’s got a Sony and Gigabyte for you (yes, the one with the Nvidia GT640!)
First, a public announcement… let your friends and family know about a telephone support scam. I got a call yesterday and had some fun but it’s a serious matter.
But now back to the news updates…
The six teams competing in the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge have one more day to go. On the 28th September they must submit their final code to Intel. In the following week I will be testing and scoring with the other judges and on October 8th we’re going to see who’s won $10K.
Yes this is a promotional activity by Intel, but it’s one of the most interesting and educational I’ve ever been involved in. We’ve all learnt a lot and a useful trail of posts has been left by the contestants for anyone thinking about creating an Ultrabook-focused version of their Windows 8 application for either desktop or Windows 8 Store. You can find all of the posts, plus my commentary, here.
So on to the final week. Was it all about bug-fixing? Did anyone have to drop features? Read-on
Congratulations to Firaxis Games who are about to release a touch-enabled version of Civ V. I got a few fingers on at IDF2012 and put together a video demo for you.
This Ivy-Bridge optimised version will be available to everyone as an update in Steam in Q4 and it works well. Firaxis have worked around the issue of hover/tooltips b implementing scrolling using a two-finger gesture. It’s not natural at first but to be able to get the tooltips easily is welcome.
Product specifications and tracking page.
The Dell XPS 12 Convertible Duo is an impressive looking Ultrabook. People here at IDF are flocking to it to check out the unique flip screen. The design works well but like all convertible designs that retain the keyboard, can’t give you a lightweight tablet. A 1.4KG tablet isn’t very mobile but it does offer something for those that primarily want a touchscreen Ultrabook with occasional tablet-style capabilities. This could be a good one as an ice-breaker for business meetings though!
In just a few hours the press will be gathering in San Francisco for the warm-up to IDF 2012. The Intel Developer Forum is the most important of the years IDF events as it represents the start of a new wave of marketing for Intel and allows analysts to piece together a picture of what Intel will get up to in 2013. In terms of Ultrabooks we already know that we’ve got Windows 8, touch and Haswell coming but there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you can expect from us over the next week as we attend 4 days of Intel events.
It’s week 4 of the Ultimate Coder Ultrabook Challenge competition where 6 teams are competing for $10K. We’re meeting all of the coders and other judges next week so if you have specific questions, leave them below and I’ll put them to the coding teams. Meanwhile, read about touch UI design, NFC breakthroughs and Windows 8 app monetization.
You can track latest posts from all competitors and all judges here.
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