Ultrabook

After a year-long hiatus, the ScreenPad will be returning in spectacular fashion with the promise of lower power consumption, higher native resolution, larger screen size, and more features for both users and developers to exploit.

Want to be an early adopter of Wi-Fi 6? One of these four Intel-backed 802.11ax routers should do the trick. In truth, however, most home users will have no immediate reason to upgrade until more Wi-Fi 6 routers become available at cheaper prices.

The four laptops guarantee at least 9 hours of Internet browsing at 250 nits, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, 1 second or faster resume times, Thunderbolt 3, at least 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB NVMe SSD, AI-enhanced performance, and three-sided narrow bezels with far-field voice recognition.

Vapor chamber, MagLev keyboard keys, Eyesafe 16:10 DCI-P3 touchscreen, Gorilla Glass 5, and Intel Ice Lake with Iris will be just a few of the unique innovative features coming to the XPS 13 2-in-1 7390 when it launches in less than two months.

The technology adjusts the wavelength of blue light at the source and then performs the necessary color correction to reach the original gamut of the panel. The end result is a display that automatically reduces "harmful" blue light without impacting colors or requiring special filters or glasses from the end user.

Dell is throwing a curve ball this year to how it is naming its 2019 XPS 15. To the average consumer, however, the change may be a little confusing. The new 7xxx series will directly succeed the older 9xxx series even though the first digit is lower in order to align the XPS series with the 7xxx Inspiron, Vostro, Latitude, and Precision families.

Why use aluminum-magnesium alloy or carbon fiber materials when you can use wood? The HP Envy Wood series will have palm rests and touchpads made of real walnut and birch wood inlays across the entire 13-inch to 17-inch range.

The 2019 refresh will have faster wireless, faster 4G LTE, and new SureView Gen 3 and 1000-nit panel options. In comparison, most flagship Ultrabooks top out at only 400 to 600 nits for inferior outdoor visibility. HP is claiming it has the "world's only outdoor viewable display" for a 14-inch laptop.

The gen-to-gen changes will have plenty of internal updates ranging from security to additional CPU options, display options, and 4G LTE options. HP is claiming its Elite x2 G4 will be the "world's first business detachable with an integrated privacy screen" via Sure View.

Core i5/i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB NVMe SSD, Thunderbolt 3, Wi-Fi 6, 1080p touchscreen, three-sided narrow bezels, and 9+ hours of web browsing will all eventually be standard on your next Ultrabook in Intel's vision of the near future. The chipmaker will work directly with OEMs down to the component level to ensure a more seamless Ultrabook experience especially when outdoors and running on battery power.

At Computex 2019, Intel announced the arrival of 10nm Ice Lake processors that will find home in most ultrabooks and non-gaming laptops this year. Ice Lake is based on the Sunny Cove architecture and bring improvements in IPC, AI workloads, and task-specific optimization. It also comes with integrated the Gen11 graphics, Thunderbolt 3, and Wi-Fi 6 onboard the CPU/PCH. OEMs can offer Ice Lake CPUs in 9W, 15W, and 28W TDP configurations.

Intel spoke about the integration of Thunderbolt 3 and Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ directly into the 10nm Ice Lake architecture during its presentation at Computex 2019. USB Type-C I/O can now directly interface with the Thunderbolt 3 that is integrated onto the Ice Lake CPU bypassing the need to implement a discrete Titan Ridge controller. Intel is advocating basing USB 4 on Thunderbolt 3 for future devices. Intel also discussed about the advantages of Wi-Fi 6 integration onto the PCH and Intel's own development of the 160 MHz channel for higher throughput and reduced interference.

Much like Nvidia and its G-Sync technology, Intel will integrate its own adaptive sync technology to its upcoming Ice Lake Iris SKUs. The chipmaker says we can expect Ice Lake laptops with adaptive sync displays to be available within the next year. Such models would not require an Nvidia GPU.

Asus has a lot of new high-powered hardware to show off at Computex this year. But what is all that without the display tech to match? The 240Hz ROG Strix Scar III and Hero III are on show at the conference, as are some of the OEM's even newer, faster notebook displays.

Redmi has announced that its first notebook, most likely to be a 14-inch thin & light model, will be released tomorrow (May 28, 2019). This event will also see the launch of the K20 series of smartphones. The larger device is thought to offer an IPS FHD display with up to 8GB of RAM.

Asus has announced refreshes to the VivoBook S series of ultrabooks at Computex 2019. The VivoBook S14 and S15 come in an assortment of five chassis colors and offer the option of Intel Whiskey Lake CPUs, NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics, and an updated ScreenPad 2.0 experience on the S432 and S532 models. All laptops also feature support for 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6, ErgoLift keyboards, and fast charging.

Asus has revealed a trio of new ZenBook laptops. The ultracompact devices are the ZenBook 13 (UX334), the ZenBook 14 (UX434), and the ZenBook 15 (UX534). The Taiwanese manufacturer has made sure the new ZenBook series can be configured with up-to-date components, while the innovative ScreenPad 2.0 offers numerous additional features to Asus’ latest notebooks.

Asus is celebrating 30 years in business with a special leather-bound laptop. The Asus ZenBook Edition 30 laptop (UX334FL) is an exclusive and limited notebook from the Taiwanese manufacturer. It can be configured with either an i5 or i7 Whiskey Lake processor and can be fitted with a discrete GPU from Nvidia.

Lenovo and Qualcomm have announced 'Project Limitless', a collaborative effort to build 'Always On, Always Connected PCs' based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G Compute Platform. Lenovo and Qualcomm demonstrated a near-final version of a laptop based on the Snapdragon 8cx that also bundles in the Snapdragon X55 5G modem. The first such notebooks are expected to be available sometime in early 2020.

Qualcomm demonstrated some of the advantages of the new 7W passively cooled Snapdragon 8cx over Intel's 15W Core i5-8250U by running a few benchmarks in PCMark 10 and 3DMark. The Snapdragon 8cx posted overall better scores than the 8250U in CPU and GPU tests along with significant improvements to battery life compared to the 8250U.

The Sprint TREBL with Magic Box is a small cell solution that also integrates Amazon Alexa voice-assistance and Harman Kardon sound quality. This combination makes it unique in its product category. Perhaps this is how it has won the Small Cell Forum's Judges' Choice Award for this year.

Why is there no Blade Pro 17 in Mercury White when the Blade 15 has the option? Razer's official Facebook page is suggesting this may all change soon come Computex 2019.

The laptop webcam has become a critic's punchbag as of late, as its relationship with these devices' screens is changing, diminishing or in some cases disappearing altogether. This may put some OEMs off the development of thinner bezels in their entry-level machines. However, the new OV0VA10 SoC may help them in this regard.

At the time that Huawei was placed on the US government's Entity List last week, Huawei is thought to have built enough supplied of key components to last up to 12 months. The report comes via the Nikkei Asian Review that says Huawei told suppliers that it wanted to build up a year's worth of inventory to help cushion the impact of the US-China trade war.

ASUS is currently holding a "30 Years Together" event to celebrate 3 decades as a hardware and peripherals OEM. It involves competitions in which contestants can enter a PC-centric quiz or tell their own ASUS/ROG ownership story to gain points. The prizes to be won include laptops, cutting-edge graphics cards and accessories.

Dell is holding a sitewide Memorial Day sale that covers the full gamut of products that the American manufacturer offers. There is over US$300 in savings to be had on a Dell XPS 15 that sports an 8th-Gen CPU and discrete GPU, but even that great offer is overshadowed by the incredible price for an Alienware 15 gaming laptop that has been reduced by 44%.

A new Microsoft patent has emerged pointing in the direction of where its forthcoming Surface Pro 7 is likely headed. Changes apparent in the sketch include the long overdue introduction of a USB-C port, thinner bezels as well as a new TypeCover design.

Acer's newest entry-level 15.6-inch laptop has almost all the modern features of a pricey flagship including USB Type-C, narrow bezels, SD card reader, 1080p display, and an integrated fingerprint reader all for hundreds of dollars less.

Huawei's 2019 flagship laptops may never see the light of day in the United States. The company appears to be in a scramble in regard to its product plans for North American audiences. Fortunately, users can still import the international versions of the MateBook 14 or 2019 MateBook X Pro much like with the Mate 20 smartphone series.

Micro- and mini-LEDs may make up the next generation of high-end displays after AMOLED. At present, however, they are more of a niche-application product. However, new research indicates that their market will grow to be worth US$6 million in 2024.

The increased fluidity and reduction in motion blur are undeniable when compared to a 60 Hz display. Even so, we'd be lying if we said we could definitively recognize a 240 Hz panel from a 144 Hz panel.

Of the newest compact business T & X business ThinkPads, the Thinkpad T490 offers the best upgradeability. Unfortunately, the manufacturer makes the process of opening the chassis tedious, as Lenovo uses loads of plastic clips.

Intel’s Comet Lake-U processor i5-10210U has been spotted on Geekbench and GFXBench. The results that have been recorded on both benchmarks aren’t going to win any performance awards; however, the chip has a very low TDP and a presumed base clock of 1.6 GHz, so it’s not expected to be a high-end processing solution.

According to some online rumors, Redmi is on the verge of entering the laptop market with its first product of this category. More details on this machine - apparently named the RedmiBook 14 - may have emerged. It could rock Intel Core CPUs up to the tune of an i7, as well as the NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPU at the highest end.

Dell is currently offering a sitewide sale with 12% off a full range of electronic products. This covers the American manufacturer’s numerous well-known lines, including XPS, Alienware, Inspiron, and more. One of the most interesting current deals is for an Inspiron Gaming Desktop packed with an AMD Ryzen 7 2700 and Radeon RX 580 graphics card for US$791.99.

Lenovo has revealed what it is calling the “world’s first foldable PC” at its Accelerate 19 conference in Orlando, Florida. Currently in prototype, the device may form part of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 family should the Chinese PC maker decide to eventually launch it as a shipping product.

Google's head and director of its Android and Chrome division took part in a media outlet's podcast during the I/O event this year. In the course of the interview in question, the two executives confirmed openly for the first time that Fuchsia OS does in fact exist. However, it was also subsequently dismissed as an 'experiment'.

Notebookcheck is reviewing the Lenovo ThinkPad T490 at the moment. Our review sample contains a FHD screen that Lenovo markets as "Low Power". As we found out, the screen used here is not a normal a-SI IPS LCD, but a higher quality IGZO IPS panel.

Asus' latest 15.6-inch laptop is barely six months old and it's already hundreds of dollars cheaper. The flagship ZenBook 15 UX533FD is an excellent alternative for users who are turned off by all the recent software and hardware issues on the Dell XPS 15 series.

Earphones and headphone sales drive a healthy market in the United States. The market analysis firm ReportBuyer estimates that it will grow at a compound rate of over 12% until it is worth approximately US$9 billion in 2024. The products in question are mostly used in fitness, entertainment and gaming pursuits.

Huawei’s Matebook X Pro is finally available in a new rose gold color. The latest iteration of the highly-regarded ultrabook is retailing in China from US$1,320.

Set your alarms to next Thursday. One-Netbook has already revealed most of the specifications for its next device, the One Mix 3, and now it has confirmed when it will be making the mini laptop available to pre-order too. It is still keeping pricing secret though.

The popular audio company Skullcandy has unveiled Indy, a pair of truly wireless earbuds aimed at those wishing to get into this product category at a decent price. They offer IP55 ingress protection, Bluetooth 5.0 and a combined battery life of 16 hours for US$79.99.

Anker has released details on its new PowerIQ chips to control its upcoming charging accessories. The OEM asserts that they are compatible with QuickCharge 3.0 and PowerDelivery (PD) platforms that charge at up to 100 watts (W). However, the first PowerIQ 3.0 product will be a 60W 2-port charger that can be used with a MacBook.

It looks like Intel’s 10nm fabrication woes might finally be over. Speaking at its 2019 Investor Meeting, Intel chief engineering officer and group president of Technology, Systems Architecture and Client Group, Dr Murthy Renduchintala, announced that Intel will begin shipping its “Ice Lake” processors in volume from June. He also announced the first details of Intel’s future 7nm designs.

If you want a super-thin laptop, then something has got to go. Manufacturers like Apple, Razer, and Dell have been getting creative with their keyboard technologies with generally mixed results. Qualities like clatter, feedback, and travel that are often taken for granted on a desktop keyboard are becoming trickier to nail on newer laptops.

The budget 16:9 MateBook D 14 is best for multimedia playback while the higher-end 3:2 MateBook 14 is best for office and editing work where higher graphics performance is desired. Perhaps surprisingly, CPU performance between the two laptops is nearly identical despite the generational gap.

IHVs for laptop PCs can submit their products to Intel for compliance assessment, quality assurance, and performance tests. If they pass, then major OEMs like Acer, Huawei, Asus, or Dell will be more likely to source these optimized components for their future laptops.