AMD Makes Play For Thin Laptops With Trinity Chips

Advanced Micro Devices hasn’t had much to brag about in recent years, particularly in chips for laptop computers. But the company’s latest offerings, known by the code name Trinity, are starting to generate a buzz.
The company, long underdog to market leader Intel in microprocessors, fell behind in the technology race–particularly when it comes to the power consumption of its chips, a key attribute affecting battery life in notebook computers. Intel hopes to stay ahead with faster new chips of its own, dubbed Ivy Bridge, and get computer makers to place them in new-wave laptops it calls Ultrabooks.
But analysts say Trinity–which will be formally announced Tuesday–continues AMD’s edge over Intel when it comes to built-in circuitry that manages graphics, a legacy of its 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies. And the new chip line comes with noticeable improvements in power consumption, packaged in a way that will work in extra-thin laptops akin to Ultrabooks.

More @ The Wall Street Journal

Apple hogging all the laptop aluminum, competitors turn to fiberglass

Apple hogging all the laptop aluminum, competitors turn to fiberglass

Say what you want about Apple, but it’s clever. The company helped pioneer the use of aluminum laptop shells in its MacBooks back in 2008. Now that superthin, Mac-like Ultrabooks are becoming the trend, the rest of the industry needs a strong, lightweight substance like aluminum to build the .8-inch thick designs Intel is pushing for. Problem is, Apple has secured a majority of the aluminum and the factories that manufacture it for computing.

DigiTimes reports that Apple already has deals with Catcher Technology and Foxcomm Technology that give it access to a healthy portion of the metal and production capacity for aluminum chassis. Other manufacturers hoping to build will have to compete for the remaining capacity at the two companies.

More At: Digital Trends

Intel: Ultrabook Is Not a Sign It Failed in Tablets | PCWorld Business Center

Intel: Ultrabook Is Not a Sign It Failed in Tablets | PCWorld Business Center

Intel's proposal of a new class of laptop, the Ultrabook, isn't an admission that it is losing the battle to put its microprocessors in tablets, according to a company executive.

"We are late. Today there are many tablets that do not have Intel inside. But we are putting a lot of effort to cash in," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's PC Client Group.

Intel announced the Ultrabook series on Tuesday at Taipei's Computex trade show. The devices are meant to combine the faster processing speeds of PCs with the thin and light designs of tablets.

Ultrabooks will be less than 20 millimeters (0.8 inches) thick and Intel is working with manufacturers to get a first wave of the devices out by the holiday shopping season at the end of the year priced under US$1,000, the company said Tuesday. Asus said Tuesday that an Ultrabook dubbed the UX21 will be out by the end of the year.