ASUS teases October 23rd Vivo Book and Vivo Tab event, likens it to world history (video)

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Jon Fingas

Most event teasers have at least some kind of grandiosity; we're not under illusions that they have to be modest. At the same time, ASUS may have crossed a humility barrier with a teaser for an October 23rd event launching its upcoming Vivo Tabs and (possibly TAICHI- or Transformer Book-linked) Vivo Books. In the space of 42 seconds, ASUS likens the New York City announcement for its touchscreen Windows 8 devices to the Apollo moon missions, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and having a child -- a bit much for slabs of aluminum and glass, we think. There's not much to see of the systems themselves beyond what we already know, although Notebook Italia has noticed at least one reseller listing a Vivo Book S200 laptop with an 11.6-inch touchscreen, a Core i3, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive for €499 ($647). That price would go a long way towards ASUS' promise of making touch "available to everyone..." we're just not convinced it's as important as Elvis.

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Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, ASUS

ASUS teases October 23rd Vivo Book and Vivo Tab event, likens it to world history (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Ultrabooks of Computex 2012

Posted on 08/06/2012 by Dana Wollman

It was last year that Intel chose Computex, a computer tradeshow in Taiwan, to introduce its Ultrabook concept to the world. Twelve months later, 110-plus models are in the pipeline, which meant the Taipei Convention Center was overrun by skinny, lightweight laptops. Make that skinny, touch-enabled laptops. Between those new Ivy Bridge chips and Microsoft putting the finishing touches on Windows 8, this week's show was nothing if not a five-day-long wedding between two tech giants: almost every device on display here was a vehicle for showing off Microsoft's glossy new OS. At every turn, a celebration of touchscreen notebooks.

With more than 30 hands-on posts this week, we can see where one Core i5 laptop might look like the next, or how you might have failed to keep up with Jonney Shih's rapid-fire product announcements. Now that we're wrapping up here in Taiwan, though, we're ready to take a step back and think about what it is we just saw. Whether you felt overwhelmed by our wall-to-wall coverage or just need to catch up, we suggest you meet us past the break for a quick recap of all the new Ultrabooks. Oh, and if you're in the market for a new laptop, you can check your trigger-happy finger at the door. With few exceptions, we're not expecting these to go on sale until the fall, when Windows 8 is expected to start shipping.

Continue reading The Ultrabooks of Computex 2012

The Ultrabooks of Computex 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS announces line of Transformer Books, laptops with detachable touchscreens

Posted on 04/06/2012 by Dana Wollman

In addition to various Windows 8 tablets and a dual-booting all-in-one, ASUS announced the Transformer Book, a line of notebooks with detachable touch screens that can function as tablets -- not ARM-based tablets, mind you, but full-blown x86 slates. So, if you were wondering which side of the laptop / tablet hybrid fence these fall onto, that should clear it up for you. Another sign these are notebooks first and tabs second? Look no further than the large screen sizes: 11.6, 13 and 14 inches. As mentioned, they pack laptop-grade chips to match, including a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor, backed by discrete graphics. Storage options include SSDs and traditional hard drives, and we're told these lappies can accommodate up to 4GB of RAM.

At the same time, you'll find some features designed to give users tablet functionality when they decide to un-dock from the keyboard. This includes not just your standard webcam on the front, but a 5-megapixel shooter 'round back. Sadly, no word just yet on pricing or availability, though with a final version of Windows 8 a good four months off, we're not surprised that ASUS is keeping those details to itself. In the meantime, help yourself to some hands-on photos below, and a walk-through video after the break.

Gallery: ASUS Transformer Book hands-on